CfP: Eighth International Conference on Lao Studies
Eighth International Conference on Lao Studies
When: Thursday, 10 September to Sunday, 13 September 2026
Where: Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
The Institute of Anthropology at the Centre of Asian and Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University, and the Center for Lao Studies (CLS) are pleased to announce that the Eighth International Conference on Lao Studies (ICLS 8) will be held on September 10-13, 2026 in Heidelberg, Germany. The main objective of the conference is to promote Lao studies, broadly defined, by providing an international forum for scholars to present and discuss various aspects of Lao Studies.
Organizers:
Institute of Anthropology
Centre of Asian and Transcultural Studies
Heidelberg University
Voßstr. 2, Building 4110, 69115 Heidelberg
email: ethnologie[at]urz.uni-heidelberg.de
Center for Lao Studies
27 Monte Vista Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080 USA tel: +1.415.373.7966 fax: +1.415.373.7966 email: info[at]laostudies.org
Theme: The Time and Space of Laos: Neighbors and Transformations
It is not only in the idiom of “from landlocked to landlinked“, that Laos has been recognized as a country intensely linked with its neighbors. It is also a fact that it is situated between countries of highly different political organizations and economic status. As such, Laos has managed to find unique ways of dealing with both external influences and internal transformations. This also implies multiples diachronic dimensions – Life in contemporary Laos is shaped by the distinct times of change, of tradition and of national and geopolitical developments. It also concerns space: besides Laos’s borders with its regional neighbors, there are also wide-ranging international links, including those across Asia, into the Pacific, Europe or the Americas. Talking about space in Laos also implies contrasts between highland and lowland, city and countryside or river and forest. This addresses new modes of transportation and communication that
compress time and space, such as railroads, cellphones and the internet, but also the cycles of agricultural life and its transformation through climate change and cash cropping.
The Eighth International Conference on Lao Studies invites workshops and presentations that address these issues in a widely conceived way. It also intends to accommodate all academic scholarship in the social sciences and humanities related to Laos, to people identifying as Lao or to the country more generally, including people from all ethnic groups found in Laos, and diaspora communities all over the world.
Description
The conference will bring together Lao Studies scholars and researchers from all disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, and all intellectual and political perspectives, to share paper presentations, panel presentations, exhibits, performances, and cultural activities.
The following are included within the target groups of the conference:
- All self-identified ethnic groups of Laos (e.g. Lao, Khmu, Hmong, Ieu-Mien, Akha, Phouan, Phou Tai, Nyouan, etc.);
- Lao/Thai Isan and other ethnic Lao groups in Thailand (e.g. Lao Song, Phouan, Phou Tai, etc.)
- Ethnic Lao living in Cambodia
- Cross-border ethnic groups living in Vietnam, China, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia (e.g. Akha, Hmong, Phouan, Ieu-Mien, Khmu, Tai Lue, Tai Dam, Lahu, Brao, etc.)
- Overseas diaspora originally from Laos or descendants of people from Laos (including French Lao, German Lao, Lao Americans, Hmong Americans, Khmu Americans, Australian Lao, Canadian Lao, etc.)
The following are some, but certainly not all, possible topics of interest to the conference organizers:
- Architectural Transformations
- Art and Music
- Border Trade and Interactions
- Buddhism and Other Religions
- Community
- Cultures of Ethnic Groups in Laos
- Education
- Ethnic Groups and Economic and Social Change
- Ethnomusicology
- Extractive Industries
- Families and Children
- Gender Relations
- Health and Illness
- History
- Identity Politics
- Infrastructures and their Effects
- Internet-Based Communications and Networking
- Language, Linguistics and Literature
- Lao American Issues
- Lao Heritage
- Lao People in the Regional/Global Economy
- Lao Relations with People from Other Ethnic Groups
- Large-Scale Economic Land Concessions
- Livelihood Changes
- Nature Conservation (including Wildlife and Protected Area Management)
- Nature-Society Interactions
- Politics
- Research Methodologies in Lao Studies
- Rural Development
- Transnational Networks and Relations
- Urbanization and Development
PROCEDURES and TIMELINES
- Please submit abstracts for individual papers or organized panels in English until February 22nd, 2026, via this address Laostudies8[at]uni-heidelberg.de.
- The conference abstract committee will review abstracts and send an acceptance letter with scheduling information and other instructions for submitting final abstract statements by early March.
- Abstracts of panels and individual papers will be collected for distribution on-line.
Further information: https://conferencecentral.org/42.
Source: Call for Papers: Eighth International Conference on Lao Studies at the University of Heidelberg on Sept 10–13, 2026 [repost from H-SEA], H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US.