History of JOSA
The Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia (JOSA) has been published continuously from 1960. It is the oldest journal on Asia currently published in Australia. In 2002, with volume 34, an indes of the journal contents covering the 42 year history of the journal was published. That index lists 254 articles: 133 on China, 58 on Japan, 30 on South East Asia, 22 on South Asia, 3 on Korea, 3 on Mongolia, 2 on Tibet, and 1 each on Burma, Cambodia, the Middle East and Sri Lanka. The journal distribution covers 85 academic institutions worldwide.
During the 42 year history of JOSA there have bee three editors. The first and founding editor was the late Professor A. R. Davis, formerly Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney which has provided a safe home for the journal during its history. Every year the Oriental Society of Australia honours the memory of its founder by sponsoring an A. R. Davis Memorial Lecture which is printed in the journal.
History of OSA
Professor A.R. Davis who was then Head of Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney, founded the Oriental Society of Australia in 1956. The Society was established to promote the knowledge of Asia in Australia and to provide a venue for scholars to present their work to their peers and to other people interested in Asia and things Asian. This was the first such organisation in Australia with an Asian focus. Membership included both academic and non-academic people who were interested in the history and culture of Asia. In the early years of the Society, lectures attracted a large audience and lively discussion ensued. The annual dinner, which was held at Chinese restaurants in Sydney. During the academic year, monthly lectures given by Australian and overseas scholars; these were reported in a newsletter. After JOSA was established, the papers started to be widely circulated to subscribers, both private and institutional, in America, Asia, Australia and Europe.