Dear Center for Southeast Asia Studies and Institute of East Asian Studies community,
On behalf of the Faculty Chair and Program Director of CSEAS and the Director, Associate Director, and team at IEAS at UC Berkeley, we express our deepest sympathy and support to the people of Myanmar and Thailand and all those affected by the earthquake on March 28.
The ex-president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, could soon become the first Asian former head of state to be tried at The Hague.
The populist politician was arrested on Mar. 11, 2025, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant relating to his “war on drugs.”
Some 6,000-plus people were killed during the crackdown. But despite the controversy surrounding his policies and the end of his presidency in 2022, Duterte remains an influential figure.
Consul General Neil Ferrer and UC Berkeley Vice Provost for Academic Planning & Senior International Officer Dr. Lisa Alvarez-Cohen (San Francisco PCG photo)
Created and Choreographed by Charya Burt
Commissioned score by Chinary Ung
Commissioned text by Kalean Ung
Co-Produced by New Performance Traditions/Paul Dresher Ensemble
This Spring, the new course Southeast Asian (SEASIAN 101B): Introduction to the History, Religion, and Culture of Insular Southeast Asia, is offered. It fulfills the Literature and Arts Breadth L&S Requirements, and the History breadth requirement is in the process of being approved. Please contact Professor Sylvia Tiwon (tiwon@berkeley.edu) with any questions.
CSEAS is pleased to announce that three UC Berkeley graduate students have received FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies) Fellowships for the 2023-2024 academic year. FLAS Fellowships are a wonderful opportunity for undergraduates and graduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents to study a Southeast Asian language at the intermediate or advanced level, and to undertake related international or area studies coursework.
Are you interested in U.S. foreign policy? Want to learn more about how it's made? Enroll in "The Architects of Power!"
PubPol 198 sec. 005: INDO-PACIFIC ALLIANCES (2 units)
This Fall, don't miss out on the opportunitiy to enroll in Music 146B (Balinese Gamelan). The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 - 5:00 pm in Room 255 of Morrison Hall, lead by Lisa Gold & Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti.
Prof. Lisandro E. Claudio is the new Chair of the Center for Southeast Asia Studies, following Prof. Nancy Lee Peluso, who served as Chair since July 2020. CSEAS extends deep thanks to Prof. Peluso in appreciation of her guidance of the Center and achievements in supporting Southeast Asia Studies at Berkeley, especially during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. With much excitement, CSEAS extends further thanks to Prof.
CSEAS is thrilled and honored to share that CSEAS core faculty member Khatharya Um, Associate Professor of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Academic Prize for 2023 by the Fukuoka Prize Committee.
'Journey to the South: Buddhist Connections across the South China Sea' - the keynote lecture given by Jack Meng-Tat Chia (Assistant Professor of History and Religious Studies, National University of Singapore) at the April 2023 UC Berkeley-UCLA CSEAS Conference on Networks and Knowledge in Southeast Asia has been posted to the CSEAS YouTube channel.
Sarah Maxim retired as CSEAS Vice Chair in April, after twenty years at the center. Her successor is Alexandra Dalferro, who received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cornell University in 2021. Dr. Dalferro’s dissertation examined silk production in Thailand, in particular among communities of Khmer silk producers in Surin province. She was a Visiting Fellow in the Thailand Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore in 2022, and is currently a lecturer at the National University of Singapore. She will join the center as CSEAS Program Director in May.
The Center for Southeast Asia Studies at UC Berkeley and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UCLA - a consortium U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center for Southeast Asia - hosted the UC Berkeley - UCLA Conference on Southeast Asian Studies on the theme Networks and Knowledge in Southeast Asia at UC Berkeley on April 14-15, 2023.
The Institute of East Asian Studies thanks everyone who participated in the UC Berkeley BIG GIVE campaign on March 9 to raise funds for student awards and fellowships. Our special Big Give web page presents some of the stories of students who have benefited from fellowships and grants they have received from IEAS and its centers in recent years, making a difference to their academic careers.
Congratulations to CSEAS core faculty members Prof. Penny Edwards (South & Southeast Asian Studies) who was recently promoted to full professor and to Prof. Lisandro Claudio (South & Southeast Asian Studies) who was also recently awarded tenure and is now an associate professor. Prof. Edwards specializes in research on the culture and history of Cambodia and Myanmar. Prof.
CSEAS has awarded Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for 2022-23 to graduate students Sydney To (English) to study Vietnamese and to Alex Mabanta (Jurisprudence & Social Policy) and Laura Galang (Development Practice) to study Filipino.
