The 2026 meeting of the Northeast Conference on Chinese Thought (NEECT) will take place on October 30-31 at Bentley University. Please see here for more details, or read on for the program.
2026 NECCT Conference Program
Friday, October 30th
8:30—9:00am Coffee & Pastries
9:00 –10:30am Morning Panel 1
- The Emergence of Self-Cultivation Techniques in Pre-Qin Confucian Philosophy (Jordan Jackson)
- Extension Is Not Simulation: on the Absence of Perspective-Taking in the Analects and Zhu Xi (Qianyi Qin)
- How a shi 士 becomes a thief (Hagop Sarkissian)
10:30am—10:45am Break
10:45—12:15pm Morning Panel 2
- On Benevolence Through Sentiment: An Inquiry into Xunzi’s Order of Benevolence (Jifen Li)
- Xunzi and the Ke Problem; What Determines Action? (Michael Reynolds)
- Individual Distinction-Making (Bian) and Skillful Activity, in Zhuangzi’s Thought (Danesh Singh)
Lunch 12:15—1:30pm
1:30—2:30pm Afternoon Panel 1
- How Wu-Wei Remedies Value Capture in the Workplace (Dylan Flint, Erich Jones)
- Compliance and Character: Integrating Han Feizian and Confucian Approaches to Business Ethics (Henrique Schneider)
2:30—2:45pm Break
2:45—3:45pm Afternoon Panel 2
- When Han Feizi meets AI government (Nalei Chen)
- Before Helping: Xinzhai and the Recalibration of the Helper in the Zhuāngzǐ (Hin Ming Frankie Chik)
Break 3:45—4:00pm
4:00pm—5:30pm Keynote Address
- Why Pluralism Requires Ontology: A Dialogue on Irreductionism and Action (Mercedes Valmisa)
Saturday, October 31st
8:30—9:00am Coffee & Pastries
9:00 –10:30am Morning Panel 1
- The Confucian threshold of sufficiency: A moralized account (Xinting Liu)
- Moderate Confucian Perfectionism: A Revision (Wenyang Gao)
- In defense of Confucian moral equality (Ranjoo Herr)
Break 10:30am—10:45am
10:45—12:15pm Morning Panel 2
- Beyond Retrieval and Loss: Zong Bing and Xunzi on the Forms of Remembrance (Weian Ding)
- Finishing a Life (Benjamin Ra)
- A Duty to Grieve? A Confucian Perspective (Wenqing Zhao)
Lunch 12:15—1:30pm
1:30—2:30pm Afternoon Panel
- Not False, But Also Not Enough (Stephen Walker)
- Mereology and Identity in Fazang’s Huayan Buddhism (Hao Hong)
2:30-3:00pm Closing Remarks & Business Meeting
