Harvard–Yale Southeast Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference 2024
We are proud to announce the Harvard–Yale Southeast Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference 2024, on March 29–30, 2024. The conference will be hosted by Harvard University, and will feature panels, workshops, and a keynote lecture by Professor Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Santa Cruz.
Drawing upon the research strengths of Harvard and Yale affiliates conducting research in the region, this conference aims to support graduate students at all stages of their academic careers, be it early dissertation research, fieldwork research, dissertation writing, and monograph development. The key goal of this conference is to afford researchers the space to present their research and receive in-depth feedback.
The conference will feature the research of graduate students across academic departments, fostering interdisciplinary discussion and a burgeoning network of young Southeast Asian Studies scholars.
The conference is tentatively structured into two sections across the two conference meeting days.
Day 1: Presentation-based Sessions. Each participant will be given 15 minutes to present their papers, followed by a 15-minute response and 30 minutes open discussion.
Day 2: Workshop Sessions. Each participant will be required to submit their papers in advance, to be pre-circulated amongst participants. Each participant will be given 10 minutes to present their papers, followed by a 20-minute response and 45 minutes open discussion.
Thematic Focuses
This year, we are especially interested in the following areas, but encourage applicants working on other subject matter to apply. These following areas are not exhaustive and do not pre-determine the eventual conference sessions.
1. Political Science: Military Coups, Political Development, Democratic Breakdown, Authoritarian Regimes
2. Buildings and the Environment: Housing, Urban Planning, Climates, Urbanity, Water, Agriculture
3. Cultural Production: Art, Literature, Philology, Media and Visual Culture
4. Religion: Practices, Objects, and Texts
5. Sociocultural Anthropology: Politics, Economics, Environment, and Law
6. Studying Southeast Asia: Institutional History, Southeast Asian Ethnic and Diaspora Studies
Modality
The Conference will be hosted in Hybrid modality. Funding for participant travel will be offered based on need. We generally offer travel honoraria based on region; East Coast: $150, Midwest: $250, West Coast: $400, Southeast Asia/Other Regions: $600-800. Exceptional cases will be considered.
Please provide a budget and a 100-word statement of need; more instructions noted in the application form.
Abstract Submissions
Requirements: Please submit a 300-word abstract, a 5-item bibliography, 100-word bio, and a 2-page maximum CV in a single PDF document, and any audiovisual accommodations through the online form linked here: https://bit.ly/HYSEASGSC24
The online form is hosted on google forms, and will require a gmail login. Should this present a problem, please email asiacenter_southeastasia@harvard.edu.
Applicants are welcome to indicate if they wish their abstracts to be considered for the presentation sessions, the workshop sessions, or if they have no preference.
Timeline
Abstracts will be accepted until January 30, 2024, and accepted participants will be notified by February 15, 2024. Workshop presenters will be expected to submit their papers within 8,000 words by March 15, 2024.
Eligibility
We accept submissions from master’s, pre-dissertation, dissertation-writing, and recently graduated students. We regrettably cannot accept abstracts from full-time faculty—part-time faculty who are current graduate students are welcome to submit.
We especially encourage students at Southeast Asian universities; as well as graduate students working on less-represented polities, identity groups, religious traditions, and cultures in Southeast Asia to apply.
Please contact asiacenter_southeastasia@harvard.edu for any clarifications.