British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS) conference 9-11 Sept 2020 – POSTPONED
This will not be a surprise, but nevertheless it is with regret that I have to announce that the 2020 BACS conference, scheduled for 9-11 September at the University of Birmingham, will be postponed for 12 months. The conference is now planned to be at Birmingham on 8-10 September 2021, with the BACS AGM proposed for Thursday 9 September at 2pm. At present we plan that in 2021 we will hold essentially the same conference, in the same place, although of course we will all have to see how the global situation develops in the intervening time.
This decision was taken by a meeting of BACS officers and the conference organiser, where we considered options to wait and see (continue with face-to-face planning with the option to switch to online no later than July), to go online now, or to postpone for a year. After considering all the factors we could think of, we decided that the safest, most practical and generally least bad option – and the one that would reduce uncertainty as much as possible – was for postponement. This decision was then sent to the rest of BACS Council to secure their approval. We hope that 12 months will be a long enough delay that it will be possible to hold the conference in a face-to-face format in 2021, but we are of course prepared to revisit this decision at a suitable time if that proves to be necessary.
All those who submitted proposals have already been contacted. The proposal submission system remains open, with a new deadline of 16 April 2021 (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/historycultures/events/2020/bacs/index.aspx). Proposals that have already been submitted will remain on file and do not need to be resubmitted for 2021, but if proposers wish to amend or withdraw their proposals at any point up to the new deadline then they are free to do so. New proposals are of course welcome at any point up to the new deadline. We will renew the Call for Papers at a suitable time (ideally at the end of the calendar year 2020), after considering the international situation at that point.
We hope that this decision and announcement at least removes one uncertainty from your lives in these difficult times, and we very much hope that we will (be able to) welcome you to Birmingham in September 2021.
Wishing all of you and your loved ones safe and healthy,
Naomi Standen
BACS 2020-21 Conference organiser, on behalf of BACS Council