Initial discussion about the creation of a society for Central Asian studies in North America began in the late 1990s during workshops at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Eventually consensus was reached for the establishment of the Central Eurasian Studies Society, and the first annual conference was held in October 2000.
By 2003 the CESS Secretariat had been established at Harvard University's Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Each winner receives $500, and the best graduate student paper will be published in the academic journal Central Asian Survey.
[5] The main publication of CESS is the Central Eurasian Studies Review, published bi-annually in the spring and summer.