Lecture Series

2023 Lecture Series

 

Previous Lecture Series

2022 Lecture Series

  • Lives in Limbo: Precarious Migrant Workers Between Migration, Labor, and Criminal Law by Kurt Kuehne (PhD Candidate, UW-Madison)
  • Consuming Coconuts: The Philippine Coconut Administration and Industrialization of Coconut By-Products, 1955-1971 by Philip Cerepak (PhD Candidate, UW-Madison)
  • The Politics of Spectacle: Authoritarianism and Resistance in Burma/Myanmar by Dr. Ingrid Jordt (Associate Professor of Anthropology, UW-Milwaukee)
  • Nam’s U.S. Army Vintage Uniform, Insignias, and Their Afterlife Resurrections by Chaiyaporn Singdee (PhD Student of Chiang Mai University and a Royal Golden Jubilee Scholar)
  • #Papuanlivematter: Youth Political Movements and Black Consciousness in West Papua (Virtual) by Veronkia Kusumaryati (Research Fellow, Georgetown University)

2021 Lecture Series

2020 Lecture Series

  • Lessons from the Failure of Thai Democracy by Dr. Thongchai Winichakul (Professor Emeritus, History Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison).
  • Lessons from the 1918 influenza pandemic in Indonesia and other countries by Dr. Siddharth Chandra (Director, Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University and President, American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS)).
  • The Guerrilla, the Goddess, and the Girl: Võ Thị Sáu in Legend, Myth, and History by Royce Novak (PhD Candidate, History, University of Wisconsin-Madison).
  • Myanmar’s Higher Education Reform: A Pathway to Democracy? by Jennifer Otting (PhD Candidate, Education Policy Studies- International & Comparative Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison).
  • (Re)return to Authoritarianism in Cambodia by Dr. Kheang Un (Associate Professor, Political Science, Northern Illinois University).
  • Orientalist roots of Philippine linguistic classification: Apprehending Negrito languages by Sheila Zamar (Filipino Language Instructor, University of Wisconsin-Madison and SEASSI).
  • Looking Beyond the Temples: Exploring the ancient residences of Angko by Dr. Alison Carter  (Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Oregon).
  • Dreams of a New Nation, Prophecy and Hope: Private Letters from the Public to President Sukarno in the 1950s by Yosef Djakababa Ph.D (Faculty of Social and Political Science Department of International Relations Universitas Pelita Harapan, Indonesia).

2019 Lecture Series:

  • Thep Thanchai: Thai pilgrimage to Myanmar and religious acceleration in Thailand by Neeranooch Malangpoo (PhD Candidate in Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Mothering the Thai Nation: Patriarchic patriotism and gendered nationalism in new Thailand, 1938-1944 by Dr. Kanjana Hubik Thepboriruk (Assistant Professor of Thai Language, Northern Illinois University)
  • The Transnational Dynamics of Southeast Asian Culture by Dr. Michael H. Bodden (Pacific & Asian Studies, University of Victoria, Canada)
  • Tracing the Gendered State: Women, education, and modern Cambodia by Catriona Miller (PhD Candidate in History, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Why Zomia Matters: Reflections on upland Southeast Asia by Dr. George E. Dutton (Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles)
  • Refugee Memoryscape: The rhetoric of Hmong refugee writing by Chong Moua (PhD Candidate in History, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

2018 Lecture Series:

  • Peace Settlements, Symbolic Constructions, and the Agency of Ruins by Dr. David Biggs (Associate Professor of History, University of California, Riverside)
  • Muddy Waters: The Economic Life of Southeast Asia’s Estuaries, 1870-1941 by Dr. Anthony Medrano (Ziff Environmental Fellow, Department of History and Center for the Environment, Harvard University)
  • Showdown in the South China Sea: Beijing and Washington Struggle for Dominion over the “World Island” by Dr. Alfred W. McCoy (Harrington Professor of History and Outgoing Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Religion in the Public Sphere: Sulak Sivaraksa, Lese Majeste, and the Genesis of Socially Engaged Buddhism in Thailand by Jordan Baskerville (Doctoral Candidate in Languages and Cultures of Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Gantala Press: Women’s Writing and Small Press Activism in the Philippines by Faye Cura (Asian Cultural Council Fellow for Museum Studies and Co-founder, Gantala Press, Philippines)
  • The Madurese Salabadhan Music and Dance Party: a Nexus of Arts Patronage, Social Reciprocity, Political Clientelism, and Social Transgression by Steve Laronga (Doctoral Candidate in the School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Political Scandal in Indonesia’s Democratic Transition by Dr. Mary E. McCoy (Faculty Associate, Department of Communication Arts and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

2017 Lecture Series:

  • Combating Human Trafficking from a Southeast Asian Periphery by Dr. Amelia Joan Liwe (Senior Lecturer, International Relations, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Karawaci, Indonesia, and SEASSI Indonesian Language Coordinator)
  • Rethinking Equality: Legibility, Belonging, and the Politics of Marriage in Minnesota by Kong P. Pha (PhD Candidate in American Studies, University of Minnesota)
  • Centering Southeast Asian Perspectives in the Teaching of Southeast Asia: A Methodology by Dr. Margaret Bodemer (History & Asian Studies, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo)
  • Music, Language, and the Aesthetics of Virtuosity by Dr. Christi-Anne Castro (Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, and Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan)
  • From the Vietnam War to the Dirty War: The Resettlement of Southeast Asian Refugees and the Politics of Cold War Humanitarianism, 1979-1985 by Dr. Sam Vong (Assistant Professor, History, University of Texas at Austin)
  • The Russian Revolution in the Eyes of a Thai Royal by Mr. Jeffrey Shane (Southeast Asia Reference Librarian, Thai Studies & History Subject Specialist; Curator of the David K. Wyatt Thai Collection; and Southeast Asian Studies Affiliated Faculty at Ohio University)


2016 Lecture Series:

  • Whatever Happened to ‘Comrade’? The Politics of Gender and Development in Vietnam by Dr. Kristy Kelly (Assistant Professor of Global and International Education, Drexel University)
  • Dissonant Voices: Music and Identity in the Tagalog Zarzuelas of Early Twentieth Century Manila by Isidora Miranda (PhD candidate, Historical Musicology, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Smoke, Fire and Rain in Muslim Southeast Asia: Environmental Ethics in a Time of Burning by Dr. Anna M. Gade (Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison)


2015 Lecture Series:

  • Human Trafficking in South-East Asia: Seeking Lasting Solutions by Michael Nowlin (Interim Deputy Country Director for Cambodia, Hagar International)
  • To the Medical Archipelago: Stratification in Vietnam’s Health Care Sector by Dr. Martha Lincoln (Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health)
  • Indonesian Media Ownership in the Digital Era by Dr. Ross Tapsell (Lecturer in Asian Studies, The Australian National University)


2014 Lecture Series:

  • Campaigning for All Indonesians: The Politics of Social Welfare in Indonesia by Dr. Eunsook Jung (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)


2013 Lecture Series:

  • Books and Book Collecting in 19th Century Vietnam by Prof. George Dutton (Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, and Incoming Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Los Angeles)
  • Travel Writing in Southeast Asian Perspectives. by Ian Lowman (Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Reform of Economic Law in Southeast Asia: Cases from Three Countries — Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. by John Davis (Counsel, YKVN Lawyers, Hanoi, Vietnam and Lecturer, EBA Program, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University)


2012 Lecture Series:

  • Political Humor: The Vessantara Jataka In Historical Perspective by Katherine Bowie (Professor, Department of Anthropology and Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • “Green Islam” in Indonesia by Anna M. Gade (Associate Professor of Languages and Cultures of Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • The Phu Nyai Politics: Social Mobility of Ethnic Minority Students in Laos by Dr. Manynooch Faming (Honorary Lecturer, Anthropology Research Center, Sociology Department, University of Hong Kong)
  • Indonesian Heritage Lost, Found and Sold: Reinventing Indentity-Inspired Arts in Post-Touristic Times by Kathleen M. Adams (Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies, Loyola University Chicago)


2011 Lecture Series:

  • Rice Plus: Widows’ Economic Practices in Rural Cambodia by Dr. Susan H. Lee (Senior Lecturer, Social Sciences, Boston University)
  • Interpreting an Event: The funeral of Gen. Vang Pao by Prof. Kao-Ly Yang (Anthropology, Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, California State University-Fresno)
  • Besmirched with Blood: an Emotional History of Transnational Romance in Colonial Singapore by Prof. Tamara Loos (Associate Professor, History and Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University)
  • Archaeological Investigations of Vietnam’s Ancient Capital by Prof. Nam Kim, (Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology University of Wisconsin-Madison)


2010 Lecture Series:

  • Sodomy II, or what do one Mongolian model (blowed up real good), three frogs, 12 hydroelectric power plants, and millions (allegedly) of freshly-documented Filipino immigrants have to do with the political situation in Malaysia today? by Clare Boulanger
  • Thailand’s Crisis (not over yet) by Prof. Thongchai Winichakul (History, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Philiphe Binh and the Problem of Vietnamese Historical Biography by Prof. George Dutton (Associate Professor, Dept. of Asian Languages & Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles)
  • The Social Life of Companionable Objects: Living with Indonesian Things by Prof. Kenneth George (Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison)


2009 Lecture Series:

  • Opium, Power, People: Anthropological Understandings of a Drug Interdiction Project in Thailand by Prof. Kathleen Gillogly (Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Parkside)
  • Policing America’s Empire: Philippine Pacification and the Rise of the Surveillance State by Prof. Alfred W. McCoy (Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Cannibalism and Race Transformation in a Mekong Delta at War, 1945-52 by Shawn McHale (Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, George Washington University)
  • Holy Matrimony? The Politics of Polygamy in Indonesia by Prof. Suzanne A Brenner (Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego)
  • Cambodian Buddhism and Cambodian Magic – Conceiving Religion by Prof. Erik Davis (Department of Religious Studies, Macalester College)


2008 Lecture Series:

  • Moving Costs: Internal migration in Vietnam since Doi Moi by Prof. Ian Coxhead (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • The Price of Rice: Has globalization hurt Southeast Asia’s poor? by Prof. Ian Coxhead (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison)


2007 Lecture Series:

  • Gender and Vietnam by Giang Han Tran (Fulbright Scholar of Sociology, Temple University)
  • The Study of Religion and the Understanding of Southeast Asia: Three Lectures on Three Challenges by Prof. Charles Hallisey (Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Three Lectures on Politics in the Philippines by Prof. Paul Hutchcroft (Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Special Lecture: Like a Paid Prison Sentence with a Good Chance of Drowning by Prof. Steve McKay (Sociology Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Two Lectures on Globalization and Development in Southeast Asia by Prof. Ian Coxhead (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison)


2006 Lecture Series:

  • Dictatorship and Democracy in Burma by Ian Holliday (Humanities & Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong)
  • Southeast Asian Theater in the 21st Century by Evan Winnet (Theater and Dance, Macalester College)


2005 Lecture Series:

  • The Ramayana taught by Frank Smith (Khmer coordinator) and Amelia Liwe (Indonesian Coordinator)


2004 Lecture Series:

  • Islam in Southeast Asia taught by Anna M. Gade (Religion, Oberlin College)