SEAREG receives three-year Luce Foundation grant to support Southeast Asia scholarship
The award will enhance core programs and launch new fellowships supporting scholars from early to mid-career stages.
The Southeast Asia Research Group (SEAREG) is excited to announce it has received a three-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation that will allow the organization to continue serving its community of scholars through 2029.
“We are very excited by the new programming opportunities for SEAREG that the Luce Foundation’s support will make possible,” said Tom Pepinsky, SEAREG executive council chair and professor of government and public policy at Cornell University. “At a time in which area studies is under threat around the world, SEAREG is ideally positioned to support high-quality scholarship on Southeast Asia, supporting the community of Southeast Asianists and opening new doors for the next generation.”
Since its inception in 2013, SEAREG has nurtured emerging researchers through conferences, workshops and other forums that spotlight the best new research by young social scientists working on Southeast Asian studies.
SEAREG's three key programming pillars have been:
- An annual conference in North America that provides a forum for social scientists to evaluate research that is grounded in an academic discipline and focused on one or more Southeast Asian countries.
- An annual meeting in Asia that has enables scholars to join the SEAREG network and foster possibilities for collaboration.
- Grants and mentoring opportunities to allow emerging scholars to develop crucial in-country knowledge.
The new grant will reinforce these foundations by strengthening these offerings and providing new opportunities for researchers at later stages of their careers. The new initiatives will include:
- A Post-Doctoral Fellowship program for recent PhD graduates to further their studies in the region and establish in-country networks, perfect language training, learn new or advanced research methods, and improve publication portfolios.
- Travel and general fellowships for mid-career professionals to further their ongoing research projects.
“SEAREG has been influential in advancing the research and careers of scholars of Southeast Asia, which has enriched our understanding of the region,” said Edmund Malesky, professor of political economy at Duke University and former SEAREG executive council chair. “I am delighted that the foundational activities of SEAREG will continue at the same time it expands its programming and network in other ways.”
The Duke Center for International Development will continue serving as SEAREG’s secretariat with Malesky as the grant’s principal investigator.
SEAREG will offer further details about its programming in the months ahead. Its next event will be the Winter Conference in North America in December 2026.
About The Henry Luce Foundation
The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to deepen knowledge and understanding in pursuit of a more democratic and just world. Established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., the Luce Foundation advances its mission by nurturing knowledge communities and institutions, fostering dialogue across divides, enriching public discourse, amplifying diverse voices, and investing in leadership development.
About the Duke Center for International Development
Founded in 1985, the Duke Center for International Development (DCID) promotes sustainable development through its research, education and engagement with students, policy makers, practitioners, development partners, civil society, and the private sector. The center is based in Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy.