The Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) was founded in 1950 to promote the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge about countries, cultures and languages of the region. It is an interdisciplinary program of
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
that focuses on the development of graduate training and research opportunities on the languages and cultures of
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. Cornell is known for being the "Mecca of
Southeast Asian Studies Southeast Asian studies (SEAS) refers to research and education on the language, culture, and history of the different states and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia. Some institutions refer to this discipline as ASEAN Studies since most of the countr ...
."
Overview
Since 1958, the U.S.
Department of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
has continuously recognized SEAP as a Title VI
National Resource Center The National Resource Center (NRC) Program of the U.S. Department of Education provides funding grants to American universities to establish, strengthen, and operate language and area or international studies centers that will be national resources ...
. As such, it trains experts on the region and strives to meet strategic national needs in government, business, science and professional fields, as well as provides K-16 Outreach.
SEAP offers instruction at four levels of study in
Burmese,
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
,
Khmer,
Tagalog,
Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
, and
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
. As an interdisciplinary program, SEAP coordinates resources and facilities for Cornell undergraduates, graduate students, and other scholars specializing in the culture, economy, history, politics, development, and society of contemporary, colonial, and traditional
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. Its graduate student community organizes the weekly lunchtime Ronald and Janette Gatty Lecture Series, which brings scholars from Cornell and other institutions to present an informal lunchtime lecture on their work. SEAP graduate students also hold an annual graduate student conference in the spring.
For undergraduate students, SEAP coordinates a number of study abroad opportunities and internships in Southeast Asia. It also makes funding available for coursework, research, travel, and summer language study opportunities, including th
Southeast Asian Summer Studies Instituteat the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
.
John M. Echols Collection on Southeast Asia
SEAP is home to th
John M. Echols Collection on Southeast Asia the largest collection on the region with over 500,000 monographs in 162 indigenous languages. The Southeast Asia Collection was named in 1977 in honor of John M. Echols, professor of linguistics and literature in SEAP, who devoted three decades to its development. The Echols Collection has been a joint undertaking of the university, the library, and SEAP with the goal of acquiring a copy of every publication of research value produced in the countries of Southeast Asia and publications about the region published in other parts of the world.
George McT. Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia
The George McT. Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia is located in the handsome and historic "Treman House". When it was built in 1902, the house at 640 Stewart Ave boasted a hand-operated elevator, electric bells,
speaking tube
A speaking tube or voicepipe is a device based on two cones connected by an air pipe through which speech can be transmitted over an extended distance.
Use of pipes was suggested by Francis Bacon in the ''New Atlantis'' (1672). The usage for tel ...
s, and central heating. The house was built by
Robert H. Treman
Robert Henry Treman (March 31, 1858 – January 4, 1937) was an American banker and financier who served as a director and deputy governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A native of upstate New York, he attended Cornell University and wa ...
, son of an enterprising local family and the first member of that family to attend
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
and be elected to its board of trustees.
This historic house, dedicated on May 11, 1992, as the George McT. Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia is home to SEAP graduate students, visiting fellows and scholars, faculty members, and SEAP's Publication and Outreach offices. To quote George Kahin, it serves as SEAP'S "spiritual epicenter", where a diverse group of students and faculty whose interests span a range of disciplines can draw upon each others' experiences and knowledge of Southeast Asia.
A variety of events take place in the Kahin Center, including SEAP's Ronald and Janette Gatty Lecture Series (scheduled at 12:00 pm each Thursday during the academic year), as well as other student- or faculty- sponsored symposia and conferences.
SEAP Publications
SEAP Publications, an imprint of
Cornell University Press
The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...
, publishes and distributes academic books and a semi-annual journal on
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. SEAP Publications seeks to make scholarship on Southeast Asia widely available to interested readers. SEAP books are divided into these four main series:
* Studies on Southeast Asia Series (SOSEA). The Studies on Southeast Asia Series (SOSEA) is made up of substantial scholarly books, essay collections, and monographs, usually in the fields of history, anthropology, or political studies.
* Southeast Asia Program Series (SEAPS). The Southeast Asia Program Series (SEAPS) was conceptualized as a successor to the earlier Southeast Asia Program Data Papers Series, which began publication in 1951. These books offer current research by young scholars.
* Cornell Modern Indonesia Project (CMIP). Th
Cornell Modern Indonesia Projectwas initiated in 1956 with translations of significant documents and literature concerned with modern Indonesia. This series includes many translations of primary source materials, along with original studies of the nation's contemporary political events and the evolution of its government through the twentieth century.
* Language books. Cornell offers instructional language textbooks for students of Indonesian, Khmer, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese.
Benedict Anderson
Political scientist and historian
Benedict Anderson
Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson (August 26, 1936 – December 13, 2015) was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States. Anderson is best known for his 1983 book '' Imagined Communities'', which e ...
(1936–2015) was a notable SEAP alumnus and former director of the program. He earned a classics degree from
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1957 before attending Cornell University, where he concentrated on Indonesia as a research interest and in 1967 received his Ph.D. in government studies. His doctoral advisor at Cornell was Southeast Asian scholar
George Kahin.
Anderson was best known for his 1983 book ''
Imagined Communities'', which explored the origins of
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
. He was the Aaron L. Binenkorb
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University; he was a polyglot with an interest in southeast Asia. His work on the "
Cornell Paper
''A Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965, Coup in Indonesia'', more commonly known as the "Cornell Paper", is an Academic publishing, academic publication detailing the events of an abortive ''coup d'état'' attempt by the self-proclaimed 3 ...
", which debunked the official story of Indonesia's
30 September Movement
The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...
and the subsequent
anti-communist purges of 1965–1966, led to his expulsion from that country. He was the brother of historian
Perry Anderson
Francis Rory Peregrine "Perry" Anderson (born 11 September 1938) is a British intellectual, historian and essayist. His work ranges across historical sociology, intellectual history, and cultural analysis. What unites Anderson's work is a preoc ...
.
See also
*
SEAlang library The SEAlang Library, established in 2005 as an online library source for Southeast Asian linguistic reference materials, was initially funded from the Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access (TICFIA) program of the U ...
References
{{reflist
Southeast Asia Program
The Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) was founded in 1950 to promote the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge about countries, cultures and languages of the region. It is an interdisciplinary program of Cornell University that focuses on the dev ...
Southeast Asian studies
Languages of Southeast Asia