Spotlight Southeast Asia

This Thursday: Panel Discussion on Indonesia — World’s largest Muslim nation, third largest democracy and future top five world economy

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 20:41:36 +0000

This Thursday: Panel Discussion on Indonesia — World’s largest Muslim nation, third largest democracy and future top five world economy Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/21/2020 - 13:41

Thursday, January 23 at 3:30pm CASE Building, room E351 Panel moderated by Tim Oakes, Center for Asian Studies Faculty Director featuring Carla Jones, Associate Professor, Anthropology Rachel Rinaldo, Associate Professor, Sociology Stanley Harsha, U.S. Consul General for Sumatra (retired) Program will also introduce CU Boulder’s student exchange program with the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. UGM is Indonesia's top university, and is located in Yogyakarta, the cultural heart of Indonesia with vibrant arts scene, lively political youth culture, and ancient cultural heritage, with a college town vibe.

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Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant joins CAS

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 14:31:33 +0000

Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant joins CAS Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/26/2019 - 08:31

The Center for Asian Studies is pleased to host Irma Zavitri, for the 2019-20 academic year, as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant. The Fulbright FLTA program brings foreign teachers to US college campuses to help with foreign language instruction as well as participate in cultural exchange and enriching people-to-people relations between the United States and countries throughout the world. Irma is teaching our Introduction to Indonesian class this year (INDO 1110-1120). She is outgoing and loves outdoor activities; be sure to say “apa kabar” to her if you see her on campus!

Hi,
My name is Irma Zavitri. I am from Indonesia, an archipelago state in Southeast Asia region with approximately 17. 000 islands. I am from an Island called Sulawesi, I grow up in the capital city of South Sulawesi province called Makassar or Ujung pandang.

I am here in CU Boulder as the visiting scholar under FLTA (Foreign language teaching Assistant) Fulbright scholarship Program. I will be teaching Bahasa Indonesia for one academic year. I hope many more people are interested to learn about Indonesian language
and culture in the US.

I love doing outdoor activities and voluntary work especially on environmental, education, youth and women issues.

Terima kasih
Irma

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CAS event Urgent Elements: Eco-Video from Southeast Asia Reveals Artistic Response to Environmental Justice

Anonymous — Tue, 21 May 2019 16:22:07 +0000

CAS event Urgent Elements: Eco-Video from Southeast Asia Reveals Artistic Response to Environmental Justice Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/21/2019 - 10:22 Brianne Cohen

On March 5, 2019, as part of the larger screening series, “Urgent Elements: Eco-Video from Southeast Asia,” the University of Colorado, Boulder presented work by the two internationally prominent artists, Khvay Samnang and UuDam Tran Nguyen. Visiting from Cambodia and Vietnam, respectively, these artists each screened one of their recent moving-image pieces concerning environmental destruction in Southeast Asia. Following this presentation, Khvay and Nguyen came on stage and engaged in a thoughtful conversation about their work with Assistant Professor Brianne Cohen (Department of Art and Art History), also answering many questions from a larger audience of faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, staff, and community members. Khvay Samnang discussed his two-channel video installation, Preah Kunlong (2016-17), which centers on the threat of a hydro-electric project in southwestern Cambodia that could destroy the livelihood of the indigenous Chong people in that region. UuDam Tran Nguyen, in turn, elaborated on his three-channel video installation, Serpents’ Tails (2015), concerning air pollution in Ho Chi Minh City caused by the rampant use of motorbikes. Each artwork features the expressive medium of dance in order to highlight the bodily harm inflicted on individuals, communities, and ecosystems by these larger, ecologically deleterious processes. Overall, the conversation following the screenings opened up many pressing questions about the ethics of rapid, economic “development” in Southeast Asian contexts and more broadly, how artists may tackle questions of both human and nonhuman environmental justice through poetic-documentary forms.

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CAS Event on Friday: Liberalism Cannot Save Us: Multispecies Justice, Ongoing Colonialism, and Decolonization in Malaysia and South Africa

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 16:15:36 +0000

CAS Event on Friday: Liberalism Cannot Save Us: Multispecies Justice, Ongoing Colonialism, and Decolonization in Malaysia and South Africa Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/22/2019 - 10:15

Friday, April 26 at 4pm
Hale 230

Research lecture by Dr. Juno Salazar Parreñas, Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University

Articulations of human rights and animal rights have insufficiently engaged the dire challenges of biodiversity loss, species extinction, and climate change. Instead of situating environmentalism and animal advocacy in the language of liberalism through rights-bearing citizens and wards, I argue for a broader sense of justice, one that recognizes the shared plight of human and animal subjects while also critiquing the material conditions of ongoing colonialism. In this talk, I draw from ethnographic research in Sarawak (present-day Malaysia) and preliminary research in South Africa to compare the welfare of displaced orangutans on Borneo, ex-circus lions in southern Africa, and the people who work to enable the survival of such critically endangered and vulnerable lives.

Hale Science

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CAS Event: Urgent Elements: Eco-Video from Southeast Asia

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 21:13:19 +0000

CAS Event: Urgent Elements: Eco-Video from Southeast Asia Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/28/2019 - 14:13

Khvay Samnang & UuDam Tran Nguyen
Tuesday, March 5 from 6:30-7:45PM
Location: Visual Arts Complex, Auditorium 1B20

Next Tuesday is the first in a series of Eco-Video co-sponsored by CAS.
Khvay Samnang is a founding member of Stiev Selapak, an art collective dedicated to experimental arts practice in Cambodia and an engagement with historical transformations and political violence wrought by regimes such as the Khmer Rouge. Through the expressive medium of dance, Khvay’s moving image work depicts the illegal extraction of sand from the country’s beaches and rivers for commercial land development in Singapore (Where is My Land? 2014, 14 min), as well as the threat of a hydro-electric project in southwestern Cambodia that could destroy the livelihood of the indigenous Chong people in that region (Preah Kunlong, 2016-17, 19 min).

UuDam Tran Nguyen’s video work, Serpents’ Tails (2015, 15 min) charts air pollution in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) caused by motorbikes. As in Khvay’s work, Nguyen also employs dancers to interact with and enliven the landscape. In this case, however, it is the rapidly transforming urban environment of Vietnam. Building on mythologies such as the Greek Laocoön, the Vietnamese Thanh Giong, and the Hindu Churning of the Ocean of Milk, the video portrays a dramatic conflict between human motorcyclists and “serpents’ tails,” or the exhaust of motorbikes trapped within elongated, stitched-together plastic bags.

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Indonesia Global Seminar Blog Series

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 16:07:12 +0000

Indonesia Global Seminar Blog Series Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/07/2018 - 09:07 Emily Protz

This article is part of an ongoing series of blog posts written by students who participated in Global Seminar courses last simmer. We hope they give inspitation for and perspective on the summer learning opportunities available at CU Boulder. You can find information about next summer's Global Seminars here.

My trip to Indonesia this summer with CU’s global seminar program was the experience of a life time. I wanted to challenge myself and visit a country that I knew very little about. When I chose this program, I was nervous about being with strangers in a place that was so different from home. However, after traveling for over thirty hours, I knew that I had arrived in a place with immense beauty that I would have a hard time leaving after three weeks.

I was able to travel to places that I never would have been able to without the program and the expertise of the professor. The program takes you to a remote village in the jungle, a surf camp, a bustling Islamic city, and the beautiful island of Bali. The program focuses on building relationships with the local people. The people we met were welcoming and eager to learn from us, while also teaching us how to become better travelers and better global citizens.

I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to broaden their world view and challenge themselves to go outside of their comfort zone. Indonesia is dynamic and full of history, and there is a lot to be explored. This program gives you the opportunity to go to the beach and hang out with monkeys, while also learning cultural ethnography and how to be a tourist. What could be better?

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CAS Event A Cambodian Spring: a feature film directed by Chris Kelly

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 23:25:58 +0000

CAS Event A Cambodian Spring: a feature film directed by Chris Kelly Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/05/2018 - 16:25

CAS Event
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 7pm
HUMN 1B50
Dr. Mike Dwyer (GEOG) will introduce the film and moderate a discussion afterward.

This sobering exposé of political corruption and disarray in Cambodia reveals the country's deepening human rights crisis, and the origins of political activism among its most vulnerable citizens.

The skyline of Phnom Penh is littered with unfinished construction projects, grim concrete reminders of the boom and bust nature of its economy. The forced evictions that clear the way for this top-down development are widespread, and have incited a growing wave of protests over land rights.

The stories of activists leading this movement reveal the modest and intimate origins of a popular uprising against overwhelming corruption, an uprising that has matured into an attempt to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Hun Sen, which has been in power for over thirty years.

Their dramatic attempt to expose and undermine the establishment has received an expected backlash. Land rights activist Tep Vanny was imprisoned on what are widely considered politically-motivated grounds. Opposition party leader Sam Rainsy was pressured to step down, and is once again in exile after fleeing an arrest warrant. Their persecutions have also been reinforced by the courts. The Venerable Luon Sovath continues to film and produce documentaries for his popular YouTube channel, while receiving death threats and dealing with pro-government hackers. Srey Pov has decided to remain at home with her family instead of participating in the ongoing land rights protests.

A Cambodian Spring is a document of their struggle for dignity and justice, and a window into the sober reality of a nation and its possibilities for change.

120 Minutes, in Central Khmer / with English subtitles.

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Professor Silvey Explores Indonesian Migrant Labor in her Dec. 2 Talk

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 16:13:20 +0000

Professor Silvey Explores Indonesian Migrant Labor in her Dec. 2 Talk Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/07/2016 - 09:13

Professor Rachel Silvey, of the Department of Geography of the University of Toronto, gave a talk on December 2 at CU Boulder. Her lecture and research, “Infrastructures of Eviction: Indonesian migrant labor in the Transnational City,” was set within the context of the recent boom in urbanism in Asia, the growing competition among cities to brand themselves as “world cities” and the resulting expropriation and dispossession of land. The key intervention she made in the talk was to link speculative urbanism in Indonesia to transnational labor export, particularly to Dubai and the UAE, seeing both as connected processes. Her talk also discussed NGO work around protecting transnational laborers and new discourses about Islamic morality around female laborers and their working conditions and abuses. Professor Silvey linked these different pieces through the case of the construction of a particular road to Sukabumi, Indonesia where residents are being displaced from their land and many go to labor export agencies. Once abroad many send remittances home for the construction of houses that are currently largely empty. Overall, it was a very well received and well-attended colloquium that generated a great deal of discussion and interest.

written by Emily Yeh, professor, geography

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This Thursday! (Un)moved: The Paradoxes of Disaffection among Undocumented Queer Immigrants

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:14:37 +0000

This Thursday! (Un)moved: The Paradoxes of Disaffection among Undocumented Queer Immigrants Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/08/2016 - 14:14

Join us this Thursday, February 11, for a talk by Martin F. Manalansan IV on "(Un)moved: The Paradoxes of Disaffection among Undocumented Queer Immigrants." Dr. Manalansan is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, author of Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora.

Focusing on a household of undocumented queer immigrants living in a cramped apartment in New York City, the presentation "feels" its way through their everyday narratives of pathos, exuberance and disaffection as they navigate precarious conditions and seemingly impossible plights. This is an ethnography of affect that works through and "feels out" a vernacular map of subaltern queer life as constituted by mess and impossibility while buttressed by a scaffolding of longings, aspirations and hope.

Dr. Manalansan's talk begins at 5:00 p.m. and will be held in Hale 230.

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Women & Gender Studies, LGBTQ Studies Program, Center for Asian Studies, Department of English, Department of Anthropology, and Department of Ethnic Studies.

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Join Us for Our First Fall 2015 Luncheon Series Event!

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 19:59:50 +0000

Join Us for Our First Fall 2015 Luncheon Series Event! Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/01/2015 - 13:59

We are kicking off the Fall 2015 Luncheon Series with a talk by author and former diplomat to Indonesia, Stanley Harsha, on his new book Like the Moon and the Sun. Join us on Thursday, September 3, at 12:00 p.m. in the CAS Conference Room (1424 Broadway) for this interesting talk. Lunch will be provided for attendees.

This is a story of culture, religion and politics in Indonesia through the eyes of a former United States diplomat who had close connections to Indonesia for nearly 30 years. Stanley Harsha first came to Indonesia as a young diplomat in 1986, returning for multiple diplomatic tours before retiring and writing this memoir. Acculturated into a Javanese family through marriage, he offers intimate perspectives on Indonesia’s rich multicultural society and customs. This is the first book on Indonesia written by an American diplomat since a 1990 book by Ambassador Marshall Green. The book will be of interest to anyone wanting to better understand Indonesia and U.S.-Indonesian relations, as well as issues of human rights, the war against terrorism and religious tolerance.

Appealing for Indonesians and Americans to better understand each other, the book compares the two societies. The title, Like the Moon and the Sun, comes from an Indonesian proverb describing a perfect match, representing the yin and yang of two contrasting peoples and traditions enhancing each other. Based on first-hand experience, the author describes Indonesia’s peaceful transition from a dictatorship to the world’s third largest democracy, critically analyzing religious tolerance, human rights and the war against terrorism. The book explains why Indonesian Islam is tolerant and peaceful, traits that are shared with the United States. However, the book also is sharply critical of intolerant trends in both nations, Islamophobia promulgated by the Christian right in the U.S. and hatred fomented by a small minority of hardline Muslims in Indonesia.

The book also calls for human rights accountability in both countries, for past killings and kidnappings of civilians by Indonesian security forces, and for the torture and killing of terrorist suspects by U.S. security forces and the CIA. The author argues that while the U.S. war against terrorism has eliminated many threats, it also has created more terrorists than it has eliminated.

During his decades of experience with Indonesia, the author had close relationships with people across society, including the current President Joko Widodo, human rights leaders, cultural icons and religious leaders of all faiths. The author also knew victims of gross human rights violations and human trafficking, telling their compelling stories.

Indonesia’s prominent Muslim scholar, Azyumardi Azra, wrote in his forward to the book, “Stanley possesses information that is both varied and vast. He has mixed not only in diplomatic circles but also with journalists, intellectuals, religious figures, students, civil society activists, and also, with ordinary people.” Stanley Harsha makes a plea to the world to understand how Islam is practiced in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim majority country, and “how this type of moderate Muslim culture represents Islam with a smiling face.”

Indonesia’s most respected human rights attorney, Adnan Buyung Nasution, wrote about the book, “His understanding of Indonesian culture and politics is impressive. This book should be read by anyone who is interested in learning about Indonesian relations with America.”

Michael Vatikiotis, Regional Director Asia, for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, writes, “Stan Harsha has written a very personal account of his journey through Indonesia, as a husband, father and diplomat.”

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