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People

The Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) is the home for all scholars at Cornell conducting research on Southeast Asia.

Associate Director, Global Development

Terry Tucker is a Professor of the Practice in the Department of Global Development. He serves as Co-Director of Graduate Studies for the MPS – Global Development program. His teaching and outreach work focuses on smallholder agriculture, especially farmers' adaptation to change, as wel

Graduate Student

Degree Pursued: PhD

Anticipated Degree Year: 2025-26

Committee Chair/Advisor: Mason Peck

Discipline: Aerospace Engineering

Primary Language: English, Spanish

Graduate Student

Degree Pursued: PhD

Anticipated Degree Year: 2030

Committee Chair/Advisor: Natalie Melas

Discipline: English Literature 

Primary Language: Tagalog

Professor, SUNY-Buffalo State

Vida Vanchan is a professor at SUNY-Buffalo State. She holds a doctorate in international economic and business geographies and a master’s degree in international trade from University at Buffalo.

Jesse F. and Dora H. Bluestone Peace Studies Fellow; Migrations Graduate Fellow

Nicole T. Venker is a human-environment geographer whose work explores how conflict-driven migration shapes rural livelihoods, environmental access, and food sovereignty. 

Graduate Student

Degree Pursued: PhD

Anticipated Degree Year: 2026

Committee Chair/Advisor: Mara Du

Discipline: History

Primary Language: Chinese, Vietnamese

Assistant Professor, Music

Parkorn Wangpaiboonkit's research focuses on music, race, and imperialism in nineteenth-century Siam.

Visiting Scholar, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University

Kota Watanabe is a diplomat-turned-political scientist studying the political economy of civil wars, humanitarian care, and transnational organized crime in contemporary Southeast Asia, with particular emphasis on Myanmar.

Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Indonesia is a major focus of Andrew Weintraub's research, particularly the musical, narrative, and theatrical practices of Sundanese people in West Java.

Professor, SUNY-Albany

Meredith Weiss's research is in the field of comparative politics, focusing on Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.