The 15th Annual Consortium for Asian and African Studies (CAAS) International Symposium

July 28, 2025

The 15th International Symposium of the Consortium for Asian and African Studies (CAAS), an international consortium of seven world-leading institutions in Asian and African studies, including TUFS, was hosted by Leiden University (The Netherlands) and held over four days from Wednesday, June 11th to Saturday, June 14th, 2025.

This symposium was held as a continuation of the 14th symposium hosted by Columbia University last year, and is held every year by a member institution of CAAS in turn. This symposium was held jointly with the Africa-Asia Conference-Festival co-hosted by IIAS (The International Institute for Asian Studies) at Leiden University, and was the first to be held in Africa (Dakar, Senegal). It was held in-person at Cheikh Anta Diop University, one of our partner universities, under the theme of ��A New Axis of Knowledge�� with around 40 researchers giving presentations from member institutions, Leiden University, the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations, the School of Oriental and African Studies, Columbia University, Shanghai International Studies University and our university. 10 researchers from our university, including Prof. Shinichi Takeuchi, Prof. Chikako Nakayama, Associate Prof. Daisuke Shinagawa and Designated researcher Ms. Chihiro Kumashiro, gave presentations. For the young researchers who participated, presenting their research at an international symposium was a valuable experience, and also provided a valuable opportunity to exchange research with researchers conducting cutting-edge research around the world and other young researchers from various countries. The next symposium is scheduled to be held by the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO, France) in Paris.