Triple ASIAC announcement: ASIAC XX Annual Conference | ASIAC Days in Central Asia 2026 | ASIAC Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis

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– Call for papers and panels for ASIAC’s annual conference, 14-16 December 2026, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy (Deadline for submissions: 21 June 2026)

– Call for papers and panels for ASIAC Days in Central Asia 2026, 7-8 September 2026, Almaty, Kazakhstan (Deadline for submission: 23 May 2026)

– Launch of the ASIAC Prize for the Best International Doctoral Thesis on Central Asian and Caucasus Studies Inaugural Edition 2026 (Nominations close on Friday, 31 July 2026)

ASIAC XX Annual Conference

On 14-16 December 2026, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice will host the XX edition of the annual conference of the Italian Association for the Study of Central Asia and the Caucasus (ASIAC).

The Conference aims to foster scientific dialogue between scholars working on these geographical areas from Italy and abroad. We welcome contributions from a wide array of disciplines, including (but not limited to) history, linguistics, philology, literature, politics, sociology, anthropology, archaeology, and geography.

Annual Conference Special Section - Exploring verticality in Central Asia and the Caucasus

What does it mean to explore verticality in Central Asia and the Caucasus? How can verticality help us better understand political, social, and cultural processes in these regions?

Recent scholarship in political geography, anthropology, and related fields has drawn attention to the “vertical” dimensions of power. Rather than seeing space only as horizontally bounded territory, these approaches highlight how authority and meaning are organised across different levels, from subsoil resources and underground infrastructures to ground-level institutions and everyday practices, to elevated architectures and airspace. In this perspective, political and social life unfold within layered spatial arrangements that connect material environments with symbolic and institutional orders. Taken together, these approaches suggest that verticality can be a productive lens for understanding how infrastructures, narratives, environments, and political imaginaries interact across multiple scales. It also helps illuminate how authority is constructed, maintained, and challenged, and how meanings travel between policy frameworks, expert knowledge, and lived experience. 

In this Special Section, we approach verticality as an analytical lens to examine how infrastructures, narratives, environments, and political imaginaries interact across different levels. This perspective allows us to explore how authority is produced, maintained, and challenged, and how people engage with and reshape these layered arrangements in practice. Furthermore, it allows us to examine how power operates “from above and below” simultaneously, and how actors situated at different levels engage with, reinterpret, or reshape dominant narratives and institutional arrangements.

We particularly welcome contributions exploring how lived experiences of verticality, ranging from high-rise urban environments and subterranean infrastructures to bordering practices, resource governance, and symbolic representations, shape social differentiation, sovereignty, perception, and mobility in Central Asia and the Caucasus. We invite contributions that engage critically with verticality from across disciplinary perspectives. Comparative and transnational approaches, as well as diverse methodological strategies, are especially encouraged.

We strongly encourage participants to submit proposals for organised panels, comprising participants from different universities or research institutions and one chair.

Proposals for individual papers should include a title and an abstract (around 250 words), and the affiliation and contact information for all the speakers. Proposals for organised panels should also include a short description (approximately 100 words) on the general theme of the panel.

We also invite submissions for the Visual section, where we welcome documentaries, short films, photographs, graphic novels, and other visual formats of research. Submissions for the Visual section should be accompanied by a 250-word description explaining their connection to the theme of verticality in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Proposals should be submitted via this link: 
https://forms.gle/88TGJXjB2H3L3LSz7
Please note that proposals received via email will not be considered.

The deadline for proposal submission is 21 June 2026 at 23:59 CEST.


The conference will take place in person. Under special circumstances (e.g., issues in obtaining mobility funds or visas), the Organisation Committee will accept participants joining remotely via e-conferencing tools.

The working language of the conference will be English. Full panel proposals in languages other than English may be considered on a case-by-case basis; in such cases, language preference should be clearly expressed in the panel proposal submission. A selection of papers will also be considered for publication in ASIAC’s academic journal Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus. 

The acceptance of papers and panels will be communicated by 17 July 2026.

Audience attendance is free, but all speakers must register and pay the conference fee, which will also serve as the Association’s 2026 membership fee (75 euro for professors and academics, 50 euro for students or independent researchers).

Useful dates:

This conference is organised by an Organising Committee composed of Giorgio Comai, Rebecca Ciattini, Carlo Frappi, Cesare Figari Barberis, Laura Mafizzoli, Frank Maracchione, Caterina Re, Giulia Sciorati, and Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti in cooperation with ASIAC’s Board of Directors.

ASIAC Days in Central Asia 2026

ASIAC and CAPS Unlock are thrilled to invite submissions for the conference “Local Voices, Global Debates: ASIAC Days in Central Asia”, the first ASIAC-sponsored conference in Central Asia dedicated to bringing our vibrant interdisciplinary scholarly space closer to Central Asian scholars, which will take place on 7-8 September 2026 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

This conference aims to bring fresh energy to the field by combining rigorous academic debate with hands-on exchange and collaborative reflection between local and international Central Asia studies experts. The programme will feature organised panels and roundtables, and thematic panels collecting authors’ submissions. Furthermore, the event will feature workshops with senior academics and editors on research design, methods and publication, as well as networking events designed to spark dialogue, share experiences, and strengthen scholarly networks across the region and beyond.

We welcome contributions addressing a broad range of topics related to Central Asia. To facilitate networking and coherence, we have decided to focus our attention on the following interdisciplinary themes:

• Political economy, development, production, labour and social transformation
• Borders, migration, infrastructure, and connectivity
• Climate, water, energy, environment, and sustainability
• Knowledge production, methods, and fieldwork practice in Central Asia

We also encourage contributions that explore the evolving relations between Italy and Central Asia within the broader context of contemporary regional dynamics, including political, economic, cultural, and academic exchanges.

How to apply

Submissions may take the form of individual paper proposals, panel proposals (3-4 papers with a chair and/or discussant), or roundtables (3-5 participants and a chair).

Organised panels: We strongly encourage participants who submit proposals for organised panels to include participants from different universities or research institutions and one chair. Panel proposals should include a short description (approximately 100 words) on the general theme of the panel, and an abstract for each of the papers included in the panel, as well as name, affiliation and contact information for all participants.

Organised roundtables: Panel proposals should include a short description (250-400 words) on the general theme of the roundtable, as well as names, affiliations and contact information for all participants.

Individual papers: Proposals for individual papers should include a title and an abstract (max 300 words), and the affiliation and contact information for all the authors and speakers.

As usual for ASIAC conferences, we also invite visual submissions, where we welcome documentaries, short films, photographs, graphic novels, and other visual formats of research. Submissions for the Visual section should be accompanied by a 250-word description explaining their connection to the themes of the conference.

Book presentations and other forms of panels should be discussed by writing to Dr Frank Maracchione at: [email protected].

All proposals should be submitted via this link: https://forms.gle/9dK2kKUh2CCd6tTn9

Please note that proposals received via email will not be considered!

The deadline for proposal submission is 23 May 2026 at 23:59 (CET).

The conference will take place in person. Under special circumstances (e.g., issues obtaining mobility funds or visas), the organising committee might accept participants joining remotely via e-conferencing tools.

The working language of the conference will be English. Full panel proposals in languages other than English (including any regional language, Russian, and others) will be considered on a case-by-case basis; in such cases, language preference should be clearly expressed in the panel proposal submission. A selection of papers (in English) will also be considered for publication in ASIAC’s academic journal Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus: https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/asiac/index.

The acceptance of papers and panels will be communicated by 1 July 2026.

Audience attendance is free, but all speakers must register and pay the conference fee, which will also serve as the ASIAC Association 2026 membership fee, with a special price:

• Free for PhD students and non-structured scholars (without a permanent contract).
• € 35 for established Central Asian scholars.
• € 75 for established scholars from outside Central Asia, and professionals.

We will also ask scholars with larger research funds, or those people or organisations that simply wish to contribute, to pay a solidarity fee of their choice to help cover certain expenses for local scholars. Depending on fundraising, we might be able to offer support to a limited number of scholars for expenses.

Useful dates:

• Deadline for proposal submission: 23 May 2026, 23:59 CEST.
• Notification of acceptance: 1 July 2026.
• Registration and fee payment: 31 July 2026.

• Publication of the final programme: 15 August 2026.
• Conference dates: 7-8 September 2026.
• Venue to be confirmed.

This conference is organised by an Organising Committee composed of Frank Maracchione, Tlegen Kuandykov, Aida Aidarkulova, Giulia Sciorati, and Carlo Frappi in close cooperation with ASIAC’s Board of Directors, and CAPS Unlock.

ASIAC Prize for the Best International Doctoral Thesis on Central Asian and Caucasus Studies Inaugural Edition 2026

The ASIAC Doctoral Thesis Prize is awarded annually by the Italian Association for the Study of Central Asia and the Caucasus to recognise the best doctoral thesis focused on the region of Central Asia and the Caucasus. This year marks the inaugural edition of the award.

The prize aims to support and promote outstanding research by early-career scholars, highlighting important academic contributions across diverse themes within Central Asian and Caucasus studies. Winners of the prize will gain recognition within the academic community, potentially supporting future career development, and a symbolic prize of €400.

The winner will also be invited to join the ASIAC conference and present their research in a dedicated panel.

Eligibility

Eligible theses must have been submitted during the 2025 calendar year and should make a substantial contribution to scholarship on Central Asia and/or the Caucasus in the social sciences and humanities (please contact us if you are in doubt). The theses must be written in English or Italian.

Nominations

PhD supervisors, thesis examiners, and Heads of Departments or Schools are invited to nominate outstanding theses. There are no limitations in terms of how many theses can be nominated by a single academic or institution.

All nominations must be submitted online via the official nomination form. Nominations close on Friday, 31 July 2026, at 11.59 pm (CET).

Submit your nomination here: https://forms.gle/3pEJyeJpurySFWkQ9.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Monitoring

Following the submission of nominations, nominators and nominees will be invited to complete a brief Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) monitoring form. This initiative helps ASIAC ensure fairness and inclusivity in the selection process. Responses will remain anonymous and will not influence prize decisions. Your cooperation supports ASIAC’s commitment to equity and diversity.

Selection Process

A committee appointed by the ASIAC Executive Board will evaluate all submissions and select the winning thesis. The prize will be formally presented at ASIAC’s 2026 Annual Conference. The committee reserves the right not to award the prize in any given year if no thesis meets the required academic standard.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the nomination process or the award, please contact: [email protected].