MCAA History
The Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs began operations at the University of Oklahoma in Norman during Thanksgiving vacation of 1952 as the Far Eastern Affairs Conference. A decade later, in 1962, it was renamed the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA), and came formally under the wing of the Association for Asian Studies in 1967.
The Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) began independently of the Association for Asian Studies.
The handful of Asianists at universities in the region most remote from the coastal universities served by AAS were a “lonely bunch,” and responded readily to the invitation of Percy W. Buchanan, our founder, to gather at his university in 1952. A former Presbyterian missionary to Japan, Buchanan became a missionary to the cause of promoting Asian studies, served as first president of the foundling organization, and then its executive secretary until it was up and running on its own.
Older prewar Asia hands who joined the new group reached accommodation with new PhDs from the fledgling postwar centers, and for some of them loyalty to the conference lasted a lifetime. Rudolph Bjorgan of Wartburg College in Iowa, for example, attended every meeting from the beginning in 1952 up until his death in 1998. Research scholars in neighboring universities of the region befriended their counterparts; professors exchanged information on classroom teaching and summer institutes for teachers; and collegiality with peers in one’s own field became possible for the isolated scholar.
MCAA has developed a sense of its own history by publishing the list of past presidents and of conference locations in its program annually. In the early years, conference meetings were held more often in Kansas than in other states, but after the conference leaped the Mississippi River for the first time in 1959 to gather at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, the state of Illinois became the most favored meeting ground, in recognition of the larger membership in that part of the Midwest. Early on the Big Eight universities were central to the organization, but more recently the Big Ten universities have held meetings most frequently. In 1973, two of the original states were pared off by a national committee of the AAS, a move that placed Oklahoma in the Southwest Conference and Colorado in the Western Conference, while still allowing some choice of conference membership for individuals. Throughout its existence, meetings of the MCAA have commonly alternated between major universities and small colleges, in recognition of the need to support Asian studies locally in both these setting.
An early president, Robert K. Sakai of the University of Nebraska, established and edited a handsome, hardcover annual volume of selected papers published by the University of Nebraska Press for eight years, 1960–67, and by the University Press of Kansas for two additional years. This series, Studies on Asia, was revived in 2004 in the form of an online journal sponsored by MCAA, hosted by the Asian Studies Center of Michigan State University, and edited by Linda Cooke Johnson.
Grant Goodman, another past president, established an archive of MCAA materials at the University of Kansas library, so that the organization’s most important records are carefully preserved to this day. Although meetings move around, some continuity is provided by having the executive secretary serve for three years, and by finding unusually conscientious people for that position. The current executive secretary is Greg Guelcher, Morningside College.
Annual meetings which first attracted 15–20 registrants now have 200–300 people in attendance, and have grown in comprehensiveness. The president of AAS usually speaks (George C. Cressy was the first in 1959), prominent guest speakers are often featured (C. Northcote Parkinson, on “The Renaissance of Asia,” in 1959, for example), professionals in the Asian performing arts usually have an evening (Indrani and her dancers in 1961, for example), feature films are often shown (Snow Country, a Japanese film, was screened in 1969), and workshops are held for secondary school teachers (as in the program featuring Frank Gibney at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, 1995).
Annual prizes for graduate essays, an undergraduate essay, and public service suggest conference priorities, and each is named for persons who have made significant contributions to the organization: the Percy W. Buchanan Graduate Prizes (one each for an outsanding papers by Midwestern graduate students on topics relating to China and Inner Asia, Northeast Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia), the Sidney DeVere Brown and Mikiso Hane Undergraduate Prizes; for outstanding papers composed by undergraduates in Midwestern colleges and universities, and the Jackson and Caroline Bailey Outreach Prize, recognizing a scholar or teacher with a distinguished record of teaching about Asia and promoting Asian Studies in the Midwest.
by Sidney DeVere Brown, the University of Oklahoma
Executive Committee
MCAA Executive Committee
2022-2023
President
Taylor Easum
Indiana State University
Vice President
Michel Hockx
University of Notre Dame
Past President
Hiromi Mizuno
University of Minnesota
Program Chair
Misumi Sadler
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Executive Secretary
Greg Guelcher
Morningside College
COC Representative
Kendra Strand
University of Iowa
Advisory Board
Northeast Asia
Elizabeth Lublin
Wayne State University
Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak
St. Olaf College
China and Inner Asia
S.E. Kile
University of Michigan
Jingling Chen
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
South Asia
Rajiv Ranjan
Michigan State University
Southeast Asia
Ingrid Jordt
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Past Conference
Conference 2022
The 71st Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by The University of Kansas from September 16th to 18th, 2022. The MCAA seeks to promote Asian studies both at the university and the secondary and primary levels, and particularly to encourage scholarly interchange between Asianists located in the Midwest, though scholars from all regions are invited to participate.
The Keynote lectures were given by:
- Professor Kamran Asdar Ali, University of Texas-Austin
The Presidential Panel were given by:
- Hiromi Mizuno, President of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (University of Minnesota, History)
- Megan Greene (University of Kansas, History)
- Ian Baird (University of Wisconsin, Madison, Geography)
- Susan Burns (University of Chicago, History)
Conference 2021
The 70th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by Indiana University Bloomington from October 29th to 31st, 2021. The MCAA seeks to promote Asian studies both at the university and the secondary and primary levels, and particularly to encourage scholarly interchange between Asianists located in the Midwest, though scholars from all regions are invited to participate.
The Keynote lectures were given by:
- Hy Luong, University of Toronto
The Presidential Panel were given by:
- Poshek Fu, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- Xinyuan Dai, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- John P. Burns, University of Hong Kong
- Stanley Rosen, University of Southern California
Conference 2020
The 69th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by a consortium of MCAA affiliated universities from October 16-18th, 2020. The MCAA seeks to promote Asian studies both at the university and the secondary and primary levels, and particularly to encourage scholarly interchange between Asianists located in the Midwest, though scholars from all regions are invited to participate.
The Keynote lectures were given by:
- Prof. Siddharth Chandra (Director of the Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University)
- Prof. Christine Yano (AAS President, University of Hawaii)
The Presidential Panel were given by:
- Jamie Monson (Director of the African Studies, Michigan State University)
- I Made Andi Arsana (Head of the Office of International Affairs, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia)
- Prof. Siddharth Chandra (Director of the Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University)
- Blandina Lugendo (Department of Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
- Mark Axelrod (Professor at James Madison College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University)
- Awet Weldemichael (Professor and Queen’s National Scholar African and World History, Queen’s University, Canada)
Planning Committee:
- Program Chair: Dr. Taylor Easum, Indiana State University
- Conference Submission Coordinator: Dr. Michael Brose, Indiana University
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Conference 2019
The 68th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by Michigan State from October 4-6, 2019. The MCAA seeks to promote Asian studies both at the university and the secondary and primary levels, and particularly to encourage scholarly interchange between Asianists located in the Midwest, though scholars from all regions are invited to participate.
The Keynote lectures were given by:
- Prof. Wendy Larson (Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Film, University of Oregon)
- Prof. Anne Feldhaus (Past AAS President, Arizona State University)
The Presidential Panel were given by:
- Prof. Laura Miller (Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Missouri)
- Prof. Mary Gallagher (Director of the Asian Studies Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan)
- Prof. Siddharth Chandra (Director of the Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University)
- Prof. Ann Sherif (Professor of Japanese, Oberlin College)
Conference 2018
The 67th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by Metropolitan State University from October 19 – 20, 2018. The MCAA seeks to promote Asian studies both at the university and the secondary and primary levels, and particularly to encourage scholarly interchange between Asianists located in the Midwest, though scholars from all regions are invited to participate.
The Keynote lectures were given by:
- Prof. Prasenjit Duara (Vice President for the Association for Asian Studies)
- Dr. Irene Khin Khin Jensen (Professor Emeriti, Augsburg University)
- Prof. Robert Hegel (Washington University in St. Louis; President, Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs)
For more information about the conference visit the 2018 Conference website.
Past Presidents
2022
Conference Location: The University of Kansas
President: Hiromi Mizuno
President’s Affiliation: University of Minnesota
2021
Conference Location: (Online) Indiana University Bloomington
President: Poshek Fu
President’s Affiliation: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
2020
Conference Location: (Online) Michigan State University, East Lansing
President: Siddharth Chandra
President’s Affiliation: Michigan State University, East Lansing
2019
Conference Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing
President: Laura Miller
President’s Affiliation: University of Missouri St. Louis
2018
Conference Location: Metropolitan State University, Minneapolis
President:
President’s Affiliation:
2017
Conference Location: University of Notre Dame
President:
President’s Affiliation:
2016
Conference Location: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
President: Ethan Segal
President’s Affiliation: Michigan State University
2015
Conference Location: Washington University in St. Louis
President: Kai-wing Chow
President’s Affiliation: University of Illinois
2014
Conference Location: University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS
President: Arjun Guneratne
President’s Affiliation: Macalester College
2013
Conference Location: Michigan State University
President: Rebecca Copeland
President’s Affiliation: Washington University
2012
Conference Location: Western Michigan University
President: Yongming Zhou
President’s Affiliation: University of Wisconsin Madison
2011
Conference Location: Macalester College
President: Katherine Bowie
President’s Affiliation: University of Wisconsin Madison
2010
Conference Location: Ohio State University
President: Roy Hanashiro
President’s Affiliation: University of Michigan Flint
2009
Conference Location: Miami University Ohio
President: Robert Entenmann
President’s Affiliation: St. Olaf College
2008
Conference Location: St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges
President: Yasuko Ito Watt
President’s Affiliation: Indiana University Bloomington
2007
Conference Location: Washington University – St. Louis
President: Linda Johnson
President’s Affiliation:
2006
Conference Location: University of Wisconsin – Madison
President: Aparajita Sagar
President’s Affiliation:
2005
Conference Location: Michigan State University
President: Jacquetta Hill
President’s Affiliation:
2004
Conference Location: University of Minnesota
President: James L. Huffman
President’s Affiliation:
2003
Conference Location: Illinois State University
President: Parks M. Coble
President’s Affiliation:
2002
Conference Location: Wittenberg University
President: Gerald J. Larson
President’s Affiliation:
2001
Conference Location: University of Nebraska
President: Sally A. Hastings
President’s Affiliation:
2000
Conference Location: Indiana University – Bloomington
President: David Buck
President’s Affiliation:
1999
Conference Location: Michigan State University
President: Richard M. Cooler
President’s Affiliation:
1998
Conference Location: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
President: Louis G. Perez
President’s Affiliation:
1997
Conference Location: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
President: Daniel H. Bays
President’s Affiliation:
1996
Conference Location: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
President: Eleanor M. Zelliot
President’s Affiliation:
1995
Conference Location: University of Missouri-St. Louis
President: David Plath
President’s Affiliation:
1994
Conference Location: Western Illinois University, Macomb
President: Winston Hsieh
President’s Affiliation:
1993
Conference Location: John Carroll University, Cleveland
President: Donald Emmerson
President’s Affiliation:
1992
Conference Location: University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
President: Koji Taira
President’s Affiliation:
1991
Conference Location: University of Iowa, Iowa City
President: Adrian Bennett
President’s Affiliation:
1990
Conference Location: Indiana University, Bloomington
President: Stephen Cohen
President’s Affiliation:
1989
Conference Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing
President: Rita Kipp
President’s Affiliation:
1988
Conference Location: University of Wisconsin-Madison
President: Mikiso Hane
President’s Affiliation:
1987
Conference Location: St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges, Northfield
President: Ted Farmer
President’s Affiliation:
1986
Conference Location: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
President: Harold Gould
President’s Affiliation:
1985
Conference Location: Miami University, Oxford
President: Carl Landes
President’s Affiliation:
1984
Conference Location: Washington University, St. Louis
President: Bonnie Oh
President’s Affiliation:
1983
Conference Location: University of Kansas, Lawrence
President: Willard Elsbree
President’s Affiliation:
1982
Conference Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
President: Manindra Verma
President’s Affiliation:
1981
Conference Location: University of Missouri-Columbia
President: Marleigh Ryan
President’s Affiliation:
1980
Conference Location: University of Iowa, Iowa City
President: Samuel Chu
President’s Affiliation:
1979
Conference Location: Ohio State University, Columbus
President: Clark D. Neher
President’s Affiliation:
1978
Conference Location: University of Nebraska, Lincoln
President: Barbara Ramusack
President’s Affiliation:
1977
Conference Location: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
President: Iwao Ishino
President’s Affiliation:
1976
Conference Location: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
President: Byron Marshall
President’s Affiliation:
1975
Conference Location: Ohio University, Athens
President: Robert Crawford
President’s Affiliation:
1974
Conference Location: University of Kansas, Lawrence
President: Grant K. Goodman
President’s Affiliation:
1973
Conference Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing
President: Barbara Teters
President’s Affiliation:
1972
Conference Location: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
President: Bernard Karsh
President’s Affiliation:
1971
Conference Location: University of Wisconsin-Madison
President: John Kie-chang Oh
President’s Affiliation:
1970
Conference Location: Indiana University, Bloomington
President: David Wurfel
President’s Affiliation:
1969
Conference Location: Oklahoma state University, Stillwater
President: Fred von der Mehden
President’s Affiliation:
1968
Conference Location: Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo
President: Jackson Bailey
President’s Affiliation:
1967
Conference Location: University of Kansas, Lawrence
President: Stanley Spector
President’s Affiliation:
1966
Conference Location: Wartburg College, Waverly
President: George M. Beckmann
President’s Affiliation:
1965
Conference Location: University of Colorado, Boulder
President: Earl Swisher
President’s Affiliation:
1964
Conference Location: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
President: Ping-chia Kuo
President’s Affiliation:
1963
Conference Location: University of Nebraska, Lincoln
President: Fred Parrish
President’s Affiliation:
1962
Conference Location: Washington University, St. Louis
President: Yahva Armajami
President’s Affiliation:
1961
Conference Location: Grinnell College, Grinnell
President: Solomon B. Levine
President’s Affiliation:
1960
Conference Location: University of Oklahoma, Norman
President: Sidney D. Brown
President’s Affiliation:
1959
Conference Location: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
President: Robert K. Sakai
President’s Affiliation:
1958
Conference Location: University of Missouri-Columbia
President: Mitchell Smith
President’s Affiliation:
1957
Conference Location: Macalester College, St. Paul
President: Rudolph Bjorgan
President’s Affiliation:
1956
Conference Location: University of Kansas, Lawrence
President: Alfred Crofts
President’s Affiliation:
1955
Conference Location: Kansas State University, Manhattan
President: Haridas Muzumdar
President’s Affiliation:
1954
Conference Location: University of Nebraska, Lincoln
President: Oswald P. Backus III
President’s Affiliation:
1953
Conference Location: University of Kansas, Lawrence
President: Percy Buchanan
President’s Affiliation:
1952
Conference Location: University of Oklahoma, Norman
President: Percy Buchanan (Founder)
President’s Affiliation: