Southeast Asia Program
Qingyin Liu
Graduate Student
Degree Pursued: MA
Anticipated Degree Year: 2026
Committee Chair/Advisor: Shaoling Ma
Discipline: Asian Studies
Primary Language(s): Malaysian
Research Countries: Singapore
Research Interests: Sinophone Popular Music, Gender, Diaspora
Additional Information
Ruiying Zhang
Graduate Student
Degree Pursued: PhD
Anticipated Degree Year: 2030
Committee Chair/Advisor: Shaoling Ma
Discipline: Asian Studies
Primary Language(s): Chinese, English, Japanese
Research Countries: China, Vietnam, Laos
Additional Information
Reflection on Volunteering Experience at Lansing High School
Xintong Chen, SEAP
Happy National Volunteer Week!
Below is a reflection from SEAP graduate student Xintong Chen, on her experience volunteering recently at Lansing High School, facilitated by Kathi Colen Peck.
“How do the Asian cities deal with the land sinking and sea level rising?” A 10th-grade student from Lansing High School leaned forward from his seat and asked about the solution for Asian sinking cities. Glad that the students were concerned about the Asian ecological crises, I explained possible solutions with cases of Indonesia’s project of moving its capital from Jakarta to Nusantara and China’s project of sponge cities. This was the Q&A session of my guest lecture on “Living with Ecologies in Asia: Pasts and Presents” at Lansing High School this March, taught by Dan Ferguson.
This meaningful opportunity for me was organized by Kathi Colen Peck from the Einaudi Center and Colin Peterson from SEAP. Inspired by Dan’s dedication to connecting Lansing students to the broader world, I joined Professor Chris Barrett, Dr. Abdul Chang, and Francine Barchett — fellow SEAP affiliates — in volunteering for guest lectures. Thanks to Kathi’s encouragement and travel reimbursement, I was able to give the lecture in person and tour around the high school with Dan.
I was genuinely moved by the students’ curiosity. The eyes of a girl lit up when I read the biographical writing of Nawab Sikandar Begum, a female ruler of British India who sailed for Hajj. A student in the back enthusiastically responded in a loud voice —“Singapore” and “Tokyo” — when I asked the class to choose cities in the interactive maps of sea level rise. A boy in the first row asked about the early modern sunken ships in the South China Sea after the lecture ended, “Have you seen them yourself?” A teacher from Lansing High School, interested in the soundtracks of merchant ships that I played to show ecological threats to marine animals, shared her knowledge of sea noises caused by buoy movements.
As I waved goodbye to Dan that day, I felt deeply grateful. It was cheerful to know that my knowledge could serve as a bridge between young people in a classroom in Lansing and places across the Pacific Ocean.
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Program
Cornell Gamelan Ensemble Concert
May 6, 2025
7:30 pm
Klarman Hall, Klarman Hall Atrium
Under Guest Director Heri Purwanto, a freelance musician from Surakarta, Indonesia, the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble presents a varied program of traditional Javanese music in the Klarman Hall Atrium.
Co-sponsors: The Department of Music, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, the Department of Asian Studies, and the Southeast Asia Program.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program
Thailand, Uyghurs, and a Shifting Foreign Policy Toward China
Magnus Fiskesjö interviewed by The Diplomat
In late February, Thailand ignored international pleas for mercy and secretly deported at least 40 Uyghurs to China, prompting accusations that Bangkok had bowed to pressure from Beijing and eliciting an angry response from Washington.
Their deportation ended 11 years of “inhumane” detention in Bangkok and dashed any hopes for political asylum and a fresh life abroad, which had reportedly been offered by several Western countries.
The deportation was seen as a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who had previously promised to adhere to international human rights law. It was a diplomatic slap in the face for U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had urged Thailand not to deport the Uyghurs.
Magnus Fiskesjö is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University in New York and has followed the plight of the Uyghurs for many years – and since their deportation in the early hours of February 27.
He spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about how the Thais have used a Chinese-backed crackdown on criminal syndicates, who are still operating scam centers near their borders with Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, to sneak the Uyghurs onto chartered flights destined for China
Fiskesjö was educated in his native Sweden and at the University of Chicago, where he received a joint PhD in Anthropology and East Asian Languages and Civilizations in 2000.
He previously worked at Sweden’s embassies in Beijing and Tokyo, and served as director of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm. Since 2005, he has taught anthropology and Asian studies at Cornell.
His research involves political anthropology, ethnic relations, and genocide, as well as archaeology and repatriation issues, mostly in East and Southeast Asia. He has authored several books, including “Stories from an Ancient Land,” on the Wa people of the China-Myanmar frontier.
Additional Information
Speed Talks: Building Solidarity and Resistance
May 14, 2025
4:30 pm
This event has been postponed until fall 2025.
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Join the Einaudi Center and researchers from across campus for three-minute speed talks and community conversation on ways to organize and push back against fast-moving federal actions.
Speakers will jump off from interdisciplinary and international research to provide a fresh perspective on current U.S. public policy and the potential for effective collective action. Together we'll look at challenges faced and solutions found in a variety of academic fields and places around the world—to help us think through how to unify disparate interests and find allies to resist democratic backsliding.
The event features clusters of speed talks on related topics, with time for Q&A and conversation on each topic.
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Speakers
David A. Bateman | GovernmentSidney Tarrow (IES) | GovernmentPrisca Jöst | Public Policy
More speakers to be confirmed.
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Sponsors
This conversation is hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, partnering with Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy's Governance and Local Development Institute and Data and Democracy Lab.
Find out how graduate and undergraduate students can get started at Einaudi.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Comparative Muslim Societies Program
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
International Relations Minor Career Paths
April 29, 2025
4:00 pm
Rockefeller Hall, 105
Are you considering starting a career that utilizes regional expertise, language skills, or experience with foreign policy? Ever wondered what it's like to work in various capacities in governments, how to prepare yourself to be a successful applicant for jobs, or what work will let you utilize your knowledge of the world? Are you curious to learn more about current events, history, or the broader global implications of your major? Whether you are interested in a possible career in public service, academia, or the private sector, the international relations undergraduate minor can help you explore these opportunities.
Please join the Einaudi Center for International Studies for a discussion about career paths and opportunities at the State Department and in public service, featuring Cornell alumni who will share their insights:
Jason Oaks, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia, U.S. Department of StateAngie Yucht Swenson, Founder and Principal of AYS Tutoring and Consulting, LLC
To attend virtually, register here.
This session is presented by the Einaudi Center and the faculty advisor of the international relations minor, Oumar Ba. The minor is open to all Cornell undergraduate students interested in learning about the politics, economics, history, languages, and cultures of the world.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Comparative Muslim Societies Program
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
Myanmar’s Earthquake Exposes Political Fault Lines
Kyaw Hsan Hlaing, SEAP
“The junta has exploited past crises to reinforce its power—and it can do it again,” writes SEAP graduate student Kyaw Hsan Hlaing.
Additional Information
Society for the Humanities: Spring Fellows' Conference on the theme of "Silence"
April 25, 2025
9:30 am
A. D. White House, Guerlac Room
Join this year's cohort of Fellows at the Society for the Humanities for presentations on work-in-progress on the 2024-25 focal theme of Silence. Each presentation will be followed by a Q&A. Open to the public.
Friday, April 25
Coffee and light refreshments: 9:30am
10:00am-11:30pm Panel 1
Migration to the Moon, and Other Theories of Avian Absence
Julia Laurel Mueller Society Fellow
Silent, Silenced, and Silencing: Black Deaf and Blind Education in the Jim Crow South
Jenifer Barclay Society Fellow
Transnational Historical Novels and Human Rights History
Cassie Falke Society Fellow
15-minute break
11:45am-12:45pm Panel 2
The Cold War, Capitalism, and the Color Line: Reading Silence in The Human Condition
Patchen Markell Faculty Fellow
Sounding Khmerican Life in Straight Thru Cambotown
Brian V. Sengdala Mellon Graduate Fellow
12:45pm-2:00pm Lunch
2:00-3:00pm Panel 3
C'Est Si Bon: The Queer Pas de Trois of Lorraine Hansberry’s “Chanson du Konallis”
Sara Warner Faculty Fellow
Is Yeshaya Silent-?-The Presence of the Jewish Dead
Jonathan Boyarin Faculty Fellow
15-minute break
3:15pm-4:45pm Keynote
Re-storying Silence: Mad, Deaf, and Disability Histories
Susan Burch
Professor of American Studies, Middlebury College
In this talk, Susan Burch traces some of the multivalent relationships silence has to institutionalization, institutionalized people, and to their kin on the outside. Centering on life stories and drawing on critical disability, Mad, and deaf history, she reveals wide-ranging meanings and functions of silences that cross generations and reach into the present day.
5:00pm Reception
This event will feature American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.
Please contact adwhitehouse@cornell.edu for accommodations.
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The Elephants of Dzanga Bai - Photo and Sound Installation
Thursday, April 24 5-7pm
A.D. White House
“The Elephants of Dzanga Bai.” Photo and sound installation by Ivonne Kienast (K Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics) and Annie Lewandowski (Department of Music), in collaboration with the Society for the Humanities 2025-26 focal theme of "Silence" and the Annual Spring Fellows' Conference.
For more information visit: https://events.cornell.edu/event/the-elephants-of-dzanga-bai-photo-and-…
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program
Migrations Program
How to Conduct Research in Indonesia
April 22, 2025
6:00 pm
Presented by GETSEA and AIFIS
Are you a graduate student planning your first research trip to Indonesia? Join our event to learn about research permits, visas, and preparing for fieldwork.
Hear from experienced researchers sharing tips, insights, and lessons learned from conducting research across Indonesia.
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS:
Maho Ishiguro (Emory University)
Wendy Erb (Cornell University)
Annas Bentari (AIFIS)
Chris Hulshof (University of Wisconsin)
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program