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Seeking Origins of the SEAP Brown-Bag Lectures

students and faculty intently listening at 102 West Ave.
October 23, 2020

If you have any information about the brown bags from the early years and how they were organized, who spoke, or other details, we want to hear from you!  Were you a member of the SEAP graduate student committee and can you tell us about how the group functioned during your era? Can you help us identify who is in photos taken at 102 West Avenue?
 

graduate students and a speaker pose at 102 West Ave

The Southeast Asia Program at Cornell is renowned for many things, not the least of which is the enduring and committed involvement of graduate students in the weekly lecture series. Speakers often mention feeling honored to present their work, and SEAP PhD candidates consider it a rite of passage. 

For decades these were called "Brown-Bag Lunch Talks" and the name was still used long after food began to be served at the Thursday gatherings. The Brown Bags were renamed the "Gatty Lectures" in 2015 in honor of Ronald (PhD '57) and Janette (PhD '58) Gatty, whose endowment and generous bequest supports a number of graduate student-led activities. Despite the new name, and the shift to virtual talks due to the pandemic, the camaraderie and sense of intellectual community persists.

For SEAP's 70th anniversary a number of projects are underway to rediscover and celebrate SEAP's histories. One question that we are looking into is the origin of the graduate student committee and the brown bag talks. By the early 1970s both were an institutionalized part of SEAP and part of the weekly rhythm at 102 West Avenue. We have been reconstructing the names of student committee members and co-chairs, but are still missing information, especially from the earlier years. If you have any information about the brown bags from the early years and how they were organized, who spoke, or other details, we want to hear from you! 

Were you a member of the SEAP graduate student committee and can you tell us about how the group functioned during your era? Can you help us identify who is in these two photos (and others we will be posting on SEAP's Facebook page)? We need your help. To send us materials digitally and give us permission to use your photos, stories, reflections on SEAP you may use this LINK. If you can identify individuals in the photos or have any questions, email us at seaphistories@cornell.edu.

Shadow puppet tree and mountain for SEAP 70th Anniversary

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