Read Me, Politics, Society, Philippines NYSEAN Read Me, Politics, Society, Philippines NYSEAN

Filipino@Brown: A Conversation with Anna Zulueta and Alexa Theodoropoulos

In an article for the Association for Asian Studies, Anna Zulueta and Alexa Theodoropoulos enter into a dialogue about the legacies of colonization and authoritarian rule, and how in spaces like Brown University, where the absence of Filipino representation persists, linguistic representation and curricular reforms are the first steps in rectifying historical injustices.

Read More

[Recording] States Against Nations: Meritocracy, Patronage, and the Challenges of Bureaucratic Selection

Nicholas Kuipers discusses his new book, States Against Nations (Cambridge University Press, 2025), specifically how Indonesia's civil service examination is a method of bureaucratic selection. Despite its meritocratic measures, Kuipers asserts that these exams can reinforce existing inequalities within society. Drawing on large-scale surveys, experiments, and archival documents, States Against Nations provides a thought-provoking perspective on the challenges of bureaucratic recruitment and unearths the tension between state- and nation-building goals.

Read More

ISEAS Perspective: Challenges to Judicial Independence in Malaysia

In this paper published by NYSEAN Partner ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Shad Saleem Faruqi asserts that Malaysia’s judiciary must be independent to carry out a range of vital duties, including: protecting the Constitution, keeping the government within the remit of its functions, and mediating disputes between the state and citizens, as well as between citizens.

Shad Saleem Faruqi is a Malaysian legal scholar and professor of law at the University of Malaya, currently holding the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair as Professor of Constitutional Law. He is also the fourth holder of the Tun Hussein Onn Chair in International Studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia effective July 2019 to June 2021.

Read More

Gatty Lecture Rewind: Aditya Bhattacharjee, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow from Asian Studies, Cornell University

In this episode of Gatty Lecture Rewind, the host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews Dr. Aditya Bhattacharjee, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Studies at Cornell University. Together, they discuss how growing up in Bangkok led him to study the localization and globalization of Hinduism. Focusing on the transnational appearances of Ganesha in Thailand and Thai restaurants in the United States, Dr. Bhattacharjee explains how and why this deity becomes a visible conduit for understanding the globalization of religious practices and religious belonging beyond the exclusively Thai-Buddhist framework.

Read More

New Books Network: The Nature of Kingship

In this episode of the New Books in Southeast Asia Podcast, Katheryn Dyt discusses her new book, The Nature of Kingship: The Weather-World in Nineteenth-Century Vietnam (University of Hawaii Press, 2025). This text connects Vietnam’s precolonial political history with an understanding of the natural environment seen through the eyes of Vietnamese kings and royal officials.

Read More