Members are the strength of the Association for Asian Studies.

The 2023 AAS Membership Recruitment Drive was a major success and we sincerely appreciate the work all the members did to spread the word about AAS, even if they did not lead to a new member joining. Over the course of the drive, we welcomed 58 new members: 25 regular members and 33 student members.

The winners of the 2023 AAS Member Recruitment Drive are:

• Tongtong Zhang, a postdoctoral student at Stanford University, will receive a free 2024 AAS Annual Conference Registration and 3-night hotel stay
• Virginia J. Shih, Curator for Southeast Asia and Buddhist Studies Collections at UC Berkeley Library and AAS member since 1990, has received a free 2024 AAS Annual Conference Registration.
• Victoria Chonn Ching, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Southern California, has received a 1-year AAS Membership
• Doris Fischer of the University of Wuerzburg (Germany) and member since 1998 has received a Lifetime AAS Membership

We are thrilled that the winners hail from different stages of the Asian Studies career path (two postdocs, a librarian, and a long-time member) and whose membership duration totals over 60 years!

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As an international network, our organization depends on a vibrant and expanding membership. While our member benefits (including the Journal of Asian Studies and discounts on Education about Asia and conference registration) encourage individuals to join, many do so at the recommendation of a current member (be it a colleague or advisor).

From July 15 to September 10, we will run a campaign for current members to recruit new members into the organization. Current members who recruit new members will be eligible for a number of prizes, based on the number of referrals they generate.