DCID hosts Southeast Asia Research Group Winter Conference
The conference highlighted research by scholars in political science and allied disciplines who are working at the forefront of Southeast Asian studies.
More than 80 scholars, doctoral and master’s students convened at Duke University for the Southeast Asia Research Group (SEAREG) Winter 2023 Conference, co-hosted by the Duke Center for International Development and Wake Forest University with support from the Henry Luce Foundation and Duke Asian/Pacific Studies Institute.
The biannual conference engages participants in thoughtful discussion and analysis of critical research questions affecting the countries of Southeast Asia.
The event included presentations of unpublished working papers by the Winter 2023 cohort of SEAREG Fellows, made up of advanced PhD students and newly minted PhDs from University of Wisconsin, University of Arkansas, Hunter College-CUNY, University of Michigan, Marquette University, as well as keynote presentations from Dan Slater, the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and director of the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan, on the state of the field and Prasenjit Duara, the Oscar L. Tang Family Distinguished Professor of East Asian Studies and director of the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute at Duke University, on environmental politics of the Mekong River and the history of China-Southeast Asia relations.
Mid-career and advanced scholars discussed their research in a poster session and panel sessions focused on the following themes: “Minority Representation and Social Dynamics in Southeast Asian Democracies,” “The Dynamics of Engagement: Field Experiments on Governance and Participation in Southeast Asia,” and “Democracy’s Unfinished Journey: Stability, Ideology, and Preferences in Post-Authoritarian Southeast Asia.”
The conference also celebrated SEAREG’s 10th anniversary. In his welcome remarks, Edmund Malesky, chair of the SEAREG executive council and director of the Duke Center for International Development, highlighted the SEAREG community of more than 640 members and the growth in the quality and diversity of its membership.
The next SEAREG conference will be held summer 2024 in Asia.
About SEAREG
Established in 2013, the Southeast Asia Research Group (SEAREG) highlights the best new research by young social scientists working on Southeast Asian politics and fosters a network of scholars in political science and allied disciplines who are working at the forefront of Southeast Asian studies. As of fall 2023, it is managed by the Duke Center for International Development.