Click to find out more about SEASIA 2026

The 6th SEASIA Biennial Conference, “Forging Southeast Asia’s Futures,” will be held on:

8–10 July 2026
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
(48, Nanyang Ave, Singapore 639818)

“Forging Southeast Asia’s Futures” frames the 6th SEASIA Biennial Conference as an active inquiry into how diverse actors - states, communities, institutions, artists, educators, and technologists - shape the region’s trajectories amid shifting geopolitical, economic, environmental, and digital forces. The theme emphasises agency: the everyday and strategic capacities through which people and organisations navigate, contest, and remake structures of power to produce multiple, competing pathways into the future.

The conference continues the regional legacy of SEASIA biennial conferences — a region‑based forum for Southeast Asian area studies, hosted across Asia since the Consortium’s founding and inaugural meetings in 2013 and in subsequent editions. 


Call for Abstracts

Sub‑themes

The conference organizers call for papers on the following sub‑themes:

- Geopolitics, Governance, and the Agency of the State 
- Economic Architectures and Pathways to Inclusive Growth 
- Environmental Justice, Climate Change, and Ecological Agency 
- The Digital Nexus: Technology, Media, and Cybercultures 
- The Power of the Past: History, Memory, and Narrative Agency 
- Aesthetics of Agency: Arts, Literatures, and Cultural Expression 
- Mobility, Migration, and Transnational Communities 
- Dynamics of Identity: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender (Social Stability/Equality) 
- The Educational Nexus: Pedagogy, Power, and the Practice of Teaching Southeast Asia

 

To participate 

Any questions regarding the call, submission requirements, or conference logistics should be directed to: [email protected]

 

We look forward to your contributions and to shaping the future of Southeast Asian studies together!

Participant Types

The Conference Committee shall consider the following participation types:

Individual presentation (single-author oral papers presented in parallel sessions)

  • Submit a Title and an Abstract (max 550 words) detailing the research question, theoretical framework, methodology, sources utilized, and the main findings or arguments of the paper. Clearly state the paper's contribution to Southeast Asian Studies. The Committee will group individual papers into thematically coherent panels.

Organized panel (thematic sessions comprising multiple related papers presented in the same session)

  • If your presentation is part of an Organized Panel, select this option in addition to submitting your paper's Title and Abstract (max 550 words). To ensure correct grouping, you must indicate the full Panel Title and the full name of the Panel Chair/Discussant in the relevant fields.

Roundtable  (informal, discussion-focused gatherings where experts and participants dialogue on a specific issue)

  • If your presentation is part of an organized Roundtable, select this option in addition to submitting your paper's Title and Abstract (max 550 words). To ensure correct grouping, you must indicate the full  Roundtable Title and the full name of the Roundtable Chair/Discussant in the relevant fields.

Posters  (visual displays of research or project findings shown in a poster-hall for brief, one-on-one conversations)

  • Submit a Title and an Abstract (max 550 words) outlining the research background, methodology, key data or visual materials to be presented, and the conclusions expected. Poster presentations should be designed for a portrait format

Important information for all participants to note

All proposals must be submitted via the conference management platform EasyChair.

Prospective participants must create a free EasyChair account to submit an abstract.

*Click here to open an account.
*Click here for the detailed instructions on how to submit.

Abstract submission deadline15 February 2026
Notification of accepted papers15 April 2026
Registration deadline15 May 2026
Conference dates8 – 10 July 2026

FAQs on Registration

  • Information on registration fee will be updated at the end of January. There will be four categories: Regular, ASEAN, CLMVT, and Students (including PhD students).
  • We are currently securing travel funding. While support will be limited, priority will be given to students from Southeast Asia. 
You can use the category with the lower registration fee. For example, if you are a student and an ASEAN resident, you can pay the student price.

Yes. All students (undergraduate or graduate) can use the ‘student’ category as long as you have a valid ID or proof of enrolment for the current school term.

Information on registration will be updated soon.
Information on registration will be updated soon.

Yes. Further information on registration will be updated soon

No. For now, all Conference presenters and non-presenters must register online to participate in the Conference.

The Organizing Committee does not require a full paper submission.

All presentations will be on-site.

We are currently securing travel funding. While support will be limited, priority will be given to students from Southeast Asia.