| Summary/Abstract |
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars (CCAS). The CCAS was established in March 1968 when, during the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Philadelphia, a group of graduate students and faculty walked out in protest over the AAS’s unwillingness to publicly question American policies in Asia. In May 1968, CCAS published the first issue of the CCAS Newsletter, designed to be a platform for scholars, students, and activists frustrated with the complacency of the scholars who dominated the field of Asian Studies at the time, particularly their unwillingness to critique the American War in Vietnam and their scholarship that rejected without deeply examining the premises underlying the formation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This first issue of what would soon be renamed the Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars and, in 1992, Critical Asian Studies, opened with “A Statement of Directions” written by Leigh Kagan, who, with Jon Livingston, served as the first editors.
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