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The Fourth Annual Filipino Film Festival – The Doris Duke Theatre (April)

Posted on 21 March 2012 by Pahole Sookkasikon

FOURTH ANNUAL FILIPINO FILM FESTIVAL | THE DORIS DUKE THEATRE

Fourth Annual Filipino Film Festival
April 21-29 2012
Celebrate Filipino film making and culture with six of the best new films from acclaimed and emerging Filipino directors.
Many thanks to Dr. May Ablan and the Philippine Medical Association of Hawaii for sponsoring this festival, Vicky D. Belarmino, Arts Officer and Film Archivist of the CCP Media Arts Division and the Assistant Festival Coordinator for Cinemalaya.

Opening night reception: Apr. 21, 6-7:30pm
Enjoy Pinoy bento and wine for purchase. Screening at 7:30pm. Tickets: $15, $12 museum members. Click here to purchase tickets in advance and guarantee your seat.

Festival pass: $50, $45 museum members; Includes all 6 screenings. Tickets for opening night on Apr. 21 must be purchased separately. Click here to purchase a pass online

Related programming: Spotlight Tours – Highlights of Filipino Art
Apr. 24 – 28 at 1:30pm
No reservation required. Free with museum admission.

DANCE OF MY LIFE

Hawai‘i Premiere | DANCE OF MY LIFE
Directed by Lydia Benitez-Brown, Philippines/USA, 2011, 75 mins., Filipino
Apr. 21 1 + 7:30pm
Apr. 26 at 1pm
Portuguese and English with English subtitles, Hawai‘i premiere.
Icon Bessie Badilla was the first Filipina to become Carnival Queen in Brazil. This film traces her journey from a humble childhood in the Philippines, to success as an international supermodel, and to her life as a Connecticut wife and mother. Official selection: Chicago Filipino American Film Festival.

Opening night reception: Apr. 21 6-7:30pm. Screening at 7:30pm. Purchase tickets here

DANCE OF THE TWO LEFT FEET

DANCE OF THE TWO LEFT FEET
Directed by Alvin Yapan, Philippines, 2011, 85 mins., in Filipino with English subtitles
Apr. 22 at 1, 4 + 7:30pm
To impress his literature teacher, who moonlights as a dance teacher and choreographer, Marlon hires a classmate to give him private dance lessons. A unique love triangle unfolds set to Filipino poetry intertwined with haunting music and stunning choreography. Official Selection: Hawaii International Film Festival. Winner: Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Cinemalaya.

TEORIYA

Hawai‘i Premiere | TEORIYA
Directed by Zurich Chan, Philippines, 2011, 100 mins, in Filipino, Chavacano, Cebuano with English subtitles
Apr. 24 at 1 + 7:30pm
Apr. 29 at 1pm
After hearing the news that his estranged father has passed away, Jimmuel Apostol II goes home to Zamboanga City for the first time in a decade. He arrives to find that his father left him a piece of land, a rundown car, a diary and no clue as to his burial place. As he searches for his father’s grave, he discovers his secrets and finds meaning in his own life. Official Selection: Cinemalaya

PINTAKASI

Hawai‘i Premiere | PINTAKASI
Directed by Nelson Caguila, Lee Meily, Philippines, 2011, 72 mins., in Filipino with English subtitles
Apr. 25 at 1 + 7:30pm
Apr. 27 at 9pm following ARTafterDARK
In this urban hip-hop fairy tale, aspiring graffiti artist DJ moves to a big city “garbage island” to practice his craft. After joining a local gang, he falls afoul of their leader. The ensuing results in a multimedia “pintakasi” or human cockfight of artists, rappers, dancers, and thugs. Featuring award-winning hip-hop dance group Philippine All-Stars. Winner: Best Film, New Wave Section, Metro Manila Film Festival

THE GIFT OF BARONG: A JOURNEY FROM WITHIN

Hawai‘i Premiere | THE GIFT OF BARONG: A JOURNEY FROM WITHIN
Directed by Benito Bautista, USA/Philippines, 2006, 88 mins., in Filipino and English with English subtitles
April 26 + 29 at 7:30pm, April 27 at 1pm, April 29 at 4pm
In this poignant documentary, two Filipino-American surfers from the Bay Area travel to the Philippines to immerse themselves in the culture, surf the islands, and rediscover their roots. More than a surf tale, the film is an exploration of cultural identity as it follows two men reconciling their Asian heritage with their American selves.
Official selection: Cinemanila International Film Festival, San Diego Asian Film Festival, Chicago Filipino Film Festival. Winner: Best Cinematography, New York International Independent Film Festival

Director Benito Bautista will be in attendance to introduce the film before each screening and will lead q+a sessions afterwards.

BOUNDARY

Hawai‘i Premiere | BOUNDARY
Directed by Benito Bautista, Philippines, 2011, 110 min., in Filipino with English subtitles
Apr. 28 at 1, 4 + 7:30pm
A slick businessman takes cab, not knowing that the driver and two local gang members are conspiring to kidnap him. Their journey along the streets of Manila makes for an innovative, breathtaking thriller. Official Selection: Toronto International Film Festival. Winner: NETPAC Prize, Cinemalaya, Special Mention, Cinemanila

Director Benito Bautista will be in attendance to introduce the film before each screening and will lead q+a sessions afterwards

Plan Your Visit to the Doris Duke Theatre

Location

Honolulu Museum of Art | Doris Duke Theatre
900 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

The Theatre entrance is on Kinau Street, between Victoria Street and Ward Avenue.

Parking

• Art Center Lot, Victoria Street with entrances on Beretania and Young streets: Mon–Sat 7 am–11 pm, Sun 10 am–6 pm. The fee is $3 for every 4 hours with validation until 4pm, and $4 flat rate from 4pm until closing.

• 1035 Kinau Street Lot: (Diamond Head of the Admiral Thomas building) The lot is closed to the public 10am-4:30pm Monday to Friday. It is open to the public and free on weekends and from 4:30 to 11pm during the week.

• Street parking is available along Victoria Street

• Parking for persons with disabilities is available in the Luce Pavilion lot on Victoria Street; patrons using disabled access stalls should proceed to the main entrance on Kinau Street. There are two stalls, which are open on a first-come, first-served basis.

Getting here

Bus: The Academy is on the following bus lines; 1, 2, 13, B and 1L.

Car: On the H-1 freeway from Waikiki, take the Lunalilo St. exit and make a left at Ward Ave, and another left on Kinau Street. From downtown or the airport, take the Lusitana exit to Kinau Street.

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Bookshelf Spotlight: Ferdinand Marcos & the Philippines

Posted on 14 March 2012 by Pahole Sookkasikon

Featured Books

* Coming of Age: Women’s Colleges in the Philippines During the Post- Marcos Era
* Contested Democracy and The Left in the Philippines After Marcos
* Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism
* The Marcos File: Was He a Philippine Hero or Corrupt Tyrant?
* The Philippines: The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era

Coming of Age: Women’s Colleges in the Philippines During the Post- Marcos Era


by Francesca Purcell
Routledge, 2005

In view of the increasing number of Third World countries considering the establishment of women’s colleges to meet the demand for the higher education of women, presenting a case study of two key women’s colleges in the Philippines. Within the context of global, national and local changes since the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, academic and administrative leaders at two prestigious women’s colleges candidly discuss how their respective institutions adapted to their environments and how the colleges will fare in the future. Preferences for large, coeducational institutions; the emergence of less expensive tertiary institutions; and the downward spiral of a weak national economy combined to destabilized the enrollment base of these colleges. Factors unique to the Philippines including an increasing number of female overseas contract workers; struggles with national language preferences; and the growth of feminism also affected the colleges. In response, the colleges expanded their curricula, chose high-profile presidents, focused on faculty development, and acquired technology. Decision-markers at these colleges will have to continue in their efforts at solidifying their positions in the Philippine higher education system. The book that women’s colleges worldwide must articulate their unique purposes and collaborate with other institutions to strengthen their organizations.

Goodreads | Amazon | Google Books

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Contested Democracy and The Left in the Philippines After Marcos


by Nathan Gilbert Quimpo
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2008

When people power toppled the dictator Marcos, the Philippines was considered a shining example of the restoration of democracy. Since 1986, however, the Philippines has endured continuing political and social unrest and encountered tremendous obstacles to the consolidation and deepening of democracy. Scholars have called post-Marcos Philippines an elite democracy, a cacique democracy, or a patrimonial oligarchic state.

In this volume, Nathan Gilbert Quimpo disputes such characterizations of democracy. He argues that the deepening of democracy in the country involves the transformation of an elite-dominated formal democracy into a participatory and egalitarian one. He focuses on emergent, democratically oriented, leftist parties and groups that seek to transform the formal democracy of the Philippines into a more substantial one and shows the difficulties they have encountered in fighting patronage politics. The complexity of the process to deepen democracy in the Philippines becomes evident from Quimpo s exploration of competing notions of democracy, contending versions of the civil society argument, and contending perspectives in governance.

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Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism


by Albert F. Celoza
Praeger Publishers, 1997

Ferdinand Marcos came to power in the Philippines in a coup d?tat in 1972 and ruled absolutely, in the name of order, until his dramatic overthrow in February of 1986. This study examines how the authoritarian regime of Marcos remained in power, sometimes in the face of massive opposition, for 14 years. Repressive regimes may seem undesirable, but they are often able to elicit the support of significant sectors of society. Marcos was able to maintain authoritarian rule through the support of bureaucrats, businessmen, and the military–all with the assistance of the United States government. He maintained this network of support through a patron-client system with a centralized bureaucracy as its power and resource base. In order to reward his supporters, he expanded the authority of government. But to minimize the political cost of expansion, he maintained the legal and constitutional forms of democracy. The Philippine experience in despotism is not unique; many Third World countries are under authoritarian rule. This subtle and nuanced analysis, therefore, provides an examination of the levers of power available to absolute rulers, to better understand the political economy of authoritarianism.

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The Marcos File: Was He a Philippine Hero or Corrupt Tyrant?


by Charles C. McDougald
San Francisco Publishers, 1987

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The Philippines: The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era


by James K. Boyce
University of Hawai’i Press, 1993

The experience of the Philippines from the 1960s to the 1980s vividly illustrates the interplay between wealth and power in the course of economic development. During this period, the benefits of economic growth conspicuously failed to trickle down. Broad sectors of the Filipino people experienced deepening poverty. Professor Boyce traces this outcome to the country’s economic and political structure, and to the development strategies pursued by the Philippine government and its international backers. Impressive gains in rice production via the ‘green revolution’ failed to translate into less hunger. Profits from the country’s agricultural exports – sugar, coconut, banana, and pineapple – were concentrated in the hands of a few. Forestry exports triggered severe environmental degradation, the main victims of which were the poor. Massive external borrowing financed capital flight rather than productive investment, and left the country with a crushing foreign debt burden. The Philippine experience provides important insights into the political economy of development.

University of Hawai’i Press | Goodreads | Amazon | Google Books

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Sarah M. Bekker Prize – Academic Paper on Burma/Myanmar

Posted on 11 July 2011 by Ronald Gilliam

2nd Biennial Sarah M. Bekker Prize – Academic paper on Burma/Myanmar

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Bookshelf Spotlight: Thailand

Posted on 11 July 2011 by Ronald Gilliam

Featured Books

* Making Fields of Merit: Buddhist Female Ascetics and Gendered Orders in Thailand
* The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen
* Through the Eyes of the King: The Travels of King Chulalongkorn to Malaya
* Imagining Siam: A Travellers’ Literary Guide to Thailand
* Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words: Histories of Buddhist Monastic Education in Laos and Thailand
* Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand: Tradition and Transformation

Making Fields of Merit: Buddhist Female Ascetics and Gendered Orders in Thailand

by Monica Lindberg Falk
NIAS Press, 2007

Religion plays a central role in Thai society with Buddhism intertwined in the daily lives of the people. Religion also plays an important role in establishing gender boundaries. The growth in recent decades of self-governing nunneries (samnak chii) and the increasing interest of Thai women in a Buddhist monastic life are notable changes in the religion–gender dynamic.

This anthropological study addresses religion and gender relations through the lens of the lives, actions and role in Thai society of an order of Buddhist nuns (mae chii). It presents an unique ethnography of these Thai Buddhist nuns, examines what it implies to be a female ascetic in contemporary Thailand and analyses how the ordained state for women fits into the wider gender patterns found in Thai society. The study also deals with the nuns’ agency in creating religious space and authority for women. In addition, it raises questions about how the position of Thai Buddhist nuns outside the Buddhist sangha affects their religious legitimacy and describes recent moves to restore a Theravada order of female monks.

NIAS Press | Goodreads | University of Washington Press Review | Amazon

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The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen

Translated and edited by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit
Illustrated by Muangsing Janchai
Silkworm Books, 2010

The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen is the most outstanding classic in the Thai language. The plot is a love story, set against a background of war, ending in high tragedy. This folk epic was first developed in oral form for popular performance with a fast-paced blend of romance, tragedy, and farce spiced with sex, warring, adventure, and the supernatural. It was later adopted by the Siamese court and written down, with two kings contributing. This first-ever translation is based on Prince Damrong’s standard edition of 1917–18, with over a hundred passages recovered from earlier versions.

This English translation is written in lively prose, fully annotated, with over four hundred original line drawings and an essay on the history and background of the tale. The main volume presents the entire tale in translation. The companion volume contains alternative chapters and extensions, Prince Damrong’s prefaces, and reference lists of flora, fauna, costume, arms, and food. The volumes are available separately or as a slipcased set.

According to the leading Thai linguist William Gedney, “if all other information on traditional Thai culture were to be lost, the whole complex could be reconstructed from this marvellous text.”

Silkworm BooksKhun Chang Khun Phaen Blog | Goodreads | Amazon

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Through the Eyes of the King: The Travels of King Chulalongkorn to Malaya

by P. Lim Pui Huen
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009

This book takes the reader to old Malaya as seen through the eyes of King Chulalongkorn of Siam. The King was probably the most travelled monarch of his time. He went to Java three times, India and Burma once, and Europe twice. In all these journeys, he had to pass through Singapore, and when he went westwards, he had to pass through Penang.

The King travelled to Malaya more than ten times – mainly to Singapore but also to Johor, Penang, Malacca, Taiping and Kulim. The narrative is told through historical photos and notes on the places he visited and pen sketches of the people he met.

Since King Chulalongkorn’s travels cover nearly the whole period of his reign, they reflect the different stages of his life and reign. We see him first as a young man eager to see the world and preparing himself to rule. Then we see him in middle age, in poor health and taking a respite from the cares of state. Lastly, we see him as a statesman withstanding severe pressures from aggressive British officials.

The context of each journey is discussed in the light of Siam’s relations with Britain and the northern Malay states that were still under Siamese suzerainty. Malaya was both holiday destination and confrontational space.

ISEAS Publishing| Goodreads | Silkworm Books | International Convention of Asia Scholars

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Imagining Siam: A Travellers’ Literary Guide to Thailand

By Caron Eastgate Dann
Monash Institute, 2009

Thailand has been systematically transformed into a classic neocolonial object of Western desire, an easily penetrated erotic zone that caters to the appetites of Western interlopers. In the first comprehensive critical study of Western literature about Thailand, Imagining Siam provides a thorough analysis, using Edward Said’s concepts, of English language travelogues and travel literature. It offers a broad view, covering literary attempts to describe Siam in the 13th century, through the formative phase of Western engagement in the 16th century, the various competing European imperialisms in the 19th century, to today’s era of mass tourism and the global reach of mobile, economically and culturally powerful “First World” populations. This will appeal to those interested in Thailand, critiques of travel writing and the Anna Leonowens legacy.

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Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words: Histories of Buddhist Monastic Education in Laos and Thailand

By Justin Thomas McDaniel
University of Washington Press, 2008

Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words examines modern and premodern Buddhist monastic education traditions in Laos and Thailand. Through five centuries of adaptation and reinterpretation of sacred texts and commentaries, Justin McDaniel traces curricular variations in Buddhist oral and written education that reflect a wide array of community goals and values. He depicts Buddhism as a series of overlapping processes, bringing fresh attention to the continuities of Theravada monastic communities that have endured despite regional and linguistic variations. Incorporating both primary and secondary sources from Thailand and Laos, he examines premodern inscriptional, codicological, anthropological, art historical, ecclesiastical, royal, and French colonial records. By looking at modern sermons, and even television programs and websites, he traces how pedagogical techniques found in premodern palm-leaf manuscripts are pervasive in modern education.

Goodreads | University of Washington Press | Social Science Research Council | H-Net Review

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Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand: Tradition and Transformation

By Joseph Chinyong Liow
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009

“This is a remarkable piece of scholarship that illuminates general and specific tendencies in Islamic education in South Thailand. Armed with an enormous amount of rich empirical detail and an elegant writing style, the author debunks the simplistic Orientalist conceptions of Wahhabi and Salafi influences on Islamic education in South Thailand. This work will be a state-of-the-art source for understanding the role of Islam and the ongoing conflict in this troubled region of Southeast Asia. The book is significant for those scholars who are attempting to understand Muslim communities in Southeast Asia, and also for those who want deep insights into Islamic education and its influence in any area of the Islamic world.” – Raymond Scupin, Professor of Anthropology and International Studies Lindenwood University, USA

“Few books address the sensitive issue of Islamic education with empathy as well as critical distance as Joseph C. Liow’s Islam, Education, and Reform in Southern Thailand. He examines global networks of religious learning within a local Thai as well as regional Asian context by brilliantly revealing the intersections between religion, politics and modernity in an accessible and illuminating manner. Traditional educational institutions rarely receive such sensitive and balanced treatment. Liow’s book is a tour de force and mandatory reading for policy-makers, academics and all of those interested in current affairs.” – Ebrahim Moosa, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Department of Religion, Associate Director, Duke Islamic Studies Center (DISC), Duke University, USA

“Islam, Education, and Reform in Southern Thailand is Joseph Chinyong Liow’s critical attempt to map out the reflexive questioning, locations of authority, dynamics and contestations within the Muslim community over what constitutes Islamic knowledge and education. Through the optics of Islamic education in Southern Thailand, Liow manages to brilliantly portray the ways in which Muslim minority negotiate their lives in the local context of violence and the global context of crisis of modernity.” – Chaiwat Satha-Anand, Senior Research Scholar, Thailand Research Fund, Author of The Life of this World: Negotiated Muslim Lives in Thai Society

ISEAS Publications |Goodreads | Amazon | Google Books

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National University of Singapore Fellowships

Posted on 04 July 2011 by Ronald Gilliam

Asia Research Institute
Singapore
Deadline: 1 September 2011

Applications are invited for Senior Research Fellowships, One-Year Visiting (Senior) Research Fellowships and Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Asia Research Institute (ARI) for commencement between April 2012 and September 2012.

The positions are intended for outstanding active researchers from around the world, to work on an important piece of research in the social sciences and humanities. Interdisciplinary interests are encouraged. Up to three months of a 12-month fellowship may be spent conducting fieldwork in the Asian region.

A majority of the positions will be allocated to the more specific areas listed below. However some will be reserved for outstanding projects in any area outside of those listed. Applicants should mention which category they are applying to or if none, indicate “open category”. Applications which link more than one field are also welcome.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

(Senior) Research Fellowships
* The appointment will be tenable for a period of two years at the first instance, with the possibility of extension for another term of two years (ie. up to a total of a four-year term). Interested applicants should have at least a PhD with a few years of postdoctoral research experience.
* The fellowship comes with a competitive remuneration and benefits package, depending on seniority.
* Support for research and fieldwork, and conference attendance (on application and subject to approval).

One-Year Visiting (Senior) Research Fellowship
* The appointment will have a normative tenure of one year, though shorter periods may be negotiated. Interested applicants should have at least a PhD with a few years of postdoctoral research experience.
* The fellowship comes with a competitive remuneration and benefits package depending on seniority.

Postdoctoral Fellowships
* Contract is tenable for a period of one year in the first instance with a possibility of extension to two years.
* An all-inclusive and a fixed monthly salary of S$4,000 and a monthly housing allowance of S$500 will be provided (applicable to non-Singaporeans only).
* Support for research and fieldwork, and conference attendance (on application and subject to approval).
* Candidates must have fulfilled all requirements of the PhD within the last 2 years. If you are a PhD candidate at the point of application, you may also apply provided that you are confirmed for graduation between April to September 2012. A letter from your university will be required to confirm that you have successfully completed all degree requirements for the conferment of a PhD degree before your proposed start date.

The benefits that the University provides and other information about working in NUS and living in Singapore are available at http://www.nus.edu.sg/careers/potentialhires/index.html. Terms and conditions, according to university guidelines, are subject to changes without prior notice.

AREAS OF RESEARCH FOCUS

Asian Migration
The Asian Migration cluster explores the issues arising from increased levels of human mobility in the region, both within and across national borders. Mobility of high-level professional and managerial personnel, unskilled labour migration (both documented and undocumented) and human trafficking all raise methodological and theoretical questions, and major policy issues, as does the role of migration in urban change.

Within this larger frame, the current focus for the cluster prioritises Transnational Migration and Global Cities. This research theme draws attention to the material processes and discourses of globalisation and transnationalism as they intersect in Asian cities. It includes transnational flows (including both ‘migration’ and ‘return migration’) of the skilled, professional, managerial and entrepreneurial elites to the low-waged contract migrant workers filling unskilled and low-skilled niches in the urban economy (other groups include students and ‘middling transnationals’), and examines questions of transnational-local tensions, societal faultlines and fissures, spatial politics, social, economic and political integration, and the management of the ‘multicultural’, ‘cosmopolitan’ and/or ‘creative’ cities.

Asian Urbanisms
The Asian Urbanisms cluster examines Asia’s urban diversity. In addition to empirical analysis of urban forms, phenomena and experiences, the cluster seeks to take regional urban diversity as a resource for wider theorisation. The theoretical orientation of the cluster is towards research which: (1) speaks in transformative ways to urban studies debates beyond Asian area studies; and (2) resists the ingrained impulse to refer back to antecedents in North America or Western Europe. Of particular interest are forms of relational, comparative research which de-centre the West as the supposed leading edge of urban transition, innovation and influence. Avenues for such work include (but are not limited to): intra-Asia city models and emulation; sustainability and urban lifestyles; natural disasters, conflict and urban resilience; multisensory experiences of the city; cyber-urban institutions and social movements; and religion-related urbanisms.

Changing Family in Asia
The Changing Family in Asia Cluster explores the dimensions of family change in the region, their causes and implications. These dimensions include rising ages at marriage and decreasing non-marriage, declining fertility and declining size of the nuclear family, increase in one-person households and alternative family forms, changing gender roles within families, and changes in family structures consequent on population ageing. These dimensions of family change have implications for gender relations, inter-generational relations, the life patterns of the post-adolescent unmarried, the role of the elderly in the family, child-raising patterns and social policy. Increasing cross-border marriage and transnational householding also raise policy issues at both national and international levels.

Cultural Studies in Asia
Cultural Studies in Asia is a field of academic research which challenges conventional disciplinary boundaries to rethink received knowledge on existing issues and/or to address new topics and concerns thrown up by the rapid changes and impact on cultural practices, brought about by new technologies and the new phase of global capitalism. Focusing on the popular cultural practices in contemporary Asia, practitioners in Cultural Studies have reexamined these practices from new angles engendered by multidisciplinary perspectives. They have questioned the very idea of Asia and its current reconfiguration in view of the intense traffic of cultural products and cultural practices, crisscrossing national and cultural boundaries within the continent and beyond. The Cultural Studies in Asia programme at ARI seek to add scholarly research and publishing to this emerging field by hosting outstanding researchers, workshops, conferences and publications.

Religion and Globalisation in Asian Contexts
The Religion and Globalisation cluster is dedicated to exploring global reconfigurations of religion and its diverse manifestations in Asian contexts. Our work focuses on the dynamic interactions of secularisation and religious revival in the modern period, as well as to related issues of authority and tradition in contemporary religious discourse and practice. The Cluster’s research deals with major established religions such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, as well as new religious movements in all parts of Asia, broadly conceived. The Cluster’s wide range of research projects is organised around a shared commitment to critically examine the diverse ways in which processes of modernisation and globalisation have re-framed the ways in which religion is experienced and understood in contemporary Asia.

In our work we strive to move beyond established paradigms of secularisation developed for discussions of modern Europe to engage in more meaningful and nuanced ways with the different historical trajectories of religious developments in Asia. This line of approach is reflected in such cluster events as recent workshops on ‘Secularisation, Religion and the State’ (co-organised with the University of Tokyo) and ‘Proselytisation and the Limits of Pluralism in Contemporary Asia’. Over the coming year the cluster will continue its work on issues of religion, law and society while also expanding into new areas including studies of religion and NGOs.

Science, Technology, and Society
The Science, Technology, and Society (STS) cluster studies the inter-relationships between those three domains, especially in the context of Asia. STS is a research programme which began in the late 1960s, and is now conducted at more than a hundred institutions around the world. NUS has one of the largest concentration of faculty in Asia researching STS themes, and working on both global and regional scales. Some of our strengths lie in the history and philosophy of science and technology, interactive and digital media studies, the social and cultural study of biotechnology and biomedicine, and urban technologies, although we are not restricted to these interests. We are grant-active and our largest single project, “Asian Biopoleis: Biotechnology and Bioscience as Emergent forms of Life and Practice” will engage a dozen collaborators through 2013, including staff at A*STAR, and at overseas institutions such as MIT and JNU. We work in close cooperation with the STS research cluster in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Tembusu College at NUS, and individual researchers in most other NUS faculties.

Open Cluster
While any research institute must focus its work on certain particular frontiers on which it hopes to make a difference, ARI has also kept its doors open to talented people, exciting ideas and worthwhile projects across the whole spectrum of the social sciences. Many of our most exciting visitors have been in what we call the ‘open’ cluster, to ensure this openness to ideas remains.

ABOUT THE ASIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ARI)

The Asia Research Institute (ARI) was established as a university-level institute in July 2001 as one of the strategic initiatives of the National University of Singapore (NUS). It aims to provide a world-class focus and resource for research on the Asian region, located at one of its communication hubs. ARI engages the social sciences broadly defined, and especially interdisciplinary frontiers between and beyond disciplines. Through frequent provision of short-term research appointments it seeks to be a place of encounters between the region and the world. Within NUS it works particularly with the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, Business, Law and Design, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and other Asian institutes to support conferences, lectures, and graduate study at the highest level.

Home to a strong team of full-time researchers, the ARI provides support for doctoral and postdoctoral research, conferences, workshops, seminars, and study groups. It welcomes visiting scholars who wish to conduct their research on Asia in Singapore, and encourages collaboration with other Asian research institutes worldwide.

INVITATION TO APPLY
Interested applicants are invited to email/post their applications, consisting of:
* Application form (please click here to download the application form)
* Curriculum Vitae;
* Synopsis of the proposed research project (no restriction on the number of pages);
* At least one sample of published work;
* Ensure that a minimum of three letters of reference are sent to us in confidence via email or post reporting on the applicant’s academic standing and on the applicant’s research project by 1 September 2011.

Closing date for applications is 1 September 2011.

To note for applications via email:
* You will receive an auto-reply acknowledging receipt of your email/application.
* If you have already sent in your application via email, kindly do not send the same application via post and vice versa. However, if you wish to send in hard copies of your sample publication(s) you may do so via post but indicate in your email application that the sample publication(s) will be sent via post. Please note that sample publication(s) will not be returned.
* Please keep your email and attachments below 10MB by zipping any large files as emails larger than 10MB will be rejected by our email system.

We regret that only successful candidates will be notified (via email). Candidates who do not hear from the University within 10 weeks after closing date of the advertisement may assume the position has been filled.

Address for submission of applications, reference letters and/or queries:
1. Email: joinari@nus.edu.sg
OR
2. Human Resources
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
469A Tower Block
Bukit Timah Road #10-01
Singapore 259770

Visit the NUS website here

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Fulbright U.S. – Indonesia Initiative

Posted on 01 July 2011 by Ronald Gilliam

Deadline: 1 August 2011

Due to a recent expansion of the Fulbright program with Indonesia, several new grant opportunities are available for U.S. scholars interested in visiting Indonesian universities during the 2012-2013 academic year.

As a special exception, U.S. scholars who have reached their lifetime limit on Fulbright scholar grants are eligible to apply for additional grants to Indonesia. The usual required waiting period of five years between grants has also been waived. These exemptions are valid for three years from 1 August 2010 through 1 August 2013. The American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) will be pleased to assist U.S. scholars who do not have prior experience in Indonesia in finding appropriate placements at Indonesian universities.

CORE PROGRAM

U.S. scholars in the fields of education, economics, religious studies, science, engineering, and mathematics will find especially interested Indonesian university hosts. However, applicants in all academic fields are encouraged to apply.

Scholars interested in a three- to 10-month grant in Indonesia must submit an application by 1 August 2011.

* Application Instructions
* Resource Center

Elizabeth Lyttleton (Assistant Director)- elyttleton@iie.org, (202) 686-4024
Hilary Watts (Program Officer)- hwatts@iie.org, (202) 686-7865

SPECIALIST PROGRAM

Qualified U.S. scholars or professionals interested in having their credentials reviewed for placement on the Fulbright Specialist Roster should contact fulspec@iie.org.

Please Note: If a project proposal submitted by an Indonesian host university calls for repeat visits by a U.S. Fulbright Specialist, a grantee may visit Indonesia up to three times under the same grant.
Margo Cunniffe (Assistant Director)- mcunniffe@iie.org, (202) 686-6243
Alicia Wagner (Program Associate)- awagner@iie.org, (202) 686-6253

Visit the Fulbright U.S. – Indonesia Initiative website

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Siamese Connection 2011: Rediscover

Posted on 01 July 2011 by Ronald Gilliam

31 Artists and Designers Featured in NYC Thai Arts Showcase
Thai Artists Alliance
The Invisible Dog Arts Center
Location: Brooklyn, NY USA
28 July – 31 July 2011

Siamese Connection 2011

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Job: Research Assistant / Associate

Posted on 28 June 2011 by Ronald Gilliam

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Location: 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace,
Pasir Panjang Road, Singapore
Deadline: 24 July 2011

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies is a regional research centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment.

Responsibilities

* Provides technical administrative support to the ISEAS’ Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre (NSC), its research projects and fellows;

* Works with the NSC fellows and the ISEAS administrative staff to help organize NSC conferences and seminars;

* Coordinates the work of NSC with local and foreign organizations and institutions;

* Assists in proofreading/editing NSC publications

Requirements

* Candidate must possess at least a Degree (preferably Masters) in Asian Studies, Religious Studies, History, Sociology, Anthropology or related fields.

* Knowledge of Asian history.

* Capacity for research and coordination work.

* Good command of English and Mandarin, both written and spoken.

If you are shortlisted for the position(s), you should hear from us within 30 days of the closing date of the advertisement.

Visit the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies website

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Singapore Links

Posted on 06 October 2010 by Ronald Gilliam

General Information
Embassy of Singapore
Statistics Singapore (gov)
World Press
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
US-ASEAN Business Council
Doing Business (Singapore)
Lonely Planet World Guide
Outreach World
University of Hawaii Press

Newspapers
MediaCorp
Straits Times
Business Times
Tamil Murasu
Berita Harian
Lian He Zao Bao

Forums
Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Travel Forum

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Indoensia Links

Posted on 06 October 2010 by Ronald Gilliam

General Information
Embassy of Indonesia
World Press
CIA World Factbook
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
US-ASEAN Business Council
Doing Business (Indonesia)
Lonely Planet World Guide
www Virtual Library
Outreach World
University of Hawaii Press

Language Learning
Online Dictionary

Newspapers
Jakarta Post (English)
Inside Indonesia (English)
Antara News Agency (English)
Tempo Interactive (English)
Bali Post (Indonesian)
Batam Pos (Indonesian)
Kompas (Indonesian)
Pos Kota (Indonesian)
Media Indonesia (Indonesian)
Bisnis Indonesia Online (Indonesian)

Forums
Allo’ Expat Indonesia
Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Travel Forum

Blogs
Expat Blog for Indonesia
Blogs by Country

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