The Australian Society for Asian Humanities is the oldest academic society in Australasia dedicated to the study of Asia and to the promotion of "the knowledge of Asia in Australia by providing a meeting-place where scholars could present their work to their peers and to the community at large." Founded in 1956 by A.R. Davis as the Oriental Society of Australia, in its early years it was "open to subscribers across the country but the bulk of its members were in Sydney."Legge, John. "ASAA's formation—a twentieth birthday account." Asian Studies Review 19.1 (1995): 83-90. It acquired its present name in 2021. The focus on Sydney ultimately resulted in the establishment of the

Asian Studies Association of Australia The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) is the peak body of university experts and educators on Asian Studies in Australia. Established in 1976, the ASAA promotes and supports the study of Asia in Australian universities and knowledge ...

(1975) and the

New Zealand Asian Studies Society The New Zealand Asian Studies Society (NZASIA) is established in 1974. It is an independent academic society that seeks to encourage the spread of knowledge about Asia, its history, its culture, and its role in international affairs. The society ...

(1974) rather than a geographic expansion of OSA membership. The society also hosts regular seminars, the annual A.R. Davis Memorial Lecture as well as an Emerging Scholars Award. Beginning in 1960, the society has published a scholarly journal, entitled ''

Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' from 1960 to 2019, and '' JOSAH: Journal of the Society for Asian Humanities'' from the 2020-21 issue. It is the oldest continuing Asia-focused journal in Australasia. It has also published several books, including ''Austrina'' (1982), in honour of the society's 25th anniversary. Its fiftieth anniversary was marked by a conference entitled "World without Walls" held at

The Women's College, University of Sydney The Women's College is a residential college within the University of Sydney, in the suburb of Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was opened in 1892. The Women's College is one of two all-female residential colleges at The Univ ...

, opened by Chancellor

Kim Santow The Honourable Justice Geza Francis Kim Santow Order of Australia, AO (11 March 1941 – 10 April 2008) was an Australian Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales New South Wales Court of Appeal, Court of Appeal. Santow was the son of ...

, and featuring keynotes i.a. from

Geremie Barmé Geremie R. Barmé (born 1954) is an Australian sinologist, author, and film-maker on modern and traditional China. He was formerly Director, Australian Centre on China in the World and Chair Professor of Chinese History at Australian National ...

Bob Debus Robert John Debus (born 16 September 1943) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lo ...

, and

Alison Broinowski Alison Elizabeth Broinowski, ( Woodroffe; born 25 October 1941) is an Australian academic, journalist, writer and former Australian public servant. Biography Alison Woodroffe was born in Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of Sout ...

. The founding editor was

Ian Nish Ian Hill Nish Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 June 1926 – 31 July 2022) was a British academic. A specialist in Japanese studies, he was Emeritus Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (L ...

and early contributors to the journal include

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis OBE, FNA, FASc, FRS (29 June 1893– 28 June 1972) was an Indian scientist and statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure, and for being one of the members of the fi ...

, Lo Hui-min,

Wang Gungwu Wang Gungwu, (; born 9 October 1930) is a Chinese-Singaporean historian, sinologist, and writer. He is a historian of China and Southeast Asia. He has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora, but he has objected to the use of the word ' ...

and

F. H. van Naerssen Frits Hermann ('Kees') van Naerssen (1904 – 7 June 1974)Naerssen, Frit ...

while recent contributors include

Meaghan Morris Meaghan Morris (born 5 October 1950) is an Australian scholar of cultural studies. She is currently a Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Life Born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, Morris was raised in Newcastl ...

Ghassan Hage Ghassan J. Hage (born 1957 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese-Australian academic serving as Future Generation Professor of Anthropology at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has held a number of visiting professorships including at the A ...

, Tejaswini Niranjana and Imran bin Tajudeen. A.R. Davis was the founding president. Presidents have include

Hermann Black Sir Hermann David Black (15 November 1904, Sydney – 28 February 1990, Sydney) was an economist, public-affairs commentator and university chancellor. First published in ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 17, (MUP), 2007.

(1958–60), C.P. Fitzgerald, and Michael G. Carter. The current president is Jon von Kowallis of

UNSW Sydney The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

and the editor of the journal is

Adrian Vickers Adrian Vickers is an Australian author, historian and professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Sydney. He writes a blog on Indonesian subjects. He has studied and documented Gambuh dance traditions, Panji (prince) stories, and ot ...

of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

References

Asian studies Learned societies of Australia Asian-Australian culture 1956 establishments in Australia Organizations established in 1956 {{asia-studies-stub