The Society for East Asian Anthropology (SEAA) is an officially recognized section within the American Anthropological Association (AAA). We are open to all members of the AAA but our activities are intended to reach beyond the membership of the AAA. Any anthropologist anywhere in the world is welcome to join SEAA, to subscribe to our GoogleGroup “SEAA List” to post, and to participate. SEAA is committed to developing international channels of communication among anthropologists throughout the world. In 2026 we celebrate our 25th anniversary. We hope to promote discussion and share information on diverse topics related to the anthropology of Taiwan; PRC; Hong Kong; Japan; Korea; other societies/cultures of Asia and the Pacific Basin with historical or contemporary ties to East Asia; transnational linkages among East Asian or between East Asian and other societies/cultures; and diasporic societies/cultures identified with East Asia.
Founded in 2001 as a section of the American Anthropological Association, the Society for
East Asian Anthropology is committed to developing international channels of
communication among anthropologists throughout the world. We promote discussion and
share information on diverse topics related to the anthropology of East Asia and other
societies/cultures of Asia and the Pacific Basin with historical or contemporary ties to East
Asia; and diasporic societies/cultures identified with East Asia.
We build a legacy that expands possibilities for coming generations under the banner of
“shaping futures.” We take shaping futures as an assertion, a responsibility, a platform for
trans-national community-building, and a call to action. It is a crucial responsibility for
anthropologists to advance the ongoing inter-generational and inter-regional dynamism that
creates our legacy. We thus foreground mentoring—both vertical and lateral—as central to
such dynamism. In committing to a vibrant future that responds to constantly changing
conditions, we actively promote cross-generational leadership and empathic mentorship that
builds legacies across space, time, regions, institutions, and people.
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- Chungking Mansions Tour
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- SEAA 2016 HK Conference Keynote Panel
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- SEAA 2016 HK Conference Keynote Audience
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- SEAA 2016 HK Conference Keynote Audience
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- SEAA 2016 HK Conference Panel
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- SEAA 2016 HK Conference Banquet & Performance
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- SEAA 2016 HK Conference Lunch
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- SEAA 2016 Business Meeting in MSP
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- 2016 Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Prize (H.M.) Megan Steffen with Carolyn Stevens
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- 2016 Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Prize winner Adam Liebman with Carolyn Stevens
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- 2016 Hsu Book Prize winner Jie Yang with Manduhai Buyandelger
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- Christine Yano with Heidi Lam
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- Li Zhang and Jenny Chio present the 2015 Plath Media Prize
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- 2014 SEAA Business Meeting
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- Manduhai Buyandelger receives the 2014 Hsu Book Prize
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- 2013 Hsu Book Prize recipients Junko Kitanaka & Judith Farquhar with Vanessa Fong
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- 2013 Plath Media Prize recipient Jenny Chio with Fuji Lozada
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- Ted Bestor, founding SEAA President
