• Poster  (Downloadable .pdf file)


About the conference

During 2006, we will be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the Oriental Society of Australia (OSA).  OSA was founded by the late Professor A. R. Davis in April, 1956, with the purpose of 'encouraging the study of history, culture, institutions of East Asia and Oriental countries and promoting research and exchange between the members of the Society and other persons within and outside the Commonwealth of Australia'.

We are very proud that, despite economic restraints and other difficulties, we have survived and are continuing the tradition of scholarship and humanity. Following Davis, we are still continuing the ‘search for truth and love’. To celebrate the occasion we have decided to hold an international conference.

The aim of this conference is to bring together scholars from all over the globe, not only to discuss the problems related to the study of history, culture and institutions of Asian countries but also to exchange news and views with our colleagues in the humanities and arts, particularly those who study cultures derived from Europe, the Americas and Australasia. It is nearly 230 years since Sir William Jones (1746-1794) wanted to start another ‘Renaissance’ in Europe with the ‘ Discovery of the Orient’.  In that spirit, in 1950, Raymond Schwab wrote his  La Renaissance Orientale,  and in 1954, Denis Sinor, in his collection of essays, Orientalism and History, urged scholars to integrate ‘oriental’ history with general history. This is also true for philosophy, history of science and all other fields of humanities. The study of humanities, arts and social sciences without Asia is incomplete; the aim of the conference is to show this.

Professor Frits Staal has kindly agreed to deliver the keynote address to the conference. This should be very much in tune with his recent research interests (please see his ‘Artificial Languages: Asian Backgrounds or Influences?’ in International Institute of Asian Studies Newsletter, 30 March, 2003). We feel that Staal’s idea of discovering ‘Universals’ is very relevant now, when the world is fragmented by ideological and religious warfare and threatening freedom of speech that is essential for the universities. We are planning a conference with a number of panels/workshops/seminars on themes and /or disciplines and/or regions. We invite all to send suggestions for such panel/seminars.

All suggestions for papers or panels are welcome. For instance, they could be on a theme or on a region or on religion or linguistics. We expect that the papers or the panels should have interdisciplinary and/or inter-area implications.

Selected papers from this conference will be published in a fully-refereed journal.

The conference will be held from December 3-7, 2006, at The Women's College on the University of Sydney's Broadway Campus, both of which are close to the cosmopolitan restaurant areas of Newtown and Glebe Point Road. We have tentatively booked 70 rooms for accommodation at the College. 

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Keynote speakers

  • Prof. Frits Staal, University of Berkeley
  • Prof. Michael Allen, University of Sydney
  • Dr. Alison Broinowski, Australian National University
  • Prof. Irfan Habib, Aligargh Muslim University, India
  • Dr. Narayani Gupta
Short biographies of keynote and other speakers will soon be available here .

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Call for Panels and Papers

Please download the Proposal form for Panels and Papers Here.

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Registration

Registration details are available Here. Registration fees (including OSA annual fee) have been set as follows:
1. Regular fee (same as fee payable at conference registration desk) : $380
2. 'Early-bird' reduced fee for pre-September 2 registration: $300
3. Students and unwaged delegates: $220

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Conference Schedule

The tentative conference schedule is as follows:

Time
Monday, December 4
Tuesday, December 5
Wednesday, December 6
Thursday, December 7
9.00-9.30
 Late registration


9.30-10.30
 Keynote address by Professor Frits Staal
 Keynote address to be announced
 Keynote address by Dr. Narayani Gupta
 Keynote address by Dr. Alison Broinowski
10.30-11.00
 Morning coffee break
 Morning coffee break
 Morning coffee break
 Morning coffee break
11.00-1.00
 Panels
 Panels
 Panels
 Panels
1.00-2.30
 Lunch
 Lunch
 Lunch
 Lunch
2.30-3.30
 Keynote address by Professor Michael Allen
 Keynote address by Professor Irfan Habib
 Keynote address by Japanese scholar
 Free



Evening: Dinner and 
entertainment
3.30-4.00
 Afternoon coffee break
 Afternoon coffee break Afternoon coffee break
4.00-6.00
 Panels
 Panels
 Panels

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Titles and Abstracts

A list of titles, linked to abstracts of keynote addresses and other papers will soon be available here. 

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Social Activities

Details of the conference dinner, planned excursions, and other activities will soon be available here.

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For Disabled Delegates

If you have a disability and require assistance in order to attend the conference, please contact us to advise us of your needs.

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About Sydney

Sydney is a city of around four million inhabitants on Australia's east coast. It is the capital of the state of New South Wales and it enjoys a temperate climate. Sydney's beautiful beaches and mountain views are within easy reach of the city's centre.

The following web sites, which are not maintained by the conference organisers, provide some interesting perspectives on the city and surrounds.

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Accommodation

Accommodation arrangements have been made for conference delegates at the Women's College (venue of the conference), which is on the University of Sydney campus. You can book directly to the The Women's College. You could also have a look at:

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Further Information

Any further information concerning the conference will be published here.

'World Without Walls' is hosted by the Oriental Society of Australia.

All correspondence should be addressed to:
OSA2006 Conference Committee
School of Languages and Cultures
The University of Sydney
Sydney, N.S.W. 2006, Australia
Phone: 61 2 9351 2878
Fax: 61 2 9351 2319
E-mail: OSA2006@arts.usyd.edu.au
To join The Oriental Society of Australia, please see the Membership Form
School location: Room 506, Level 5, Mango MacCallum Building A17
School of Languages and Cultures Web Page
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