Cancellation Notice

MSA Sixth Annual Conference
Seoul 2022

“Solidarity”

Dear colleagues,

To our great regret, we write to you now to announce that this year’s Sixth Annual MSA Conference, intended to take place in Seoul between 3-7 July, will be cancelled.

The unfortunate and difficult circumstances through which we all have lived since 2020, and continue to live now, have highlighted the need to be cautious and flexible. We had hoped to meet many of you in person in Seoul after two years of largely online reunions, but the risks of the Omicron variant and the uncertainty it brings with it are unfortunately too high. International travel is currently one of the most complicated results of the pandemic, and we have reason to believe that due to restrictions in Korea it will be impossible for us to organize the Conference in person and on campus as intended. In particular, we believe the quarantine and self-isolation rules would crucially impact the possibilities of attending from outside the country, and this would sadly limit the opportunities for scholarly and professional exchange, particularly amongst our Asian colleagues.

For these reasons we have decided to cancel this year’s conference and hope to reconvene in a future (safer, more certain) moment. This is not to say that there will not be any MSA 2022 activities — the Presidents, Executive Committee and the Seoul Local Organizing Committee are currently working hard to provide an alternative range of online events. Further details will be available soon.

On a more positive note, we would also like to remind you that the MSA continues to grow, and that it does so through direct engagement and cooperation with its members. We are currently accepting nominations for the upcoming elections for President-Elect and Executive Committee members, and we would like to use this opportunity to announce that the deadline for nominations has been extended to February 11. Now, more so than ever, we want to hear from you and hear your different visions and ideas for the future of the MSA.

As usual, please feel free to reach out to us if you have any concerns, questions or suggestions. We are currently hosting (as of 16.00 CET/UTC+1) our first MSA Members Meeting of the year, and you can still join us here.

We thank you for your understanding and flexibility, and hope to see many of you in whichever format we can. We will be back in touch soon.

Stay safe and be well,

Aline Sierp, Jenny Wüstenberg & Jeffrey K. Olick (Co-Presidents)

Sarah Gensburger (President-Elect)

Jelena Đureinović, Catherine Gilbert, Sang-Hyun Kim, Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska, Hanna Teichler & Joanna Wawrzyniak (Executive Committee)