Completed Projects

Southeast Asian Studies for Sustainable Humanosphere

 

http://sea-sh.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/

Between 2011-17, the large-scale research program “Promoting the Study of Sustainable Humanoshpere in Southeast Asia” was carried out. The main aims of the program were to provide support for the construction of an Southeast Asian academic community and this culminated in the creation of the consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA).
    Over 5 years this program also promoted research on plural co-existence focusing on social capital, the strengthening of social infrastructures, and supranational regional restructuring as well as innovative research on tropical biomass society taking the global capitalization of tropical biomass as our key concept and examining glocal linkages between tropical biomass society and global interests.
    This program, along with the Asian Core Program made possible various efforts to further strengthen networks in and beyond the region. This included a post-doctoral program which employed 7 PD fellows who were active in helping develop ties between disciplines within Southeast Asian Studies. This program eventually led to the publication of 10 proceedings, 219 international workshops/academic and outreach activities, and the Visual Documentary Project (VDP).

 

Southeast Asian Studies for Sustainable Humanosphere

http://www-archive.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/sea-sh/en/

This is an overview of the New Large-Scale Research Program “Promoting the Study of Sustainable Humanoshpere in Southeast Asia” that has been initiated as of 2011. In this program, we aim to strengthen the sustainable humanosphere as a leading principle supporting the construction of an East Asian academic community. In order to overcome the political and economical imbalances inherent in globalization and worldwide environmental problems, we will develop research that actively makes use of “local knowledge” that has accumulated in response to Southeast Asia’s specific characteristics.

 

G-COE Program: In search of Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa

http://www.humanosphere.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/

Betwee 2007-11, CSEAS received MEXT funding to initiate a five year project for a Global COE program titled “In search of Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa” (740 million yen over 5 years). This program aimed at an integrated multidisciplinary approach toward the humanosphere. This was led by Professor Sugihara Kaoru and was a collaboration between eight different institutions within Kyoto University: ASAFAS, the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanopshere (RISH), the Center for Integrated Area Studies (CIAS, now merged with CSEAS), the Institute of Sustainability Science (ISS), the Graduate School of Agriculture, the Institute for Research in Humanities, and the Graduate School of Engineering. The core institutions worked together to ask research questions in relation to Southeast Asia and other tropical regions.
    At the heart of this program was a shift in research emphasis from Southeast Asian Studies for understanding Southeast Asia as a region and object of study to tackling questions emerging from the region that spoke toward global issues. This project eventually led to the publication of six edited volumes, 68 international symposia 273 domestic workshops and 127 working papers.

 

Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visit Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation

http://brain.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/program-outline/

The Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visit Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation (hereafter the Brain Circulation Program) was a competitive program for research funding which JSPS established based on the concept of “Funding Program for World-leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology Research.” It supported dispatching overseas young researchers who were engaged in international collaborative research and promoted Japan’s science initiatives through accelerating international brain circulation. The program focused on expanding the opportunities for young researchers to be involved in world-class research and tackle various crucial issues faced by the world, as well as strengthen research networks with overseas research institutions, other universities and individuals.

Asian Core Program

“Asian Connections: Southeast Asian Connection for the 21st Century” has been running under the JSPS Asian Core Program (FY2009-13). Over the centuries, Southeast Asia as a region, has adopted Hindu, Chinese, Islamic and Euro-American civilizations into its history, which has led to the formation of a pluralistic world where multiple ethnic groups and cultures co-exist. Under the present world order of globalization and neo-liberal economy, Southeast Asia has, on the whole, overcome the Cold War and internal conflicts, demonstrating economic and social developments. At the same time, many problems and issues have emerged which transcend national boundaries. In order to cope with these, there has been a move toward regional cooperation and flexible response towards co-existence. Where state-level institutional arrangements may not be fully functional, there is a multi-layered and dynamic social foundation that adapts to these changes. In this program, we look at the grounded responses that can be found in the region towards various problems and issues such as in the post-economic crisis reconstruction, super-regional governance of resources and environment, emergence of local powers, social and cultural reconstruction in the face of mobility and flow. By focusing on the concrete level, we hope to provide an alternative view of the region: rather than one of peripheral region that becomes incorporated in the globalization of the central and powerful regions, we look at Southeast Asia’s own model of development in re-constituting the region and beyond.