Visiting Scholars, 2010-11

Zulkifli Bin Mohamad
Research Topic: "Theatre and Textiles of the Malay World"
UCLA Faculty Mentor: Michael L. Ross, Political Science

Dr. Zulkifli Bin Mohamad is a Fulbright Professor from Malaysia.  He reports that "Southeast Asia has been the focus of my study since we established the Dance and Theatre Program at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, East Malaysia, Borneo in 1994. My working experience with SEAMEO-SPAFA Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts in Bangkok, and ASEAN Secretariat’s Culture-Tourism-Communications office in Jakarta, has further enhanced my understanding of Southeast Asian culture and arts. My multi-disciplinary approach to Southeast Asia has further developed my interest in the performing and visual arts – theatres and textiles. It is the nature that Southeast Asian music, dance, theatre and costume come together in a performance.

"The research on 'Theatre and Textiles of the Malay World' at UCLA will be looking at the various forms of Malay theatre from Kelantan in the North East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia, known as the cradle of Malay culture. Among the well-known performance forms are Mak Yong Dance Theatre, Main Peteri Healing Theatre, Asyik Court Dance and Malay Shadow Puppet Theatre. The research will be looking at the costuming aspects of the performance and the various types of textiles used in each form, such as "Batik"(hand-drawn/ printed), "Songket"(golden thread cloth), "Tenun"(woven) and "Limar"(double weft ikat). This research is further supported by  the UCLA’s Fowler Museum collections. Apart of identifying the different types of textiles from that part of the world, the research will also look at its documenting, preservation and describing each piece of textile and costume."  He can be reached at zubin_mohamad@yahoo.com.

Angelica Wehrli
Research Topic: “(Re)challenging Norms and Values in (Post)-Socialist Vietnam: Decision Making Strategies within the Hô (Household) and Beyond”
UCLA Faculty Mentor: Thu-Huong Nguyen-vo, Asian Languages and Cultures

Prof. Wehrli comes to UCLA from the Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern, Switzerland where she is an associated researcher. At the IRD, UMR 201 in Paris I – Sorbonne, France she is also associated as a researcher. Her main interest is in (post-)socialist societies (especially Cuba and Vietnam), processes of socio-economic change, gender, migration, religion as well as urbanization. She carried out in-depth research in Havana, Cuba intermittently between 2000 and 2006 for her M.A. and PhD thesis. In Vietnam she conducted longitudinal field research in Nam Dinh City and Hanoi between 2004 and 2010.

While at UCLA she will be pursuing research on the topic "(Re)challenging norms and values in (post)-socialist Vietnam: decision making strategies within the hô (household) and beyond."  Prof. Wehrli can be reached at wehrli@international.ucla.edu.

Mellissa Withers
Research Topic: "Fertility Preferences in Bali, Indonesia"
UCLA Faculty Mentors, Profs. Don Morisky and Paula Tavrow, UCLA School of Public Health

During 2009-10 and continuing into 2010-11, Mellissa Withers finished an analysis of longitudinal data collected in Bali and submitted a manuscript titled ""Who meets their intentions to stop childbearing? Results of a longitudinal study in rural Eastern Bali, Indonesia" to "Health Care for Women International." She also submitted another manuscript titled "Do ambivalent women have an unmet need for family planning? A longitudinal study from Bali, Indonesia" to the Journal of Women’s Health.  A third project is another manuscript relating to the qualitative portion of her dissertation on Balinese women’s fertility preferences. Finally, she will finish another analysis from a study she conducted on maternal health in Bali, which was not incorporated into her dissertation.  She can be reached at mellwit@yahoo.com.