Council on Thai Studies Annual Meeting

Council on Thai Studies
Annual Meeting 
October 17-19, 2014 
Center for Southeast Asian Studies 
University of Wisconsin-Madison 
Ingraham Hall, rm. 206 


The Council on Thai Studies (COTS), established in 1972, is a consortium of universities with a particular interest in Thai Studies.  In 2014, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is hosting COTS’ annual meeting, which is designed to provide scholars and students with opportunities to present both preliminary and more developed research findings, mainly in the social sciences and humanities, related to Thai. This year the conference will lead off, at noon on October 17, with a presentation by Dr. Chayan Vaddhanaphutti, often described as an “activist-intellectual”, and the director of the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University, Thailand. In the early afternoon of October 17 films related to Thailand will be shown. The first panel presentations will begin early on that same evening. Most of the presentations will be made throughout the day on Saturday, October 18, and on the morning of Sunday, October 19, all participants are invited to an informal brunch hosted by Professor Katherine Bowie. 
More details regarding the program will become available closer to time of the conference. One of the wonderful things about COTS is that registration is free for everyone, including presenters and others who simply want to observe. This makes it accessible for everyone, and we do encourage everyone to attend. Please join us! 

Call for Papers and Organized Panels 
The COTS 2014 organizers urge individuals and small groups to submit both individual presentation abstracts (not more than 250 words in length), and proposals for organized panels involving more than one presenter and possibly a discussant. Proposers of organized panels should submit 1) a panel abstract explaining the broad objective of the panel (not more than 250 words in length) and 2) the abstracts for each of the individual presentations included within the panel. Discussants may also be proposed for particular panels. 

Presenters will be provided with between 15-20 minutes to present their papers, depending on the number of submissions and available time. Discussants should speak for no more than 10. The deadline for individual abstracts and panel proposals is July 31, 2014. All submissions should be sent to Dr. Ian Baird, ibaird@wisc.edu (Chair, COTS 2014). 

Location and Accommodation 
COTS 2014 will be held at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ingraham Hall rm. 206, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Tel: 1-608-263-1755. For questions related to logistics, please contact Mary Jo Wilson at CSEAS, wilson6@wisc.edu. 

A block of rooms have been reserved for out-of-town participants at the Lowell Center, which is university accommodation within walking distance from the COTS venue. The following is the information required to book rooms: Council on Thai Studies (COTS) Conference Guest Room Block (Event #73007) 
Quantity of rooms: 10 rooms on night of Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014  
20 rooms on nights of Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 
Cut-off date for block reservation: September 16, 2014, so please do not delay in making your reservation. Guests need to call Lowell Center toll-free 1-866-301-1753 or local 1-608-256-2621 to make reservations.  When calling to make reservations please refer to group code: COTS. Or, for those who want to reserve online, please contact: http://bit.ly/cots16oct. Check-in Time: after 3:00 pm. Check-out Time: before 11:00 am 

Lowell Center location: 610 Langdon Street, Madison, WI, USA, 53703 
Room rates: Rates for 2014 have not yet been set. However, check 
http://conferencing.uwex.edu/rates.cfm for information as it becomes available.