Join the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University for a talk by Andrew Mertha,  the George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies, Director of the China Studies Program, and Director of the SAIS China Research Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Dr. Mertha will discuss his new book on the Khmer Rouge, revolution, and leadership struggles.

Thailand’s post-election government faces rising economic pressure, domestic instability, and shifting geopolitics. Join experts in politics and security for a virtual roundtable on what this moment means for Thailand and Southeast Asia. Featured speakers include Kunthida Rungruengkiat, MPP Candidate at Princeton University and former Deputy Leader of Thailand’s Future Forward Party, offering perspectives on domestic political reform and democratic movements; Dr. Fuadi Pitsuwan, Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University; and Matt Wheeler, Senior Analyst at International Crisis Group.

Join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute at CUNY for a book talk on Contemporary Art and Ecological Transformation in East and Southeast Asia, an edited volume that examines how contemporary art in East and Southeast Asia confronts environmental destruction, ecological degradation, and social injustice against the backdrop of global ecological crises. Featured speakers include Meqin Wang, Professor of Art at California State University, Northridge; Midori Yamamura, Associate Professor of Art History at Kingsborough Community College/CUNY and an Alcaly/Bodian Distinguished Scholar at the CUNY Graduate Center; Stephanie Benzaquen-Gautier, research fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden and the Center for Khmer Studies; and Vicki Kwon, Associate Curator of Korean Art and Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Join the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University for a panel by Southeast Asian language faculty at Cornell on their experiences with, and contributions to, the Southeast Asian Language Council from 2019 to 2024. Speakers include: Yu Yu Khaing, Burmese Language Lecturer; Jolanda Mendaun Pandin, Senior Lecturer of Indonesian; Hannah Phan, Khmer Language Instructor; Thess Savella, Filipino Language Instructor and President of the Consortium for the Advancement of the Philippine Languages and Cultures; and Thúy Tranviet, Vietnamese Language Instructor.

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Department of Environmental Studies, and Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment at Northern Illinois University for a talk by Matthew E. Andersen, Senior Scientist for Biology for the U.S. Geological Survey Office of International Programs. Having led the development of decision-support tools for the Lower Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia, this talk will explore the history, geography, and socioeconomic science of the Mekong River Delta.

Join the Council on Southeast Asian Studies at Yale University for a talk by sociocultural anthropologist Eve M. Zucker, Yale University, NYSEAN Executive Member, and President of the Center for Khmer Studies. Building on previous research, her talk explores historical memory, territoriality, and post-conflict repair through the transformation of a Khmer Rouge monument into a shrine for a powerful guardian spirit known for defending Cambodia against historical Siamese invasions and protecting contemporary travelers.

Join the ASEAN Studies Center at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a panel exploring how Cambodia, Laos, and Singapore have “led from the middle” to steer ASEAN through periods of uncertainty. The panel will examine what these lessons and experiences hold for future chairs, including Timor-Leste, in keeping ASEAN cohesive, credible, and responsive to emerging challenges. 

Speakers include: Ambassador Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor to the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS); H.E. Sisangkhom Sisaketh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Lao PDR to ASEAN; Dr. Joel Ng, Senior Fellow and Head of the Centre for Multilateralism Studies at Nanyang Technological University; and Dr. Anoulak Kittikhoun, Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Join the Southeast Asia Coalition for Academic Freedom (SEACAF) for its orientation and general assembly. This is a key opportunity for members to shape priorities, engage in meaningful discussions, and contribute to the next phase of SEACAF’s work in 2026.

Join the Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asian Studies (GETSEA) consortium for an information session for undergraduate students. In this session, graduate students studying Southeast Asia in universities across the United States will discuss resources, programs, funding, advisors, and other topics related to pursuing a graduate degree in Southeast Asian studies.

Join the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) for a virtual screening of all five episodes of the Southeast Asian American Journeys documentary series, produced in partnership with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and featuring guest appearances from community members featured in the films. The screenings will be followed by a Q&A with Producer/Director Quyên Nguyen-Le, SEARAC Executive Director Quyen Dinh, and CAAM Executive Director Donald Young.

Join the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University and NYSEAN for a talk by Nicolas Weber, Professor of Vietnam Studies at the Fulbright University of Vietnam, who will discuss a 19th-century Cham verse narrative—The Rhyme of Looking Forward. Read as a “living archive,” it restores Cham perspectives and memory to the making of modern Southeast Asia.

Join the Harvard University Science and Technology in Asia seminar series for a talk by Jenna Grant, Associate Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Washington, who will discuss drug-resistant malaria and its implications in the Greater Mekong subregion. Victor Seow, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University, will moderate the discussion.

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UCLA for a talk by Dr. Chinary Ung, Cambodian-American composer and emeritus faculty of music composition at University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ung will discuss his creative work and how tradition and futuristic experimentation can coexist musically.

Join the Center for Khmer Studies (CKS) for a talk by Alicia Landbeck, an associate researcher at the University of Burgundy-Europe on the dynamics of highly vulnerable families with children experiencing psychological difficulties in Cambodia. Sophal Ear, Associate Professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and CKS Board Member, will moderate the discussion.

Join the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk on how Trump’s tariffs have impacted Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam with Dr. Milan Thomas, Country Economist at the Cambodia Resident Mission of the Asian Development Bank (ADB); Soulinthone Leuangkhamsing, Principal Economics Officer at the Lao PDR Resident Mission of ADB, and Dr. Dao Ngoc Tien, Vice President of Vietnam’s Foreign Trade University. They will discuss how the tariffs might impact these countries  in the short and long run, and how these negative impacts could be mitigated.

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for a panel on Southeast Asia’s responses to the economic, political, and social impacts of U.S. tariff policies. Speakers include Dr. Jayant Menon, Senior Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute; Herawati, Researcher in the ASEAN Studies Program at The Habibie Center, and Dr. Tong Bui, Distinguished Chair in the Department of Information Technology Management at UH-Mānoa. Dr. Micah Fisher will moderate the discussion.

Join the Thailand Studies Program at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Dr. Puangthong R. Pawakapan, Professor of International Relations at Chulalongkorn University, and Supalak Ganjanakhundee, advisor to the Military Affairs Committee of Thailand’s House of Representatives. They will discuss potential solutions for addressing the Thailand-Cambodia conflict.

Join the Asian American Education Project for a workshop that explores Asian  Immigration to the United States, and the past and present challenges faced by immigrants. The workshop will be facilitated by Laura Ouk, board president of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and board member for the Cambodian Association of Illinois.

Join the Stimson Center for the launch of a report on the 11th Policy Dialogue of the Mekong-US Partnership covering areas  such as trade, information and communication, and AI. Speakers include Rachel Coleman, Government Affairs & Public Policy Lead for Platforms & Devices, Google; Mario Masaya, Vice President of Research, Technology and Financial Services at U.S. ASEAN Business Council; and Phonesavanh Sitthideth, Deputy Director General, Lao Academy of Social and Economic Sciences. Courtney Weatherby, Southeast Asia Deputy Director at the Stimson Center, will moderate the discussion.

Join the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University for a talk by Ian Baird, Professor of Geography and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Baird will discuss the enduring legacy of the House of Champassak, a royal lineage from southern Laos that has navigated centuries of political upheaval, from Thai vassalage and French colonialism to Lao independence and communist rule.

Join Asian CineVision for the screenings of Vox Humana, Funeral of the Earth, Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites, Vic and His Nanay, We Used to Take the Long Way Home, and Across the Waters as part of the Asian American International Film Festival. These films entail liminal places, bodies in motion, borders of life and death. They explore the intermediate, indeterminate spaces between one another, the world around us, and even the worlds beyond. The screenings will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A.

Join the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) for a conversation with regional experts on the Thailand-Cambodia border conflict. The panel will include Sophal Ear, Associate Professor and former Senior Associate Dean in the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, Supalak Ganjanakhundee, advisor to the Thai House of Representatives Military Committee, former Visiting Fellow in the Thailand Studies Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, and former editor of The Nation, and Benjamin Zawacki, senior program specialist at The Asia Foundation. Bryanna Entwistle, Press and Program Officer at ASPI, will moderate the conversation.

Join the Center for Khmer Studies for a talk by Dr. Téphanie Sieng, postdoctoral scientist in Social Science at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC). Dr. Sieng’s presentation will explore healthcare behaviors and the interaction between formal and informal healthcare access, cultural representations of disease, and community dynamics in Cambodia. Andrew Mertha, Professor of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, will moderate the discussion.

Join the ASEAN Studies Center and the Regional Economic Studies Program at ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute for a panel on the current state of play in the US trade policy and its impact on multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Southeast Asia as the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs lapses in early July 2025. Featured speakers include Marc Mealy, Isamu Wakamatsu, and Dr. Dan Wang.