APSA BACKGROUND

Asia Pacific Sociological Association (APSA) was formed by Prof. John Western and a number of sociology colleagues from the Asia Pacific region in 1996. Conferences have been held at least every two years in the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Each conference has a specific theme which addresses the development of sociological research and scholarship in the Asia-Pacific region. The 2010 APSA Conference is the first to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

PRESIDENTS OF APSA

1. Emeritus Professor John Western (Australia) : 1996-1999
2. Professor Kenji Kosaka (Japan) : 1999-2002
3. Professor Dae-Yeun Jeong (South Korea) : 2002-2004
4. Professor Santhat Sermsri (Thailand): 2004-2009.
5. Associate Professor Ruchira Ganguly Scrase (Australia) : 2009 – present

APSA AND THE GOALS

APSA, the Asia Pacific Sociological Association is an academic association established in 1996 having goals as follow:

1. to establish a network to link sociological associations, sociology departments and individual sociologists in the Asia Pacific region;
2. to provide information and contacts using such means as the Internet, email and newsletters;
3. to act as a clearinghouse for co-operation in teaching, research and other professional activities;
4. to promote and assist the publication of social research focusing upon the region;
5. to encourage co-operation between sociologists, planners and policy makers at both the regional and community level;
6. to hold regular regional conferences, seminars and workshops;
7. to establish and maintain an on-line journal concerning issues in the Asia Pacific region to sociologists worldwide; and
8. to establish and maintain a website to better promote the concerns deemed most important by the association membership.

PAST CONFERENCES

1. Manila, The Philippines (1996)
2. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1997)
3. Cheju, South Korea (1999)
4. Nishinomiya, Japan (2000)
5. Brisbane, Australia (2002)
6. Seoul, South Korea (2004)
7. Bangkok, Thailand (2005)
8. Penang, Malaysia (2007)
9. Bali, Indonesia (2009)

APSA CONFERENCE 2010

The APSA conference this year is jointly organized by School of Social Science (SSS) & Ethnography and Development Research Unit (EDRU),  Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Malaysia, Asia Pacific Sociological Association (APSA), Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS),  University of Wollongong, Australia

Date of the Conference, December 8 – 11, 2010