Call for Papers
Date: Thursday, 18 March 2027
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, in conjunction with AAS 2027 Annual Conference
The Society for the Study of Early China is pleased to announce its 2027 annual conference, scheduled for Thursday, 18 March 2027. The conference is planned to be held in conjunction with the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) 2027 Annual Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, pending approval of our meeting space application with AAS. Should space at the AAS venue not be granted, the conference will seek an alternative location in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
We invite proposals for presentations on all topics related to Early China (i.e., from earliest times down to and including the period of the Eastern Han dynasty). Presentations will be no more than 20 minutes in duration (including Q&A). The conference is conducted in English.
Proposals are due 23 October 2026
Decisions will be announced by 13 November 2026
To submit a proposal, send in a single document:
- Your name, institutional affiliation (e.g., “Department of Ancient History, Miskatonic University”) or “Independent”, and formal title (e.g., “PhD,” “Professor Emerita,” etc.).
- Your institutional or contact email and mailing addresses. (Put these in the proposal.)
- The title of your proposed presentation and an abstract of not more than 250 words.
- Send your proposal (DOC or PDF format) from your email address to the organizing committee at ssec@earlychina.org. Please direct questions to the same email address.
- Please use “SSEC 2027 Submission” in the subject line of your email. Please name your file “surname_SSEC2027”.
Selection Criteria
Membership in the Society is recommended but not required at present. However, all else being equal, proposals from current members receive preference. To become a member, visit this page.
- Submission and formal aspects
- Punctual submission
- Abstract within the stated word limit
- Inclusion of full personal information, including professional affiliation, if any
- Scope
- Each proposal as submitted should be suited to a presentation of the length specified in the call for papers (no more than 20 minutes).
- Professional status and location
- We desire geographical diversity and want to include scholars located at large and small institutions both inside and outside the United States.
- We seek the participation of a variety of faculty members, from recent PhDs to senior scholars.
- Given time constraints, only a small portion of the presenters in any given year will be graduate students (including ABD candidates).
- Variety
- We aim for a group of presentations with a broad range of topics that reflect the breadth of early China studies.
- We seek to have a different set of presenters every year and to avoid consistently selecting from a small group. For that reason, presenting at two consecutive SSEC conferences may happen at the discretion of the selecting committee. Individuals who have already presented at the last two consecutive SSEC conferences are not eligible to present for a third time in a row.
- Suitability
- Proposals should be suited to the conference in terms of topic, approach, and period (Han and before). Early China, the journal of the SSEC, is the standard for these judgments.
- Credibility
- Proposals should demonstrate sound research methods and use of legitimate sources.
- If AI is used in any parts of the submission, authors must disclose how AI was used, and submit before and after versions of the submission in a single document, labeling each part accordingly.
- Clarity
- Proposals should be clear and easy to understand.
- Significance
- The significance of each proposal’s argument should be evident.