Call for Abstracts: Decolonization of Southeast Asian Studies

In recent years, there has been increased interest in various aspects of the “decolonization of Southeast Asia Studies”. However, “decolonization” can take on many forms, and can be imagined in an array of different ways. In the United States, the focus has often been on putting more emphasis on increasing the number of Southeast Asian faculty and Southeast Asian diasporic communities. In Southeast Asia, on the other hand, more emphasis has been put on rethinking how the territories and borders associated with Southeast Asia are imagined and defined. Indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia also have their own varied ideas about decolonization in the region. Sometimes it is about who is involved, in other cases it is more about the ideas that are being presented. There is undoubtedly many perspectives and theoretical ways of framing and thinking ideas about the decolonization of Southeast Asian Studies.

Between July 17-19, 2025, RCSD at Chiang Mai University, in collaboration with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and with support from the Henry Luce Foundation, will organize a workshop to particularly consider different perspectives regarding the “Decolonization of Southeast Asian Studies”. Those who would be interested in presenting about some aspect of this topic are invited to submit proposals that include the following:

1. Name, position, affiliation, email of the proposer
2. Title and no more than 300 word abstract related to their proposed presentation and paper
3. Information about funding needs (We have a limited amount of funding, but we are not likely to be able to support the full costs of all participants. Those with highly ranked abstracts, lower costs, and require less funding support from us will be prioritized).

Proposals are due: October 1, 2024.  Decisions will be made by November 15, 2024.

Please submit to: ibaird@wisc.edu; rcsd@cmu.ac.th

If you have additional inquiries, please contact: Chayan Vaddhanaphuti (chayan.vad@cmu.ac.th); Ian Baird (ibaird@wisc.edu); Wasan Pangygaew (wasan.p@cmu.ac.th); Chusak Wittayapak (chusak.w@cmu.ac.th)

The goal will be to produce an edited collection based on the conference.