上海市美国学会成立于2000年，是由上海市从事美国问题研究和开展对美交流的机构、企事业单位和专家学者自愿组成的学术性非营利社会团体法人，也是中国大陆地区唯一一家地方性美国学会。现任会长为吴心伯教授。学会主要宗旨是，团结和组织上海研究美国问题的学者、专家以及从事国际经贸、金融、外事工作者，积极开展学术研究和讨论，促进美国问题研究的发展。学会业务范围为美国问题研究，学术交流，编写书刊，举办讲座和咨询服务等。
上海市美国学会在对美交流方面较为活跃，“鲍大可-奥克森伯格中美关系讲座”（下文简称“讲座”）是我会的品牌活动。讲座系上海市美国学会与两家美方机构（美中关系全国委员会、上海美国商会）共同举办的中美人文交流活动。讲座自2005年首次举办至2020年底，共举办了12届，邀请了包括美国前总统卡特、前国防部长佩里、时任驻华大使芮效俭、洪博培、骆家辉，以及美国著名中国问题专家杰弗里·贝德、兰普顿、董云裳等在内的12位美国政界、学界人士来上海，主讲当前的中美关系问题，解答现场提问，接受上海以及国内外媒体采访。同时，作为回应，邀请了中方高官与学者作为评论人，对美方的演讲提出中方的见解。在主办方以及上海美国商会等协办方的共同努力下，讲座已成为中国唯一的当代中美关系高端讲座，也是上海国际关系界的一个知名品牌，更是我会对外文化交流的成功实施，其影响不断扩大。上海市社联为此授予我会2015-2017年度“上海市社会科学学会特色活动奖”。
Shanghai Association of American Studies (SAAS) is a non-profit academic NGO aiming to promote American Studies in Shanghai and academic exchanges between Shanghai and United States. SAAS is established in 2000 by a broad coalition of scholars, civic and business leaders in Shanghai. The current director is professor Wu Xinbo.
Working with our American Partners of the National Committee on United States-China Relations and the Amcham Shanghai, SAAS held thirteen annual activities of Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture on Sino-American Relations. The lecture is named in honor of two American scholars and policymakers, A. Doak Barnett and Michel Oksenberg, whose writing and actions had a direct impact on the bilateral relationship dating back to the 1960s. The lecture affords the opportunity for a frank and forthright discussion of current and potential issues between the two countries; it is the first and only ongoing lecture series on U.S.-China relations that takes place on the Mainland.
A numerous of distinguished American individuals have spoken in this series:
- 2024: The Honorable Nicholas Burns, U.S Ambassador to China, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
- 2019: Susan A. Thornton, Senior Fellow, Paul Tsai China Center, Yale Law School; former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian & Pacific Affairs
- 2017: The Honorable William J. Perry, 19th Secretary of Defense for the United States; Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus), Stanford University
- 2015: Dr. David M. Lampton, George and Sadie Hyman Professor and Director of SAIS-China and China Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
- 2014: The Honorable Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States
- 2013: The Honorable Jeffrey A. Bader, John Whitehead Senior Fellow in International Diplomacy, John L. Thornton China Center, The Brookings Institution; former Special Advisor to the President and Senior Director for East Asian Affairs at the National Security Council; U.S. Ambassador to Namibia
- l2012: The Honorable Gary Locke, Ambassador to China; former Secretary of Commerce and Governor of Washington State
- 2011: The Honorable Jon M. Huntsman, U.S. Ambassador to China; former Governor of Utah and U.S. Ambassador to Singapore
- 2010: The Honorable Carla A. Hills, Chair, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations; Chair and CEO, Hills & Company International Consultants; former U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- 2008: The Honorable Chas W. Freeman, Jr., Founder and Chairman of Projects International; former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and Chargé at the American embassies in Beijing and Bangkok
- 2007: The Honorable Robert B. Zoellick, Vice Chairman, International and Managing Director, Goldman Sachs; former World Bank President, U.S. Trade Representative, and Deputy Secretary of State
- 2006: Dr. Kenneth G. Lieberthal, Professor of Political Science and William Davidson Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan; Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and Global Economy and Development at The Brookings Institution; former Special Advisor to the President and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council
- 2005: The Honorable J. Stapleton Roy, Head, Woodrow Wilson Institute’s Kissinger Center on China; Former Ambassador to China, Indonesia and Singapore