Harvard Southeast Asia Studies Graduate Symposium 2025

Friday, April 4, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. ET
CGIS Knafel K262, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge

9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Keynote by Thongchai Winichakul, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Ivory Tower in the Street: Engaged Scholarship in the Real World"

Is the knowledge without practical implication "useful" in the real world that increasingly demands its utility? How can it be valuable but not useful? Is the ivory tower really remote from the street? Can we have one foot in the ivory tower while the other in the street at the same time?

Panels:

11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
History, Anthropology, and Material Culture Panel | Contentious Materials--Conflicting Narratives
Rosa Yi, National University of Singapore, Geopolitical History of Land Struggle and Social Differentiation in Northwestern Cambodia
Vincent Bernabe, University of the Philippines Diliman, PhD candidateTechnologies of Nourishment: Reinventing Rice Bran for Beriberi Treament in the American Philippines
Skylar Lindsay, University of Bristol, Contentious Livelihoods and Terroir: Re-valuing the Vietnamese Coffee Farm and its Soils
Ci Yan Sar Loh, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Reclaiming Narratives, Resisting Land Grabs: "Standing With" Orang Asli Expressive Archives as Decolonisation

2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Built Environment and Urban Studies Panel | Navigating Shifting Landscapes: International Influence and Local Governance in Southeast Asian Urban Development
Ben Fan, Kyoto University, Cultivating Stability: Dynamics of Strategic Community Involvement by Chinese Banana Entrepreneurs in Laos
Xiaochen Jin, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Fragmentation as Opportunity: Southeast Asia's Agency in the Diarchic Structure of Sino-U.S. Infrastructure Investments
Theng Chanthy, University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Assessing Urban Sustainable City in Cambodia: The Case of Phnom Penh
Napisa Leelasuphapong, Chulalongkorn University, Baan Mai Magazine as a Space of Negotiation: Constructing Home Culture in National Housing Authority Flats, 1976-1979

3:45 - 5:15 p.m
Politics, Policy and Public Health Panel | Contested Futures: Power, Policy, and People in Southeast Asia
Andrew Wai Phyo Kyaw, Chulalongkorn University, Whose Security?: Analyzing Thailand's National Screening Mechanism for Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Chokchai Netngamsawang, Kyushu University, Empowering Autonomy: Lessons from Japan's Supported Decision-Making and Trust Law Frameworks for Thailand's Aging Society
Aghnia Nadhira Aliya Putri, Institut Teknologi Bandung / Coventry University, Sustainable Tourism from a Green Growth Perspective in Indonesia
Faqih Alfian, University of Illinois at Chicago, Co-production Process of Kampung Warna-Warni: Societal Active Participatory in Urban Slum Management
Ella Joy A. Ponce, Ewha Womans University, Is ASEAN Becoming More Divided? Examining Southeast Asian States' Divergence in the U.S.-China Rivalry