The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) is pleased to announce that it has received a grant of $300,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation to support a series of doctoral dissertation workshops to be held in conjunction with AAS conferences in North America and Asia. These workshops will provide a mentor forum for doctoral students in multiple disciplines and areas of study, especially those historically under-represented in the AAS.

“Investing in the Next Generation of Scholars: AAS Doctoral Dissertation Workshops” will include a total of 12 two-day thematic workshops at the Association’s North American and AAS-in-Asia annual conferences over a three-year period (summer 2025-spring 2028). Each workshop will include up to 10 Ph.D. students from different disciplines and regions of the world. During the workshops, two senior scholars will serve as mentors, working with participants in developing essential academic and professional skills through the dissertation writing process.

The inaugural workshop will take place on May 30-31, 2025, prior to the AAS-in-Asia conference in Kathmandu, Nepal. A call for applications for the first workshop, which will center on the themes “Modernities, Mobilities, and Change,” is now open. Successful applicants will receive funding for airfare, accommodations, and conference registration.

This project will enhance scholarly understandings of the history, politics, ecologies, and societies of Asia by helping graduate students at a key moment in their careers—the dissertation writing phase—to receive feedback from peers, hone research skills, expand professional networks, and prepare for career advancement. The workshops offer a way for senior scholars (as mentors) across the U.S. and within Asia to engage with these emerging young scholars, creating the opportunity for new collaborations among the members of each cohort. The workshops will have both immediate and long-term impacts on scholars, students, policy makers, and other publics within the AAS community and beyond.

The Association for Asian Studies is very appreciative of the continued generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation. Thanks to this grant, AAS can expand its support for graduate students while increasing its education and outreach work, particularly by including young scholars representing a diversity of histories, languages, knowledge, and praxis.