SUNY New Paltz to host New York Conference of Asian Studies

NEW PALTZ — The State University of New York at New Paltz will host the annual meeting of the New York Conference of Asian Studies on Sept. 30 – Oct. 1. This multi-disciplinary conference will include more than 50 panels focusing on Asian-related culture, politics, art, economy, society and history, and is expected to draw more than 200 scholars from across the United States and Canada, as well as from Europe and Asia. The conference is open to the public.

The plenary speaker for the conference will be the acclaimed Chinese-American author Da Chen, who will speak on “From China to Wall Street to Random House.” The plenary session will take place on Friday at 11:30 a.m. in Lecture Center 100.

Dr. Barbara Andaya, president of the national Association for Asian Studies, will chair a panel and provide remarks at the Friday’s dinner banquet beginning at 6:15 p.m. The focus of her talk is “Asia Faces Asia: Artists As Social Commentators in Southeast Asia.” The Friday banquet will be followed by a concert featuring the music of southern India.

Other conference-related events will include two exhibits – one of popular Chinese prints, the other of photographic images embodying the 64 hexagrams of “The Book of Changes.” (The artists will be available to sign copies of the accompanying book.) Finally, an extensive array of Asian-related academic and popular books will be on display in the northern lobby of the Lecture Center.

For registration and fee information, and to learn more about the conference and view the complete schedule, please visit the conference Web site at www.newpaltz.edu/nycas05.

Questions may be directed to the conference co-organizers, Jonathan Schwartz at schwartj@newpaltz.edu, or Elizabeth Brotherton at brothere@newpaltz.edu.