Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA)

Over the past few decades, in tandem with ever-deepening economic integration and increasing cross-border flows and movements of people, goods, ideas, and technologies, a number of leading organizations, communities, and individuals in East Asia (Northeast and Southeast Asia) have been initiating, cementing, and institutionalizing both regional and global linkages and collaborations at the governmental and non-governmental levels, particularly in business, academia, and the arts.

Network-style academic cooperation has become de rigueur among area specialists as well. But so far, academic cooperation in the East Asia region has mainly taken the form of bundles of bilateral (or at most trilateral) exchanges and collaboration, involving great expenditure of time, energy, and funds. There are many overlaps in the thematic focus of conferences, symposia and workshops sponsored individually or jointly by area studies institutions. Some of the unintended consequences of this noodle-bowl phenomenon include intellectual fragmentation and segmentation even within one particular topic of “area studies.” Fragmentation and segmentation may actually impede the development of synergistic, inter- and multi-disciplinary, and comparative approaches to area studies –goals and endeavors that are in fact held and pursued in common by all of us scholars who are keen to promote area studies. In an era of budget cuts, it makes more sense for area studies institutions to work together.

The study of Southeast Asia is an integral part of Asian studies and is represented in various international academic meetings. Furthermore, there are many region-based institutions that have provided excellent platforms for promoting Southeast Asian studies. However, the establishment of a region-based consortium of Southeast Asian Studies aims to complement these regional and global efforts by linking these hubs into a cooperative venture. It will provide a multilateral regional forum in the form of annual meetings, along with smaller joint workshops or conferences; a system for sharing information about each other’s activities; opportunities for education and training of young and up-and-coming scholars -for promoting collaboration and exchanges among Southeast Asia- and other East Asia-based Southeast Asianists.

More importantly, we seek to connect institutions specializing in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities—for example, earthquake science and disaster management, medical research, urban studies, ecology, energy, resource management, industry specialists, creative industries—whose scholars have an interest in, and who work on or in Southeast Asia, but do not necessarily consider themselves as area studies specialists.

Logistically, it is more convenient and affordable for Southeast/East Asia-based scholars to meet and interact with each other in the region compared to traveling long distances and at huge expense to America and Europe (although this consortium welcomes the participation of American and European Southeast Asianists). Other places where Southeast Asian studies constitutes only one sub-regional branch of “area studies” among many other areas are subject to the vicissitudes of funding and institutional imperatives specific to the countries in which they are lodged. Yet, for scholars working on Southeast Asia who are based in East Asia, this “area” matters in geopolitical, economic, intellectual, institutional, social, cultural and affective terms, making it impossible to treat Southeast Asian studies as if this were something peripheral and external to what scholars, public intellectuals, policy-makers, and activists are doing in this region.

SEASIA will promote Southeast Asian studies by linking the leading area studies institutions in the region in a cooperative venture to provide a multilateral forum for organizing academic meetings, seminars, workshops, and symposia. The main outlet for this endeavour is the SEASIA Conference, which is hosted by member institutions every two years.

The consortium Charter was signed by the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, Academia Sinica; the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, National Chengchi University; the Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam; the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University; the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore; the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University; the Asian Center, University of the Philippines, Diliman; the School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University; the Indonesian Institute of Sciences; the Taiwan Association of Southeast Asian Studies; the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Yusof Ishak Institute; the Southeast Asia Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong; the School of International Studies, Jinan University.

SEASIA »

SEASIA 2019 Conference

Title： “Change and Resistance: Future Directions of Southeast Asia”
Date： Dec. 5-7, 2019
Venue： Institute Of Sociology, South Wing, Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Academia Sinica, 128 Sec. 2 Academia Rd., Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
Organizer： SEASIA, National Chengchi University
Co-organizers： Academia Sinica, Taiwan Association of Southeast Asian Studies, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, Ministry of Education, Taiwan, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Conference site：http://www.seasiaconsortium.org/

SEASIA 2017 Conference

Title： “Unity in Diversity:Transgressive in Southeast Asia”
Date： Dec. 16-17, 2017
Venue： Chulalongkorn University
Organizers： SEASIA, Chulalongkorn University
Co-organizers： The Thailand Research Fund, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau), The Japan Foundation, Kyoto University

Conference site：http://www.seasia2017.arts.chula.ac.th/

AYSEA 2016

Title： “Democratization, Regionalization and Globalization in Southeast Asia”
Date： Nov. 9-12, 2016
Venue： National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Organizers： SEASIA, National Chengchi University, Taiwan Association of Southeast Asian Studies, International Program of Collaborative Research: IPCR, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

SEASIA 2015 Conference

Date： Dec. 12-13, 2015
Venue: Kyoto International Conference Center, Japan
Organizers： SEASIA, Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University
Co-organizers： The Japan Foundation、The Resona Foundation for Asia and Oceania, The Japanese Society for Asian Studies, Kyoto University