The Henry Luce Foundation launched the Luce Initiative on Southeast Asia (LuceSEA) in 2018. The initiative awarded institutions of higher learning with grants to strengthen the study of Southeast Asia. At this convening conference hosted at UCLA, grantee institutions presented the progress of their grant projects.

Thursday, September 28, 2023
9:00 AM (Pacific Time)
Luskin Conference Center

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

 Thursday, September 28, 2023

6PM

Reception - Luskin Courtyard UCLA Music of Thailand Ensemble Mini-Concert

Directed by Supeena Adler (UCLA)  

Friday, September 29, 2023

8AM

Registration and Breakfast - Plateia A

9AM

Welcome Remarks - Laureate Room

• Darnell Hunt (Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, UCLA)
• Stephen Acabado (UCLA) (10 min)
• Sean Buffington (Vice President, Henry Luce Foundation) (5 min)
• Helena Kolenda (Program Director for Asia, Henry Luce Foundation) (5 min)

In attendance:

• Yutling Li (Program Associate for Asia, Henry Luce Foundation)
• Mary Zurbuchen (Senior Advisor, Henry Luce Foundation)
• Alexandra Stern (Dean of Humanities, UCLA)
• Abel Valenzuela Jr. (Dean of Social Sciences, UCLA) 

10AM

Panel 1: Transdisciplinary Approaches to the Environment 

Moderator: Amanda Flaim (Michigan State University)

Center for Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions (SEACoast) (15 min)

• Megan Thomas (UC Santa Cruz)
• Gillian Bogart (UC Santa Cruz)

Mekong Culture Water, Ecologies, Land and Livelihoods (MCW) (15 min)

• Amanda Flaim (Michigan State University)
• Apisom Intralawan (Mae Fah Luang University)

Program for Early Modern Southeast Asia (PEMSEA) (15 min)

• Stephen Acabado (UCLA)
• Peter Lape (University of Washington)

Vulnerable Deltas in Southeast Asia (15 min)

• Phanwin Yokying (East-West Center)
• Ming Li Yong (East-West Center)

11:15AM

Q&A (30 min)

11:45AM

Transition (30 min)

Lunch Buffet - Innovation Room

12:15PM

Keynote Lecture (45 min)

Speaker: Marlon Martin (Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement)

"When Communities Engage: Fostering Public Engagement and Empowering Communities"

Moderator: Stephen Acabado (UCLA)

1 PM

Q&A (30 min)

1:30PM

Break - Nutrition Hub Lobby (15 min)

1:45 PM

Panel 2: Research and Teaching Infrastructure  

Moderator: Juliana Wijaya (UCLA)

Southeast Asia Digital Library (SEADL) (15 min)

• Jeff Shane (Ohio University)
• Emily Zinger (Cornell University)

Southeast Asian Language Council (SEALC) (15 min)

• Ellen Rafferty (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
• Erlin Barnard (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Consortium for Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asian Studies (GETSEA) (15 min)

• Tom Pepinsky (Cornell University)
• Thamora Fishel (Cornell University)

Building the SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium (SEAC) (15 min)

• Meredith Weiss (SUNY Albany)
• Martina Nguyen (Baruch College, City University of New York)

3PM

Q&A (30 min)

3:30PM

Break - Nutrition Hub Lobby (15 min)

3:45PM

Panel 3: Community Engagement and Participatory Research 

Moderator: Stephen Acabado (UCLA)

Southeast Asia Neighborhoods Network 2.0 (SEANNET) (15 min)

• Rita Padawangi (Singapore University of Social Sciences)
• Jennifer Ang (Singapore University of Social Sciences)

Southeast Asia - Asia, Health, Environment & Development Initiative (SEA-AHEAD) (15 min)

• Kim Korinek (University of Utah)
• Aree Jampaklay (Mahidol University)

Southeast Asia Lives and Histories (SEALIVES) (15 min)

• Nancy Peluso (UC Berkeley)
• Lisandro Claudio (UC Berkeley)

Canadian Southeast Asian Studies Initiatives (CSEASI) (15 min)

• Richard Fox (University of Victoria)
• Alicia Turner (York University)

5PM

Q&A (30 min)

5:30PM

Remarks on LuceSEA Conference Reports and Future Publications (30 min)

Stephen Acabado (UCLA)

Saturday, September 30, 2023

8AM

Breakfast - Plateia A

9AM

Breakout Discussion Section (60 min)

Laureate Room

Question 1: How can Southeast Asian Studies navigate the evolving landscape by strategically enhancing its infrastructure? What models of institutional support can ensure its resilience in the face of changing political and economic circumstances?

Moderator: Miriam Stark (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa)

Rapporteur: Nida Sanglimsuwan (PhD student in Sociology, UCLA)

Pathways Room

Question 2: How can Southeast Asian studies effectively leverage the concept of "crossing borders" to advance its transdisciplinary approach and address complex challenges within the region?

Moderator: Stephen Acabado (UCLA)

Rapporteur: Julie Gaynes (PhD student in World Arts & Cultures/Dance, UCLA)

Odyssey Room

Question 3: What strategies can we develop to keep Southeast Asian Studies robust through teaching? How do we address students' declining interest in humanities/social studies disciplines, which directly impacts Southeast Asian Studies?

Moderator: Amanda Flaim (Michigan State University)

Rapporteur: Rane Prak (PhD student in Ethnomusicology, UCLA)

10AM

Break - Nutrition Hub Lobby (10 min)

10:10AM

Panel 4: Southeast Asian Studies from Southeast Asia

Moderator: Miriam Stark (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa)

LuceSEA Transitions: Environment, Society, and Change (15 min)

• Miriam Stark (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa)
• Ehito Kimura (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa)

Training Tomorrow's Film Directors and Promoting Exchange and Archival Development Through Cambodia's Filmmaking (15 min)

• Sopheap Chea (Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center)
• Puthea Sim (Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center)

Understanding the Present, Preparing New Beginnings: Co-Producing Knowledge on Inclusivity in Burma (15 min)

• Wasan Panyagaew (Chiang Mai University)

Digitizing Vietnam: The Virtual Future of Global Vietnam and Vietnamese Studies (15 min)

• John D. Phan (Columbia University)
• Hoang Minh Vu (Columbia University/Fulbright University Vietnam) 

11:25AM

Q&A (30 min)

11:55AM

Transition (25 min)

Lunch Buffet - Innovation Room

12:20PM

Keynote Lecture (45 min)

Speaker: Janet Hoskins (University of Southern California)

"Southeast Asia Seen from the Islands and the Mainland: A Personal Perspective" 

Moderator: George Dutton (UCLA)

1:05PM

Q&A (30 min)

1:35PM

Break - Nutrition Hub Lobby (10 min)

1:45PM

Panel 5: Reconfiguration of Asian American and Southeast Asian Studies

Moderator: Becky Butler (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)

Tracing Authoritarianism: Linking Southeast Asia with Southeast Asian America Through Archives, Languages, and Pedagogy (15 min)

• Linh Nguyen (University of Washington)
• Jenna Grant (University of Washington)

Social Justice in Southeast Asia (SJSEA) (15 min)

• Tyrell Haberkorn (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
• Nam C. Kim (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Bringing Southeast Asia Home (BSEAH) (15 min)

• Becky Butler (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill)
• Christian Lentz (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill)

Expressions of Global Asia: Southeast Asian Americans in Illinois (15 min)

• Judy Ledgerwood (Northern Illinois University)
• Trude Jacobsen Gidaszewski (Northern Illinois University)

3PM

Q&A (30 min)  

3:30PM

Break - Nutrition Hub Lobby (10 min)

3:40PM

Breakout Discussion Session 2 (60 min)

Laureate Room

Question 1: How can Southeast Asian Studies navigate the evolving landscape by strategically enhancing its infrastructure? What models of institutional support can ensure its resilience in the face of changing political and economic circumstances?

Moderator: Becky Butler (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)

Rapporteur: Nida Sanglimsuwan (PhD student in Sociology, UCLA)

Pathways Room 

 Question 2: How can Southeast Asian studies effectively leverage the concept of "crossing borders" to advance its transdisciplinary approach and address complex challenges within the region?

Moderator: Amanda Flaim (Michigan State University)