Project
Southeast Asia Transitions Webinar Series

In recent decades, people living in Southeast Asia have witnessed major shifts from predominantly subsistence agriculture to industrializing economies, with attendant changes in migration, crop production systems, and major infrastructure (roads, dams, industrial estates). This series of four webinars explored how communities in the region are experiencing the economic, social, and cultural dislocations of these transformations. The series focused on forests, rivers, documentarians and writers.

This series was made possible through funding from the Henry Luce Foundation and is co-organized by University of Hawai’i-Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawai’i at Manoa-Center for Chinese Studies, East-West Center, Michigan State University-James Madison College and Asian Studies Center, and Chiang Mai University-Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development.

 

Click here to watch the full webinar series on YouTube

 

Panel 1 : January 27, 2021 - Markets for Mekong Commodities

Panelists:

  • Ian Baird (Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Ben Belton (Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University)
  • Nathan Green (Geography, National University of Singapore)
  • Patrick Slack (Geography, McGill University, Montreal)

Moderator:

  • Jefferson Fox (East-West Center

 

Panel 2 : February 24, 2021 – Migration, Mobility, and the Mekong

Panelists:

  • Nga Dao (York University)
  • Heather Peters (Ophidian Research Institute)
  • Phanwin Yokying (East-West Center)
  • Ore Huiying (Independent Photographer)

Moderator:

  • Amanda Flaim, Michigan State University

 

Panel 3 : April 7, 2021  – The Spirits and Spiritual Life of the Mekong

Panelists:

  • Courtney Work (National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan)
  • Andrew Johnson (University of California, Berkeley)
  • Wisa Wisesjindawat Fink (Michigan State University, East Lansing)
  • Hieu Phung (University of Michigan)
  • Holly High (University of Sydney)
  • Benjamin Baumann (Universität Heidelberg, Berlin)

Moderator:

  • Miriam Stark (University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa)

 

Panel 4 : April 28, 2021 –  Mekong Dams: Debates and the Politics of Evidence

Panelists:

  • Brian Eyler (Stimson Center)
  • Carl Middleton (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok)
  • Nguyen Huong Thuy Phan (Graduate Institute, Geneva)
  • Pon Souvannaseng (Bentley University)
  • Apichai Sunchindah (Independent development specialist, Bangkok)

Moderator:

  • Wisa Wisesjindawat-Fink (Michigan State University)

 

Panel 5 : September 22, 2021 – Plastics and Environmental Trash

Speakers:

  • Doug WOODRING, Founder & Managing Director, Ocean Recovery Alliance
  • Tiza MAFIRA, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement
  • Marian LEDESMA, Zero Waste Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia
  • Quach Thi XUAN, Vietnam Consultant, Pacific Environment

Moderator:

  • Jennifer TURNER, Director, China Environment Forum & Manager, Global Choke Point Initiative, Wilson Center

 

Panel 6 : October 13, 2021 – Fisheries and Aquaculture

Speakers:  

  • Brian SZUSTER, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Environment, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
  • Senglong YOUK, Deputy Executive Director & Program Director, Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT)
  • Wisa WISESJINDAWAT-FINK: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Mekong Culture WELL Project, Michigan State University
  • Aaron KONING, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Wonders of the Mekong Project, Global Water Center, University of Nevada, Reno

Moderator:

  • Amanda FLAIM, Assistant Professor, James Madison College and Department of Sociology, Mekong Culture WELL, Michigan State University

 

Panel 7 : November 10, 2021 – Politics of Oil Palm and Rubber

Speakers:

  • Vong NANHTHAVONG, Research Fellow, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) Country Office in Laos, University of Bern
  • Lisa KELLEY, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Denver
  • Andini Desita EKAPUTRI (Sita), PhD Candidate, Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
  • Jean-Christophe DIEPART, Research Associate, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège (Belgium)

Moderator:

  • Philip HIRSCH, Professor Emeritus of Human Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney

 

Panel 8 : December 8, 2021 – Politics of Conservation and Heritage

Panelists:

  • Ana LABRADOR, Deputy Director-General for Museums, National Museum of the Philippines
  • Ming Chee ANG, General Manager, Georgetown World Heritage Incorporated
  • Masanori NAGAOKA, Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO Phnom Penh Office
  • Ajirapa PRADIT, Researcher, The Centre of Lanna Creativity and Innovation, RMUTL Chiang Mai
  • Worrasit TANTINIPANKUL, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture, Chiang Mai University

Moderator:

  • Miriam STARK: Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

 

Panel 9: February 22, 2022 - People and their Forest

Speakers:

  • Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Senior Researcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
  • Micah R. Fisher, Fellow, East-West Center
  • Naw Pe Tha Law, Advocate, Chiang Mai
  • Courtney Work, Associate Professor, National Chengchi University

Moderator:

  • Daniel Ahlquist, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University

 

Panel 10: March 22, 2022 - Changing Lives of Southeast Asian Rivers

Speakers:

  • Dr. Rita Padawangi, Singapore University of Social Sciences
  • Ms. Pai Deetes, INGO International Rivers
  • Dr. Kanokwan Manorom, Ubon Ratchathani University
  • Dr. Ming Li Yong, East-West Center

Moderator:

  • Ms. Chayanis Krittadthaceewai Stockholm, Environment Institute in Bangkok

 

Panel 11: April 26, 2022 - Chronicling transitions: Documentarians and Writers

Speakers:

  • Emily Hong, Assistant Professor & Documentarian, Haverford College
  • Kalyanee Mam, Documentarian & Storyteller
  • Tosca Santoso, Journalist, Author of Sarongge, & Coffee Farmer

Moderator:

  • Kelsey Wagner, PhD Candidate & Visual Artist, Michigan State University

 

Panel 12: May 24, 2022 - Imagining Environmental Futures in SEA: Mekong 2030

Speakers:

  • Kulikar Sotho, Cambodia, Director, "Soul River"
  • Anysay Keola, Laos, Director, "The Che Brother"
  • Alex Curran-Cardarelli, Producer, MEKONG 2030
  • Sean Chadwell, Associate Producer, MEKONG 2030, and executive director of the Luang Prabang Film Festival