The 2011 World History Association Conference Wrap-up

Well, the Great Firewall succeeded in keeping me from posting while I was in Beijing, but I can at least make a few comments about this year's World History Association meeting.  Hosted by the Global History Center at Capital Normal University, this was certainly one of the best WHA meetings to date.  There were record numbers of panels and attendees.  And, thanks to the East Asian location, a number of the participants were first-timers for the WHA, which helped give the conference a fresh vibe.

What stood out for me at the conference?  Well, I have to say I was impressed by Capital Normal University.  The local conference committee did a great job in organizing the meeting, which went off very smoothly.  There was even simultaneous translation for the keynotes and major presentations.  The students at Capital Normal were also very impressive.  They were as tireless and smart as they were numerous, which is saying something.  Every conference room had a student in charge of making sure that the speakers were attended to with water and tech support.

Once again, also, I was impressed that the WHA knows how to pace a conference.  Some conferences overwhelm you with too many panels and presentations.  The WHA, however, seems to understand that breaks are necessary to regroup, reorganize, and network.  And, breaks with plenty of food and drink are even better.  Well done, WHA!

Finally, I was particularly impressed by the panels on Southeast Asia in World History.  This is a mongo cool world region on it's own, but an awful lot of SE Asian specialists have caught on to the fact that the region offers all sorts of contributions to our understanding of World History (and that World History helps us make sense of SE Asia).  This bodes very well for this coming year's Siam Reap Symposium on SE Asia in World History, to be held in Cambodia from January 2-4.