Rio De Janeiro, Brazil—Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program Director Tom Asher participated in, and chaired a session at, a meeting that explored the creation of a new knowledge platform for Asian and African studies in Latin America. The platform was sponsored by the International Institute of Asian Studies, based in Leiden, and Sephis, an organization promoting south-south research collaborations and based in Rio de Janeiro. The meeting was held in Rio and the platform was formally established by representatives of a dozen universities across Latin America in the course of the three day event.