The Department of Asian Studies at Palacký University Olomouc is currently accepting proposals for its 20th Annual Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS), which will be held on November 20–21, 2026 in Olomouc, Czech Republic.
This conference is primarily an in-person event. However, participants based at non-European institutions and those with no institutional affiliation living outside of Europe will have the option to participate online.
Theme
The general theme of this year’s conference is “Denial, Exclusion, Absence: Exploring the Negative Space in Asia.” We invite contributions that deal with issues related to this theme with a focus on the languages, cultures, societies, and histories of Asia as well as their diasporic manifestation, using a variety of theoretical, methodological, and (inter)disciplinary approaches. Proposals should be grounded in original research in anthropology, history, international relations, linguistics, literature, philosophy, political science, sociology, visual art, and other fields in the humanities and social sciences.
We seek submissions that approach the theme of the conference from a variety of angles and perspectives. The following keywords are offered as inspiration:
- negation, ellipsis, refusal etc. in languages;
- marginalization and exclusion;
- the experience and voices of the exiled and the displaced, refugee and stateless populations;
- cultural erasure;
- language attrition and loss;
- censorship and self-censorship;
- biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and extinction;
- death and disappearance;
- the unspoken, the silenced, the incomplete, and the redacted;
- non-action;
- nostalgia, utopias (as ou-topoi), and non-places;
- decay and amnesia;
- etc. etc.
We invite proposals in the following formats: (1) individual papers; (2) organized panels; (3) research posters, and (4) alternative formats, such as films, poetry, artworks, music, theatre, which approach the theme of the conference in original and unconventional ways, as well as relevant roundtable discussions, book presentations, etc. The conference will also include a session dedicated to (5) individual student papers which can also deal with topics that are unrelated to the main theme of the conference. Please find our submission guidelines below
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Submission Guidelines
The working language of the conference is English. All proposals should be submitted in the form of fully anonymized abstracts. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is July 15, 2026.
We use Microsoft CMT for managing the peer-review process for this conference. Please read the submission guidelines below and submit your proposal via this CMT submission link. You need to have/create an account on the Microsoft CMT platform to be able to make a submission. The CMT author submission guidelines are available here.
Please note that each person can submit only one proposal for an individual paper (i.e., formats no. 1 and 5, below), or one research paper as part of an organized panel proposal (i.e., format no. 2), or one research poster proposal (i.e., format no. 3). In addition, you can also be the co-author of one research paper submitted by another author. You can also submit a proposal for an alternative activity (i.e., format no. 4).
Below, you can find more information regarding each participation format.
(1) Individual papers: Abstracts of individual research papers must be anonymized and up to 2,000 characters long, including references. At the conference, each presenter will have 20 minutes to present their paper, followed by 10 minutes for discussion and Q&A.
(2) Organized panels: Organized panels may consist of three or four research papers. A panel consisting of three papers will be allocated a 90-minute time slot, while a panel consisting of 4 papers will be allocated a 120-minute time slot. It is up to the convenor of the panel to decide how to dispose of the time available to their panel. Submissions for panels must include: (1) the title of the panel, (2) the panel abstract up to 2,000 characters long, and (3) the titles and abstracts of the papers included in the panel (each abstract can be up to 2,000 characters long) submitted in a separate PDF file via the submission platform. The submission must be fully anonymized, and there must not be any identifying information in the PDF file either. If you wish to organize a panel of more than four papers, you need to divide it into two parts, both consisting of three or four papers, and submit your proposal as an “organized double panel.”
(3) Research posters: A proposal for a research poster should consist of an anonymized abstract, up to 2,000 characters long, including references. It is the responsibility of the poster’s author(s) to print the poster and deliver it to the conference venue on the morning of the first day so it may be exhibited. Posters should be printed on paper of at least 150 gsm and in suitably high resolution, either in color or black and white. If enough poster proposals are accepted, the conference will include a dedicated session for posters. Students may submit poster proposals on topics that are unrelated to the main theme of the conference (see also below on student papers).
(4) Alternative formats: You may submit a proposal for an alternative activity, such as a roundtable discussion, a book presentation, a film screening, a music or theatre performance, an art project, etc. Proposals must include a description of the activity, including information on how much time it would require, what would be needed from the organizer, and how the activity would contribute to the theme of the conference. Proposals should be up to 2,000 characters long, including references.
(5) Student papers: This format is reserved for research papers by undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. The conference will include a dedicated session for the presentation of these papers, where each paper will be allocated 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes for discussion and Q&A. In this format, submissions on topics that are unrelated to the main theme of the conference are also welcome. The sole author or the first author of these papers must be enrolled in a university study program at the time of the conference. Abstracts must be anonymized and up to 2,000 characters long, including references.
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Further Information
Decisions on the abstracts will be sent out by e-mail by September 15, 2026.
The authors of accepted proposals will have to register and pay the conference fee by September 30, 2026. Details regarding the registration are available here.
We do not require full papers to be submitted to us before the conference. After the conference, participants will have the opportunity to submit their papers for inclusion in an open access and print-on-demand edited book. The submitted papers will undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process. The volume will be published by Palacký University Press as Volume 7 in the Olomouc Asian Studies (OLAS) series.
Any questions can be addressed to acas(at)upol.cz.
We look forward to your proposals!
The Organizing Team of ACAS 2026