Association for Asian Studies:

Global Southeast Asias

Dissertation Workshop

in Vancouver, Canada from March 10-12, 2026 Application Deadline: October 20, 2025

The workshop will be conducted by two mentors knowledgeable in the field. To ensure effectiveness, participation is limited to 9 students. The workshop will be limited to students who have defended their dissertation prospectus. 

The AAS encourages students across disciplines to apply for the workshop. We extend a special invitation to those in the underrepresented disciplines in the AAS, including sociology, economics, and political science, to apply. Preference will be given to applicants currently enrolled as students in any institution of higher education in North America. 

Students selected for the workshop will receive a grant to cover the costs of: 

  • lowest economy class airfare 

  • AAS conference registration fee 

  • lodging (shared room) during the workshop 

  • meals during the workshop 

All application materials must be submitted via the AAS application portal by October 20, 2025. 

To apply, please submit the following: 

  • A letter of recommendation from your academic advisor. Letters of recommendation must be emailed directly by your advisor to grants@asianstudies.org no later than October 20, 2025. Please have your advisor include your full name in the subject line and “AAS2026 Dissertation Workshop” 

    • Example subject line: “AAS2026 Dissertation Workshop, Nguyen Thi Dinh” 

  • A three-page proposal, outlining the themes and argument of your dissertation. Your proposal should address the following: 

    • Problem the thesis addresses 

    • Research question 

    • Description of the body of literature relevant to the thesis 

    • Description of the research conducted and methods used. 

    • Significance of the study 

    • Outline of chapters (chapter title and 1-2 sentences about each) 

  • One completed chapter 

  • CV (3 pages maximum)  

The Association for Asian Studies, with funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, is pleased to host a dissertation workshop for advanced doctoral students who have completed their research and are writing their dissertations. The workshop will take place March 10-12, 2026, immediately prior to the AAS Annual Conference in Vancouver, Canada (participants should plan to arrive on March 9).  

The workshop theme will be “Global Southeast Asias.” We invite proposals considering material and conceptual connections and frictions between Southeast Asia and the World. The dissertation can have a local, national, or regional geographic scope and the period covered can range from the early modern era to the present. We invite applications from across the social sciences and the humanities. 

The aim of the workshop is to provide advanced doctoral students with the opportunity to have one of their chapters and the argument of the dissertation subjected to an intensive critique from an inter-disciplinary panel consisting of two faculty members with expertise in the theme of the workshop and their fellow doctoral students. We suggest submitting the introduction of the dissertation to the workshop, but any chapter will serve.