The Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN) held its 21st annual conference on 5-7 April, 2011, at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The theme of this year’s conference was on the role of ritual and performance in the (re)production of the nation. ASEN was delighted to host six keynote speakers: Anthony Smith (LSE), Jon Fox (University of Bristol), Carol Duncan (Ramapo College of New Jersey), Tim Edensor (Manchester Metropolitan University), Jeffrey Alexander (Yale University) and Paul Connerton (University of Cambridge); the two workshop hosts, John Breen (School of Oriental and African Studies) and Andrew Higson (University of York); as well as more than 100 panel speakers from around the globe.

The conference was well attended, with around 250 attendees in total. ASEN organisers were pleased to see many new faces from diverse disciplines and welcomed back existing friends of ASEN. This year’s conference received an unprecedented number of submissions during the call for papers – of these, organisers were impressed by both the depth and scope of submissions, which ranged from topics such as music, dance, cinema and art; to national days, symbols, mass movements and multiculturalism.

Next year’s conference will be on the theme of nations and borders. Please keep an eye on the ASEN website for details.

–Barak Levy and Rachel Tsang, ASEN Conference Co-Organisers 2011

Editor’s note: The papers from the 2011 ASEN Conference will run in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, Volume 12, Issue 1.