Speakers

The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences (ACSS) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities (ACAH) and The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies (ACCS). Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either conference will allow participants to attend sessions in both.

This page provides information about presenters. For details of presentations and other programming, please visit the Programme page.

  • Umberto Ansaldo
    Umberto Ansaldo
    VinUniversity, Vietnam
  • Dexter Da Silva
    Dexter Da Silva
    Keisen University, Japan
  • Katsuya Iijima
    Katsuya Iijima
    The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Diana Khor
    Diana Khor
    Hosei University, Japan
  • Emiko Miyashita
    Emiko Miyashita
    Haiku International Association, Japan
  • Miles Pennington
    Miles Pennington
    The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Yuko Takahashi
    Yuko Takahashi
    Tsuda University, Japan
  • Kyoko Uchimura
    Kyoko Uchimura
    Haiku International Association, Japan
More to be announced

Become a Plenary Speaker

At IAFOR, we are committed to delivering exceptional conferences that inspire and challenge academics and professionals from around the world. Since 2009 over 50,000 academics have chosen to present their research at our conferences. To ensure we offer the best content possible, we rely on established plenary speakers to share their insights, experience, and ideas with our diverse audience.

Excellent plenary speakers are central to our conferences, ensuring that timely, innovative and engaging content is presented to our audiences around the world. If you would like to be considered for a speaking slot at one of our conferences, please apply below.

Apply to Speak

Previous Speakers

View details of speakers at past ACSS conferences via the links below.

ACSS2025 ACSS2024
ACSS2023 ACSS2022 ACSS2021
ACSS2020 ACSS2019 ACSS2018
ACSS2017 ACSS2016 ACSS2015
ACSS2014 ACSS2013 ACSS2012
ACSS2011 ACSS2010
Umberto Ansaldo
VinUniversity, Vietnam

Biography

Professor Umberto Ansaldo is currently Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at VinUniversity, Vietnam. He previously served as Head of the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University, Australia from 2021 through 2023, Head of the School of Literature, Art and Media at the University of Sydney, Australia from 2018 through 2020, and Head of the School of Humanities at HKU, where he taught from 2009 to 2018.

Professor Ansaldo’s disciplinary roots are in linguistics, specifically in the study of language contact, linguistic typology, and language documentation. He is the author of four books to date (with CUP, OUP, Routledge, and Stockholm University Press), has edited or co-edited 11 volumes and journal special collections, and has authored multiple journal articles and book chapters. His most recent publication is the co-editorship of The Routledge Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Languages (Routledge, 2021).

At HKU, Professor Ansaldo led the Humanities Area of Inquiry on the Common Core Curriculum Committee in HKU’s major revision of its curriculum (2010-2013), a time when, along with the University of Melbourne, Australia, HKU was leading in reimagining undergraduate curricula. As Chair of Linguistics, he was instrumental in establishing the Department within the top ten programmes in Linguistics (QS rankings), with the programme ranking at number one in Hong Kong.

At the University of Sydney, Professor Ansaldo sat on the University Executive Research Committee and led his School through a transformative period in terms of curriculum innovation and research engagement. He was in charge of overseeing the incorporation of the Sydney College of the Arts into the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

Professor Ansaldo has secured competitive research grants and leveraged industry funding for the advancement of the humanities and social sciences throughout his career. One of his proudest achievements was his role in securing financial support to develop and host an exhibition on language and the brain, the ‘Talking Brains’ exhibition at the CosmoCaixa in Barcelona, Spain in 2017. This type of engagement and championing of the Humanities is what Umberto is most passionate about.

Professor Ansaldo has lived and worked in Sweden, The Netherlands, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong. and speaks seven languages, including Mandarin. He is well-acquainted with Asia and has conducted fieldwork in Muslim communities of the Indian Ocean, and has developed strong international networks in Southeast Asia, Japan, and Europe.

Previous Presentations

Panel Presentation (2025) | Peace Education in Times of Conflict
Keynote Presentation (2024) | Can Today’s Universities Contribute to a Better Future?
Dexter Da Silva
Keisen University, Japan

Biography

Professor Dexter Da Silva is Professor Emeritus at Keisen University in Tokyo, Japan, where he has been teaching for 35 years. He is an Educational Psychologist who has taught at junior high school, language schools, and universities in Sydney, Australia, and at various educational institutions in Japan. He was educated at the University of Sydney, Australia (BA, Dip. Ed., MA), and the University of Western Sydney, Australia (PhD). He has presented and co-presented at conferences throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States, and published or co-published a number of books, articles, and book chapters on education-related topics. He is a past president of the Asian Psychological Association and currently a Vice-President of IAFOR. As an Educational Psychologist, he is very interested in how Artificial Intelligence will continue to be incorporated into and impact research and theory on the nature, types, and uniqueness of Human Intelligence(s).

The Forum (2026) | The Role of the Arts and Humanities in Troubling Times
Katsuya Iijima
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Biography

Professor Katsuya Iijima is a medical doctor in Geriatric Medicine and Professor within the Institute for Future Initiatives at The University of Tokyo, Japan. As a Gerontology researcher, he is currently the Principal Investigator of many projects in regard to prevention of sarcopenia-related frailty. He participated in the Third Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health, chaired by the Japan Parliamentarian League for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Tokyo, in August 2017. He contributed to developing the ‘Tokyo Declaration’ via his presentation regarding Japan’s experiences in addressing a ‘super-ageing society’ through multisectoral strategies. His current specialties and interests include prevention of sarcopenia-related frailty with well-being and the Japanese concept of ‘Ikigai’, population approach and cultivation of older resident supporters in local communities, integrated community-based care systems,, integrated implementation of health services and care prevention for older adults in new policies of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, andGeron-Technology, or medical-engineering collaboration. He is an intellectual private-sector board member of the National Assembly of Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens and a professional board member of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | Community-Led Frailty Prevention in Japan: Empowering Older Adults for Healthy and Active Ageing with Well-being
Diana Khor
Hosei University, Japan

Biography

Professor Diana Khor is the President of Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, a position she has held since March 2025. She previously served in several senior leadership roles at the university, including Executive Trustee and Vice President, Director of the Global Education Center, and Dean of the Faculty of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies. She received her Bachelor of Social Science in 1983 and her Master of Philosophy degrees in 1985 from the University of Hong Kong. She also earned her MA in Sociology in 1987, and her PhD in Sociology in 1994 from Stanford University, United States.

Professor Khor joined Hosei University in 1999 as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of General Education. In 2003, she was appointed Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law and was promoted to Professor in 2005. Since 2008, she has served as Professor in the Faculty of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Professor Khor’s academic background is in Sociology, with a focus on gender and sexuality, particularly in East Asia. As Vice President and now President, she has been committed to advancing global education, strengthening international engagement in higher education, and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion across the university.

Roundtable Discussion (2026) | Senior Academic Leadership
Emiko Miyashita
Haiku International Association, Japan

Biography

Emiko Miyashita is a prominent and widely published haiku poet, as well as an award-winning translator who has given invited lectures and workshops around the world. She serves as a councillor for the Haiku International Association, as well as secretary of the Haiku Poets Association International Department in Tokyo. She is a dojin (leading member) of Ten’i (Providence) haiku group lead by Dr Akito Arima, and also a dojin of the Shin (Morning Sun), haiku group lead by Dr Akira Omine. From January 2008, until March 2010, she judged and wrote an English-language haiku column with Michael Dylan Welch every first Sunday in the Asahi weekly paper.

Haiku Workshop (2026) | What Is Haiku?

Previous Presentations

Haiku Workshop (2025) | What Is Haiku?
Haiku Workshop (2024) | What Is Haiku?
Miles Pennington
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Biography

Miles Pennington is Professor of Design-Led Innovation at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is the prospective Dean of the UTokyo College of Design, a new interdisciplinary programme focused on addressing complex societal challenges through design due to open in September 2027. He is also Director of the DLX Design Lab, an international and multidisciplinary lab that collaborates with researchers across the university to create value through design. Professor Pennington’s projects have included work on low-cost ocean monitoring, bio-intelligent systems, innovative healthcare devices, and explorations into metamaterials and coral conservation. Prior to joining The University of Tokyo in 2017, he led the Innovation Design Engineering (IDE) at the Royal College of Art, United Kingdom, a joint Master’s programme with Imperial College London, United Kingdom. He is an alumnus of IDE, graduating in 1992, and was also the founder and Head of the university’s Global Innovation Design (GID) programme. In addition to his core roles, he was a Director of Takram, London, an innovation consultancy with its headquarters in Tokyo, until 2017. He is currently Co-Director of the DLX Design Academy and has served as Specially Appointed Advisor to the President on Design Vision since April 2023.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | Design Unbound: Expanding the Frontiers of Design
Yuko Takahashi
Tsuda University, Japan

Biography

Professor Yuko Takahashi was named the eleventh president of Tsuda College (now Tsuda University) in 2016. She holds a BA from Tsuda College, an MA in International Affairs from the University of Tsukuba, Japan; and an MA in History and a PhD in Education from The University of Kansas. Her major research areas are American studies, American social history, and gender history.

Professor Takahashi has held numerous academic leadership roles, including president of the Japan University Accreditation Association (2023–present), president of the International Federation for Research in Women's History (2020–2025), and president of the Japanese Association for American Studies (2018–2020). She also served as a commission member of the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission (2018–2022), is a council member of the Science Council of Japan, and a trustee of the American Studies Foundation. A two-time Fulbright scholar, she conducted research at Stanford University in 2003 and Wellesley College in 2013. Her publications include Tsuda Umeko no Shakaishi (Umeko Tsuda: A Social History, 2002) and Tsuda umeko ̄ joshi kyōiku o hiraku (Umeko Tsuda: Pioneering Women’s Education, 2022).　

Featured Roundtable (2026) | TBA
Kyoko Uchimura
Haiku International Association, Japan

Biography

Ms Kyoko Uchimura is a haiku poet born in Tokyo. She earned a BA in Art History from International Christian University, Japan, and studied at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, from 1988 to 1989 as an exchange student. She worked for Christie’s art auction house from 1990 to 2014, contributing her expertise there for over twenty years.

Ms Uchimura began writing haiku in 2002, receiving the New Talent Award of the haiku group ‘Ten’I’, led by Dr Akito Arima, in 2008. She recently won first prize in the group’s essay contest in 2023. In 2013, she published her first haiku collection, titled ‘Venus’. She is currently a member of the Association of Haiku Poets in Japan.

Since 2014, Ms Uchimura has worked in an editorial role for Ten’I and the Haiku International Association since 2018, where she serves as a councilor and is responsible for editing the association’s quarterly haiku magazine, ‘HI’. She often writes short reviews for other haiku magazines. She has supported the administrative office of the Haiku UNESCO Promotion Council since 2018.

Haiku Workshop (2026) | What is Haiku?

Previous Presentations

Haiku Workshop (2025) | What is Haiku?