An online conference on “The Royal Asiatic Societies and Nineteenth Century Science” was held on 2-3 October 2025. It brought together scholars from around the world to discuss nine scholarly societies dedicated to the study of Asian science, literature, and the arts that were founded in the late eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century. The papers treated these institutions as windows on to nineteenth century imperialism, Orientalism, Asian cultural exchange and scientific development. The conference is organized by Bernard Lightman (York University) and Sarah Qidwai (University of York) with support from YCAR.
