NEWS OF THE PROFESSION Annual Report of the Association for Asian Studies, 1961 -1962 This report, encompassing the period from and of promoting contact between learned or- March 1961 to early April 1962, focuses on ganizations and scholars in the United States the objectives of the Association, the efforts to and Canada and their counterparts in other accomplish them during the period under re- nations who share interests in Asian studies. view, and a number of future problems. In Inherent in the objectives as defined in the retrospect, the recently proposed amendments constitution is the cultivation of better under- to the constitution and bylaws of the organi- standing between Asians and non-Asians zation are a landmark in the evolution of the through the organized facilities of the Associa- Association. They are a response to the prob- tion. Indeed, it is in the national interest to lems of change confronting a learned society build a bridge of mutual understanding, one in the early 1960's. that can withstand the pressures of time and In the interests of the reader, the report is circumstance. divided into two parts, the first being a brief The membership indicates that the broad statement of the fundamentals and the second objectives of the organization appeal to a large a statistical or narrative supplement to them. number of people with varied interests and different occupations. Faculty members and Part I graduate students, established scholars and promising ones, government officials and others Objectives of the Association for Asian Studies have found participation in the Association At the outset the objectives of the organiza- valuable. The membership is aware of the ad- tion should be recalled, for they constitute one vantages of cutting across areas and disciplines of the most important criteria in any considera- and of the cross-fertilization of ideas. tion and evaluation of its work. Established as the Far Eastern Association in April 1948, the Meeting the Objectives society changed its name to Association for At the present time the Association for Asian Asian Studies in February 1957 as a result of Studies is undergoing rapid expansion as a the inclusion of South Asia in the geographic consequence of larger membership, greater area of interest. It is a constituent member of financial resources, and added functions. This the American Council of Learned Societies and expansion is leading to more complexity in cooperates with the American Oriental Society day-to-day operations, more problems in com- in meetings of the International Congress of munication and coordination among the of- Orientalists. ficers and members of the Board of Directors, The objectives of the organization are of- and more need for frequent decision-making. ficially defined in terms of establishing a pro- The organization may well be one of the most fessional association, one that is nonpolitical, dynamic learned societies in existence. nonprofit, and scholarly, open to all people who have an interest in Asian studies, of en- Publications couraging scholarly consideration of and in- The Journal of Asian Studies with the terest in Asia, of offering a medium for the Bibliography, the Monographs, and the News- publication of research and other data con- letter comprise the publications of the Associa- ducive to the advancement of studies related tion. As of March 1962, total circulation of the to the area, of facilitating cooperation in the Journal was 3,494, an increase of 426 over the Asian field between Americans and Canadians, figure of the previous year. Nonmember sub- 592 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76, on 30 Sep 2021 at 21:25:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911800113397 NEWS OF THE PROFESSION 593 scriptions totalled 1,470, an increase of 97 in Professors Denis Twitchett, Masao Maruyama, the same duration of time (Appendix 1). The Etienne Balazs, and Herbert Franke, were Association is particularly indebted to the Asia guests of the Association through the efforts Foundation for support of a substantial num- of the International Liaison Committee. Other ber of subscriptions in Asia. scholars present, supported by the Asia Founda- The Editor of the Journal, Professor Roger tion travel grants, were: Dr. Toichi Mabuchi, F. Hackett, reports that from May 1961 to Mr. S. H. Vatsyayan, Mr. Cho-yun Hsu, Pro- February 1962, 87 articles were submitted, 19 fessor Yoshinori Takeuchi, Mr. Haruhiro Fu- were accepted, 59 were rejected, and 9 at kui, Miss Niharkana Majumdar, Dr. A. R. Mal- the end of the period were pending. Among lick, and Dr. Khwaja Faruqi. Local arrange- the accepted articles 6 related to Japan or ments were under the able chairmanship of Mrs. Korea, 4 to South Asia, 3 to China, and 2 Anne B. Clark and Dr. John M. H. Lindbeck. each to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and A reception at the Boston Museum of Fine Asia General. Various disciplines were repre- Arts was given the Association for Asian sented, history being the most prominent fol- Studies and the American Oriental Society by lowed by sociology and anthropology. The Boston College, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Book Review Editor, Professor Rhoads Mur- Boston University, Brandeis University, Har- phey, indicates that 183 reviews were published. vard University, Massachusetts Institute of The Bibliography, under the general editorship Technology, Tufts University, and Wellesley of Mr. Howard Linton for the seventh year, was College. the most substantial to date. The Editor of the Monographs, Professor Regional Meetings Delmer M. Brown, reports that 9 manuscripts The Association has financially supported a were submitted for consideration. Two have number of regional gatherings in the past year: been accepted, 2 rejected, and 5 are under the Southern California Meeting, the Southeast review. The Editor is working toward a new Regional Conference on Asia, the Midwest and better arrangement for publishing the Conference on Asian Affairs, the Upstate New monograph series and related papers. The York Conference on Asian Studies, and the Editor of the Newsletter, Professor Willard H. Metropolitan New York Meeting. The Con- Elsbree, notes that it is being issued in a new ference on Asian History of the American His- format, will appear 4 times a year, and has torical Association has also been assisted. The incorporated the South Asia Newsletter. regional meetings constitute a significant de- velopment in the stimulation of interests in Annual Meeting Asian Studies. The Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the As- sociation was held at the Somerset Hotel in Developmental and Project Committees Boston, April 2 to 4, 1962. The attendance In the period under review, the Association was the largest to date—1,047 registered peo- had a variety of developmental and project ple. This figure stands in contrast to 640 in committees. Some were just starting their ac- 1961, 850 in i960, and 775 in 1959. A chal- tivities, others were right in the midst of lenging program under the chairmanship of them, and a few were completing their work. Professor Lucian W. Pye was presented, em- In many instances these committees center phasis being placed on the inter-area, inter- around the research and other activities of a disciplinary approach. (See Appendix 2 for group of scholars concerned with a certain list of papers.) An opening plenary session field or topic of academic endeavor. The Com- with distinguished scholars speaking on "The mittee on Chinese Thought submitted its final State of Asian Studies" was an innovation. At report on February 9, 1962. Five conferences the annual luncheon Professor Lauriston Sharp were held over a ten-year period; four volumes delivered his presidential address entitled were published and very favorably reviewed; "Cultural Continuities and Discontinuities in a fifth book is scheduled for the fall. The Con- Southeast Asia." A number of foreign scholars, ference on Modern Japan, by way of contrast, Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76, on 30 Sep 2021 at 21:25:22, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911800113397 594 JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES held its first seminar last January. A number Library Resources on South and Southeast Asia of significant papers were presented on the in certain library functions associated with the theme of the conference, "Changing Japanese operation of P.L. 480 in India. Comparable Attitudes towards Modernization." The com- programs in Burma and Indonesia would re- mittee plans to hold a total of five major semi- quire the group's attention. Other project com- nars. The Ming Biographical Dictionary Proj- mittees relate to Asian Prehistory and to Asian ect, under the guidance of an able committee, Summer Programs. The South Asian Lan- involves considerable international scholarly co- guages Committee has become a subcommittee operation as well as the support of universities of the South Asia Committee. and foundations in the United States and the sponsorship of the Association for Asian Functional Committees Studies. The committee has an objective of The functional committees of the Associa- publishing a number of volumes on Ming tion now include Program, Local Arrange- dynasty biography. ments, Membership, Nominating, UNESCO During the year under review, the South Delegate, ACLS Delegate, Asian Studies in Asia Committee (a functional one in the As- Secondary Education, International Liaison, sociation's structure) sponsored three research Asia Foundation Lectureship, Advisory Com- seminars, one on State Politics in India, a mittee on Research and Development, and, as second on Indian Sculpture, and a third on already indicated, the Ad Hoc Library Com- Religion in South Asia. It organized and held mittee and the South Asia Committee.