Ohio University Celebrates 40 Years of Engagement with Southeast Asia
Conference highlights national prominence, faculty achievement
Ohio University’s unique 40-year history in Southeast Asia will be the focus of the upcoming “40 Years of Engagement with Southeast Asia” conference taking place March 7 and 8. The conference will celebrate Ohio University’s national prominence in the field of Southeast Asian Studies and recognize contributors to the program’s growth and success.
Established in 1967, the Southeast Asian Studies Program is a US Department of Education National Resource Center for Southeast Asian Studies – currently one of only eight such centers in the United States. The program, offering an interdisciplinary master’s degree and support to both undergraduate and graduate students across campus, boasts more than 50 affiliated faculty members in disciplines ranging from anthropology and plant biology to business and media studies.
“The Southeast Asian Studies Program has been a national leader thanks to the contributions of many, many wonderful supporters around the university and elsewhere,” said Drew McDaniel, Interim Director of the Center for International Studies and two-time Director of Southeast Asian Studies. “This is a great opportunity to say thanks to them and to recognize everything they have done to make this a center of excellence for Ohio University.”
OHIO is home to the Tun Abdul Razak Distinguished Chair in Southeast Asian Studies, the Frances M. and Stephen H. Fuller Distinguished Visiting Professorship in Southeast Asian Studies, the Shao You-Bao Overseas Chinese Documentation and Research Center, and the only Malaysian Resource Center in the United States. The Southeast Asia Collection in Alden Library is often considered among the top collections on the region available in the country.
Laurie Sears, Professor of History and Director of the Southeast Asia Center at the University of Washington, will give the keynote address - “Twenty-first Century Area Studies: Between Cosmopolitanism and Diaspora” - on Friday, March 7 at 3:00pm in Walter Hall 145. A dinner for conference guests will follow in the Ping Center Lounge, hosted by the Southeast Asian Studies Association (SEASA), with special guests Presidents Emeriti Dr. Charles Ping and Dr. Vernon Alden.
Roundtable discussions will be the format of the conference sessions on Saturday, March 8 in the multipurpose room of the Multicultural Center, highlighting alumni accomplishments, international partnerships, faculty productivity and teaching, and future directions of the field.
The full conference schedule can be found on the Southeast Asian Studies website at http://www.seas.ohio.edu/
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Yamada International House, 56 E. Union Street, Athens OH 45701 (740) 593-1840