2026 Honolulu Conference

Message from the President:

The Association for Asian American Studies is aware of concerns around the 2026 conference in Honolulu. There are questions around the appropriateness of the site and how it reflects Asian settler colonial dynamics at work. In response to these issues, AAAS is taking several steps. We are working with a steering committee consisting of Kanaka Maoli and Asian American scholars and activists based in Hawai‘i. While we are still in the planning stage, initial ideas involve preconference zoom workshops on critical issues in Hawai‘i, collaborative detours focused on current and enduring issues in Hawai‘i,  and centering Native Hawaiian scholars and activists in our plenaries. A statement will come from the steering committee in the next week or so. 

As an association, we are grateful for the critiques that push us to consider the dynamics of power that we are embedded in. As president, it is my hope that this continued dialogue will strengthen our work and our communities. Finally, I am committed to enacting procedural changes that will allow our conference to be more responsive and responsible to the places and communities impacted by our annual gatherings. 

We have extended the deadline for proposal submission to October 20th.

Martin F. Manalansan IV
President