UCL History Department, London, UK
5-6th Jun 2026
Deadline: 1st Dec 2025
The Centre for Central and East Asian Studies, invites paper proposals for a two-day workshop on Qing China in Global Perspectives, to be held on 5–6 June 2026, hosted by the UCL History Department. Professor Cameron Campbell (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) will deliver the keynote lecture.
We welcome contributions that combine historical evidence with analytical, quantitative, or comparative approaches to Qing China. Papers that connect Qing history to broader questions in political economy, development, and long-run institutional change are particularly encouraged.
Possible themes include (but are not limited to):
State capacity, taxation, and fiscal institutions in comparative perspective
Market integration, trade networks, and factor mobility within and beyond the Qing empire
Human capital, social mobility, and examination systems as mechanisms of selection and incentive
The political economy of empire, governance, and public goods provision
Qing borderlands, frontiers, and transnational entanglements (Tibetan Religion, Turkic sources)
Circulation of goods, ideas, and technologies across Asia and beyond
Methodological innovation, including the use of digital archives, quantitative analysis, and large language models
The workshop is free of charge. Format: Each participant will pre-circulate a short paper (c. 3,000–5,000 words) to be discussed in a seminar-style setting over two days.
Submission: Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words with a short bibliography and a brief CV (1–2 pages) by 1 December 2025. Successful applicants will be notified by January 2026. Email: cceasuk@gmail.com
We look forward to bringing together a diverse group of scholars for two days of discussion and exchange in London.
Centre for Central and East Asian Studies, steering committee in alphabetic order: Prof. Georgina Brewis (IOE, UCL), Dr. Jennifer Bond (IOE, UCL), Prof. Kent Deng (Economic History, LSE), Dr. Lars Laamann (History, SOAS), Dr. Melanie Meng Xue (Economic History, LSE), Dr. Nora Yitong Qiu (Department of History, UCL).
We bring together scholars working across the histories, economies, and languages of Central and East Asia. Anchored at UCL, Department of History, and drawing on expertise from partner institutions across London, the Centre fosters interdisciplinary and cross-regional research on themes that span empire, mobility, knowledge exchange, and political economy from the early modern period to the present. The Centre supports collaborative scholarship that bridges disciplinary boundaries and engages with multilingual source materials, with a particular emphasis on areas traditionally marginal to national narratives, such as borderlands, frontier zones, and transregional networks. We are especially committed to developing new methodological approaches, including the use of digital humanities tools, quantitative analysis, and the integration of non-European epistemologies. Through workshops, reading groups, visiting speakers, and public events, the Centre provides a platform for critical exchange among historians, social scientists, and area specialists. It aims to support early career researchers and graduate students while contributing to a broader rethinking of the global dimensions of Central and East Asian pasts.