The Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs is a regional conference of the Association for Asian Studies, the largest area studies association in the U.S. with over 7,000 members. It met jointly with the first ever Himalayan Studies Conference organized by the ANHS (Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies), the only academic organization devoted to the study of the Himalayan region in the U.S. 

The joint conference had 50 panels devoted to a wide range of themes including: "Climate change in the Himalaya, "Indigenous peoples and struggles over resources in the Himalaya," "Japanese Linguistics," "Politics of the Chinese Communist Party", and "Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Immigrant Labor."

Keynote speakers: Oxford University’s Prof. David Gellner and Yale University’s Prof. K. Sivaramakrishnan

Over 200 people from the U.S., England, Austria, Switzerland, India, Nepal, the Netherlands, and France attended.

 ~ All sessions at Macalester College, Olin-Rice, 1600 Grand Ave.,