The World History Association & Pannasastra University of Cambodia
Location: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Conference dates: 2 – 4 January 2012
Deadline: 1 September 2011

The World History Association, in conjunction with Pannasastra University of Cambodia, is issuing a call for papers for a symposium on the world-historical significance of Southeast Asia. The symposium seeks to generate dialog among scholars within and outside of the region regarding its place in world history. It also seeks to stimulate discussion of world history methodology as well as pedagogy while identifying those world history processes that have application to the region’s past, present and future.

Among the topics that may be addressed at the symposium within or beyond a Southeast Asian context are: the nature of world history; the processes of indigenization, localization, and syncretism; the decline and fall of classical societies; Diaspora and gender studies; the colonial experience; nationalism; conflict and post-conflict studies; trade; economy; language, religion and culture; art; regional questions in global perspective such as borderlands; regional diplomatic relations; investment, tourism and resource management issues; the environment; comparative genocide; and models for World History and global studies in terms of scholarship and instruction. These topics are examples only and should not be taken to exclude proposals on other topics. Scholars from all disciplines are encouraged to submit proposals. Select refereed papers from the conference will be published in the e-journal World History Connected (University of Illinois Press) and a book project is planned to which attendees will be encouraged to submit contributions to be considered for publication.

The symposium will be held minutes from the Archeological Conservation Area that includes Angkor Wat. Pre/post and concurrent symposium activities will be structured so as to permit tours of these and other local sites which connect them to the wider region and the world.

Panels will meet in air conditioned rooms on the newly-built PUC Siem Reap campus. The time limit for presenting papers will be 20 minutes, and the deadline for submitting papers to the session moderator is three weeks in advance of the conference. Individual paper proposals must include a 100-200 word summary with the title of the paper, name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, phone and fax numbers, and brief curriculum vitae, all integrated into a single file, preferably in MS-Word. Proposals for entire sessions or panels must contain the same information for each participant, as well as contact information and a brief C.V. for the moderator if you suggest one. (The program committee can help find moderators, if necessary.) There is a limited number of AV-equipped rooms available so it is essential that you indicate your need for audiovisual equipment (and what kind) in your proposal. All meeting rooms are air conditioned.

Please send your completed proposal with the following in the subject line of the email: WHS, followed by your last name (family), and then your first name, then short paper/panel name to the WHA symposia coordinator, Maryanne Rhett, at mrhett@monmouth.edu.

Individuals wishing to moderate a session should send a statement of interest, contact information, and a brief C.V. to the program coordinator.

Questions regarding program events and content only may be directed to the Program Chair, Marc Jason Gilbert at mgilbert@hpu.edu.

Important Notes and Information
* All panelists must register to be on the program.
* A rolling acceptance process will be in place to assist panelists to solicit travel support from their home institutions and organizations.
* The language of the conference is English.
* The conference rooms are in a four story building with no elevator and not ADA accessible. Please email tehwha@hawaii.edu for further ADA limitations.
* The conference does not have funds to subsidize scholars’ travel and lodging at the meeting.
* The deadline for the submission of paper and panel proposals is September 1st, 2011.
* Registration rates, benefits of registration for WHA members and waivers for Cambodian teachers, members of Teachers Across Borders and others will be posted on the WHA registration site shortly at http://www.thewha.org/future_wha_conferences.php. The full registration fee, without waivers or discounts, will be $125.00, including conference lunches.

Please check the World History Association website (http://www.thewha.org/) for final registration information, low-cost housing options and both conference and optional touring logistics information (to be posted shortly). Excellent inexpensive lodging, food, shopping and entertainment are all available close to the conference site. Local transportation is available in the range of $2.00 per ride and can be arranged for $20.00 for an entire day. The weather in Siem Reap in early January is ideal: dry with cool mornings, high in the mid 80s at mid-day. Siem Reap is famous for its Pub Street district, a five minute walk from the conference site. It features sidewalk restaurants, cafes and shops; most visitors make evening strolls there a habit. Siem Reap still has the flavor of a small town, albeit flooded with both backpackers and traditional tourists whose presence has led to widespread spoken English and Western-style supermarkets. Heath and crime issues are minimal (See State Department advisories and your travel medicine specialist before undertaking any travel). Tourist visas are inexpensive.

Siem Reap’s international airport is serviced by a variety of airlines from most Asian hubs. Most international travel passes through Seoul or Bangkok’s international airport. Because of the International Dateline, attendees departing January 4 will be able to make connections permitting participation at the American Historical Association in Chicago later that week.

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Ros Sereysothea (1948–1977) was a famous Cambodian singer during the nation’s thriving cultural renaissance. She sang from a variety of genres but romantic ballads emerged as her most popular works. Despite a rather short career she is credited with producing hundreds of songs and even starring in a few movies. Details of her life and fate during the Khmer Rouge is relatively unknown but it is generally accepted she did not survive.

Growing up relatively poor, Ros Sothea was the second youngest of five children and displayed vocal talent around the age of three or four. Her talent would remain relatively hidden until she was persuaded by friends to join a regional singing contest in 1963. It is believed that Im Song Seurm, a singer from the National Radio heard of Sothear’s talents and invited her to the capital, Phnom Penh in 1967.

In Phnom Penh, she adopted the alias Ros Sereysothea and became a singer for National Radio performing duets with Im Song Seurm. Her first hit, Stung Khieu debuted the same year and she quickly attracted fans with her clear and high pitch voice. Recognized as a national treasure she was honored by King Norodom Sihanouk with the royal title of “Preah Reich Theany Somlang Meas“, the “Golden Voice of the Royal Capital“.

By the 1970s, Sothear began experimenting in other genres. Her high, clear voice, coupled with the rock backing bands featuring prominent, distortion-laden lead guitars, pumping organ and loud, driving drums, made for an intense, sometimes haunting sound that is best described today as psychedelic or garage rock. And like the leader of the music scene, Sinn Sisamouth, Sothear would often take popular Western rock tunes, such as John Fogerty’s “Proud Mary” and refashion them with Khmer lyrics.

Her career would continue until the Khmer Rouge captured the beleaguered capital, Phnom Penh in April 1975. Like everyone else when the Khmer Rouge took over, she was forced to leave Phnom Penh. There are many speculations regarding her fate from a variety witnesses. Her sisters insist that Sothea along with their mother and children were taken to Kampong Som province and executed immediately following the Fall of Phnom Penh.

With the cultural upheaval by the Khmer Rouge, scant evidence of Ros Serey Sothear’s life remains. However, many recordings have survived and have started to gain exposure through reissues on cassette and CD.

Songs by Sothea, Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian singers of the era, Meas Samoun, Chan Chaya, Choun Malai and Pan Ron, are featured on the soundtrack to Matt Dillon’s film City of Ghosts. Tracks by Sothea are “Have You Seen My Love”, “I’m Sixteen” and “Wait Ten Months”. Also “I’m Sixteen” was taken for the soundtrack of the 2010 movie of Detlev Buck “Same Same, but different”

The Los Angeles band Dengue Fever, which features Cambodian lead singer Chhom Nimol, covers a number of songs by Sothea and other singers from the short-lived Cambodian rock and roll scene. –condensed from Wikipedia biography.

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Update
The “Angkor and Its Global Connections” conference has just published its program. Check out the topics that will be covered in this path breaking conference here.

About the Conference
In collaboration with the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap) National Authority of Cambodia, and with the support of the UNESCO Phnom Penh Office, the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore and the Greater Angkor Project or the University of Sydney, Australia are pleased to announce the convening of a conference entitled Angkor and Its Global Connections in Siem Reap over three days 10-12 June 2011.

The aim of the conference is to examine the history of the Khmer polities which were centred in and around the Angkor region, the development of their urban centres, and the links between these polities and other political and cultural centres in Southeast Asia, East Asia and beyond. It is hoped that the papers presented, selections of which will be subsequently published in an edited volume, will offer a state-of-the-field overview of Khmer polities, their urban development and their relations with other polities and cultural centres, including Tai, Thai, Cham, Viet, and Chinese polities, the Arab and Persian worlds and maritime Southeast Asia.

The need for such a conference is obvious. While there are annual ICC-Angkor meetings held in Siem Reap under the auspices of APSARA and UNESCO, these relate mainly to the preservation and maintenance of the monuments of the Angkor region. It has often been the case, however, that these ancient cities have been examined in splendid isolation, without sufficient reference to their external links which, it must be affirmed, are integral and essential elements for any functioning metropolis in history or today.

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Where Art Meets Science: Ancient Sculpture from the Hindu-Buddhist World (Cambodia)
Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA
Through August 1, 2011

Before ancient objects enter a museum collection, they often travel 
vast distances and endure various periods of use, disuse, loss, and 
rediscovery. Their original meaning and function can become lost or 
obscured. For this reason, museums conduct extensive research on all
 objects entering their collections. Curators and conservators 
faithfully survey objects for any hints about their origins and
 provenance to ensure their overall general health, factual
documentation and preservation. Where Art Meets Science: Ancient 
Sculpture from the Hindu-Buddhist World, a focused exhibition of
 primarily Cambodian sculpture from the Norton Simon foundations’
 permanent collections, examines the connoisseurship and conservation 
involved in identifying and preserving these ancient objects.

A collaboration between the museum’s assistant curator of Asian art, 
Melody N. Rod-ari, and its conservator, John Griswold, this small
 installation explores how the place of origin and date of an object
can be determined by the rendering of drapery pleats, hairstyles and
 ornaments of iconic statuary from South and Southeast Asia dating from
the 3rd through 13th centuries. Furthermore, analytical methods to 
help identify traces of pigments, binders, and applied organic
 materials will be introduced, as will a discussion about 
distinguishing ancient tool marks from later ones.

Website: www.nortonsimon.org/where-art-meets-science-ancient-sculpture-from-the-hindu-buddhist-world

Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia

Getty Center, Los Angeles
Through August 14, 2011

The ancient capital of the Khmer people at Angkor, in northwest 
Cambodia, was once the heart of a large sphere of influence that
extended over much of mainland Southeast Asia. The bronzes in this 
exhibition’ masterworks from the collection of the National Museum of
 Cambodia represent the achievements of Khmer artists during the Angkor
 period (the ninth through the 15th centuries).
Bronze, a mixture of metals consisting primarily of copper and tin,
 was a preferred medium for giving form to the Hindu and Buddhist
divinities worshipped in Angkor and throughout the Khmer empire. The 
Khmer have always viewed bronze as a noble material, connoting
prosperity and success, and it has played a deeply meaningful role in 
their culture over many centuries.

Website: www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/gods_angkor/

The Way of the Elders: The Buddha in Modern Theravada Traditions
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles

Through March 25, 2012

Theravada, or “The Way of the Elders,” is the school of Buddhism practiced today in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. Central to Theravada worship is the historic Buddha, Shakyamuni (circa fifth century BC). Shakyamuni was born after numerous rebirths, which are recounted in jatakas, or birth stories, the last ten of which are of paramount importance. These ten are depicted over and over on manuscript pages, textiles, and monastery walls. The last of these popular stories is the one concerning the Buddha’s final life as Shakyamuni, the lifetime in which he reaches enlightenment. Works in this exhibition illustrate a range of media produced in Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand from the eighteenth century to the present. They represent the Buddha in a variety of forms, as figures in his previous births, as the Buddha with monks and lay worshippers, and as symbols, such as the Buddha’s footprints. Contemporary Southeast Asian artists continue to draw inspiration from traditional Buddhist imagery, as in a painting by the Thai artist Kamol Tassananchalee which will be on view as part of this exhibition.

Website: www.lacma.org/art/ExhibInstallations.aspx#woe

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Passerelles Numériques
Web programming project manager – Training center for underprivileged students in Cambodia
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Start date: 15 July 2011
Deadline: 15 May 2011

Passerelles Numériques (Digital Bridges in French) is an NGO which enables the most underprivileged to access employment in the IT field and to break the circle of poverty for families in Cambodia, in Vietnam and in the Philippines

We opened our first center in 2005 in Cambodia. It now welcomes 250 students who after graduating, find qualified jobs as IT technicians, earning 4 to 5 times the average local income. To extend this success, Passerelles Numériques started two similar projects in Cebu, the Philippines and Da Nang, Vietnam, in 2009 and 2010.

We benefit from strong international partnerships with MICROSOFT, HP, ACCENTURE, STERIA, ECS, OSIATIS, ECONOCOM and others who have been supporting us to reach our current size.

See http://kh.passerellesnumeriques.org for a complete project description.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Overall :

* Work closely with other departments, CIST staff, Pedagogy coordinator & IT advisor.

* Be part of CIST management team.

* Control the budget of his/her area of responsibility.

* Participate actively to CIST social mission, understand & carry our Values.

* Be a role-model for his/her team, colleagues & students.

2. Web Program Coordinator

* Manage, coach, evaluate a team of 3 teachers with potential of growth.

* Ensure good communication to- and feedback from your team members.

* Maintain & always look for improvement of Web Program & curriculum.

* Elaborate & implement training strategy for your team, both on technical & pedagogy skills.

3. Web Program “Growth project” manager: “from 1 to 2 WEP classes, deadline: January 2012”

* Evaluate the required time and resources necessary

* Raise issues and closely work with other departments to find solutions

* Manage this structural change with SNA coordinator, both towards students and Training team members

* Recruit and train new teachers

4. Web Program Trainer (limited)

* Keep abreast of software development technologies and training methods.

* Design, adapt or develop course materials.

* Prepare and deliver courses, supervised role-playing methods and workshops to students on topics such as programming, data structures, and software design.

5. Supervision of Web Trainer on Web development projects (CIST Internal use)

* Assign and supervise projects and tasks to team members.

* Review developers’ code in order to share best practice.

* Ensure good quality code via modular testing.

* Estimate time needed for development and deliver work on time.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

* Graduate Degree in Computer Science.

* Fluent in English.

* 3 years minimum of teaching experience in a school or development experience in a company.

* A multicultural experience would be appreciated.

* Flexible, critical thinking, creative and autonomous skills, personalities open to criticism with a team player’s attitude.

* Organized, rigorous, good communication skills, eager to learn and develop oneself.

* Very strong ethics and leadership skills within your area of ownership.

* Motivated to work with underprivileged young people.

* Able to self-train quickly and adapt to new technologies.

ADVANCED COMPUTER SKILLS REQUIRED

* Master several development languages such as JAVA, PHP or .Net.

* Display a strong conceptual understanding of procedural and object-oriented programming.

* Experience in database design and development (UML, SQL Language, My SQL).

* Understanding of modular testing technologies.

* Understanding of computer architecture and algorithms,

* Understanding of Web Development Technologies such as MVC, HTML/CSS and JavaScript.

* Understanding of System Scripting Language such as Perl or Python would be appreciated.

ENVIRONMENT
* Fast moving and innovative environment: rapid evolution of technologies, market needs and institution organization in an international setting.

Contact details

To apply please send CV and cover letter with “Web Program Trainer & Coordinator” in the subject field of the email to jobs@cistrain.org.

Applications without the above mentioned subject field of email will not be taken into account.

Otherwise applicant can sent to:
CIST
St. 371
Phum Tropeang Chhuk (Borey Sorla) Sangkat Tek Thla, Khan Russey Keo,
PO Box 511
Phnom Penh

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New Country Scout – Cambodia
One Acre Fund
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

One Acre Fund is a start-up initiative in Kenya which works with persistently hungry farm families. Instead of giving handouts to families, One Acre invests in farm families to generate a permanent gain in farm income. Our “investment bundle” includes education, financing, inputs, and export market access. Our program is designed to be usable by the extreme poor, and generates a permanent, 100%+ gain in farm income.

We have been operating since January 2006, and we currently serve 30,000 farm families (120,000 children). Our target is to change the lives of 50,000 families (200,000 children) within the next year, scaling at a 50-100% growth rate thereafter. One Acre Fund is one of the most externally-validated social start-ups of 2006, winning grants from the highly competitive Echoing Green, Draper Richards and Skoll Foundations, and first place wins at the Stanford and Yale social venture competitions. Website: www.oneacrefund.org

Job Description
As One Acre Fund expands, a key part of our long-term goal to reach 1,000,000 farm families is to launch up to one new country per year, starting in 2011. It is also important that we understand the landscape of potential countries as soon as possible – so that we know how we may need to change our program model to fit new areas.

We are seeking an exceptionally talented professional with very strong independent problem-solving skills, an ability to self-manage, and strong overall judgment. This person should also have strong networking ability, and general stability/ ability to deal with traveling alone for a long stretch of time. The minimum commitment to this job is 2 years.

The New Country Scout will:
8 Phase 1 Light Field Visit: Do short, four-week initial visits to countries.
* Fill out desk research by requesting data from government statistics agencies
* Make contact with a few targeted NGOs in the country
* Do quick field visits to 3 rural areas in different regions, to interview farmers
* Phase 2 Early Horticultural Trials: Kick off initial trial work, during a three-month-long period
* Launch a horticultural trial with 50+ farmers, while we search for a full-time manager
* Hire initial field staff
* Secure and furnish an office, suitable home for manager, begin legal registration, etc.

Preferred Start Date: As soon as possible
Compensation: $15,000 annual salary + health benefits + $50 travel per-diem, plus all transportation, including two flights home for personal leave
Sponsor International Candidates: Yes Qualifications
A successful candidate will have these traits. This is a serious, full-time job – PLEASE DO NOT APPLY if you are having a mid-life crisis and just want to travel the world. You will have zero flexibility in choosing countries – this is a full-time job with defined deliverables, and you will travel to rural areas with very few exciting things to see. Minimum commitment is 2 years.

* Must speak English with complete fluency.
* *Serious, legitimate, long-term interest in international development work. At least one year of experience living in a developing nation.
* Very strong self-manager. As this position has no fixed work hours or in-person supervision, you must be able to reliably manage projects and deadlines with high independence on a day-to-day basis. We are looking for someone with a demonstrated ability to work independently. This is a professional role, and we are looking for a professional-caliber person
* Top-performing undergraduate background (include GPA and test scores on your resume)
* 2-4 years work experience in a professional environment
* Emotional stability, and an ability to travel alone, with little predictability, for long stretches
* No ego or drama. We are looking for others that combine strong leadership skills with a humble approach to service

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Sinn Sisamouth (1932–1975) was a famous and highly prolific Cambodian singer-songwriter in the 1950s to the 1970s. Widely considered the “King of Khmer music”, Sisamouth, along with Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron, and other artists, was part of a thriving pop music scene in Phnom Penh that blended elements of Khmer traditional music with the sounds of rhythm and blues and rock and roll to make a Westernized sound akin to psychedelic or garage rock. Sisamouth is believed to have been killed under the Khmer Rouge regime.

Sinn Sisamouth was born in 1935 in Stung Treng Province, the son of Sinn Leang and mother Seb Bunlei who was of Lao-Chinese descent. He was the youngest of four siblings, with one brother and two sisters. His father was a prison warden in Battambang Province and was then a soldier during the Colonial Cambodia period. His father died of disease and his mother remarried, and the union resulted in two more children. Sisamouth attended Central Province of Stung Treng Elementary School when he was five. At the age of six or seven, he started to show interest in the guitar, and he would be asked to perform at school functions. He was also interested in Buddhist scripture and other books, as well as playing soccer and flying kites.

Around 1951, he passed elementary school and intended to study medicine in Phnom Penh, but continued working at becoming a singer and writing songs. Just as he had in elementary school, he became well known in his school for his music, and was asked to sing at school ceremonies. By the time Cambodia was granted independence from France in 1953, Sisamouth’s fine singing voice landed him a spot on national radio as a regular singer. He also continued his studies, working at Preah Ketomealea Hospital. -taken from Wikipedia (larger article available)

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Wednesday, 2 March 2011
France/Belgium/Cambodia, 2008 (115 min)
French, Khmer with English subtitles

Director: Rithy Panh
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Gaspart Ulliel, Astrid Bergés-Frisbey, Randal Douc, Duong Vathon
Cinematographer: Pierre Milon
Music: Marc Marder

Rithy Panh adapts the 1950 novel by Marguerite Duras—a classic work of French literature—to make a compelling, sumptuous, yet politically astute film about his native country. The legendary Isabelle Huppert stars as the widowed matriarch of a small land-owning family in 1930s French Indochina (now Cambodia), who eke out a living from rice fields located perilously close to the ocean. Deceived by the colonial administration, she has invested all of her savings in worthless, regularly flooded farmland. Driven to fight against both nature and the corrupt bureaucrats who conned her and threaten expropriation, and refusing to accept the triumphant injustice of the system, she devises an imaginative scheme to build a dam against the sea with the help of the villagers. -Twitch

IMDB | Flixster | Guardian Review (UK) | Download Poster

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Photograph by W.E. Garrett via NationalGeographic.com

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