Join the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University for a talk by Visiting Scholar, Dr. David Thang Moe. Drawing on firsthand experience, current research, and his forthcoming monograph Beyond Buddhist Nationalism (Oxford University Press), he will discuss ungovernability, centralized nationalism, decentralized resistance, ethnic reconciliation, and visions of democratic nationhood in Myanmar.

To celebrate the Year of the Horse, join the World’s Borough Bookshop for author/illustrator Aram Kim reading Tomorrow Is New Year’s Day and author Monique Truong reading Mai's Áo Dài. The book readings are followed by activities learning all about customs and traditions important to the Lunar New Year, including an art workshop for kids by Bonnie Wong and a lion dance performance.

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a roundtable discussing insights and innovative approaches to inform more responsive policymaking in order to address the needs and aspirations of Southeast Asia’s next generation. Speakers include: Professor Nina T. Castillo-Carandang, pioneering health sociologist at  the University of the Philippines’ College of Medicine; Shahhanim Yahya, Senior Research Executive for the Institute for Youth Research Malaysia; Voradon Lerdrat, Director of Research and Policy Partnerships at 101 Public Policy Think Tank (Thailand); Dr. Sari Damar Ratri, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Research (IFAR), Monash University Indonesia; Dr. Rayner Kay Jin Tan, Assistant Professor at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore and National University Health System; and Dr. Tu-Anh Hoang, founder and Director of the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population (CCIHP) and chair of the Vietnam Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Network.

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 Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University for a talk by Christina E. Firpo, Professor of Southeast Asian history at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Dr. Firpo will discuss her new book, Beauty and the Nation, which explores the changing perspectives on Vietnamese women's beauty and their role in society during the interwar years.

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 Vietnam Studies Program at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Le Duy Binh, Chief Economist and Managing Director of Economica Vietnam, and Long Tran, Head of Research at BIDV Securities (BSC), one of Vietnam’s oldest and most prominent securities firms. These experts will provide an analysis of Vietnam’s economic performance in 2025, assess its outlook for 2026, and evaluate whether Vietnam is ready for a new “Era of National Rise.”

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 Asian American Writers’ Workshop and The Twisted Spine Bookstore for the book launch of Twin Tides by Hien Nguyen, a speculative fiction writer who writes about Vietnamese ghosts, monsters, and mythology. The event features a reading by Carolina Đỗ and Rebecca Ho, voice actors of the audiobook. Writer and filmmaker Jade Song will moderate the discussion.

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Dr. Kaewkamol (Karen) Pitakdumrongkit, the Interim Secretary General and incoming Executive Director of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council’s (PECC) International Secretariat. Dr. Pitakdumrongkit will examine the key findings of the PECC State of the Region Report 2025-2026, which gathered data from over 500 leaders across 24 economies on their outlook for the region from 2026 to 2027.

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 Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University for a talk by Kevin D. Pham, Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Pham will discuss how revolutionaries in Vietnam debated the value of free speech. Drawing on the writings of the Nhân Văn-Giai Phẩm (NVGP), a movement of intellectuals who proclaimed support for free speech and communist revolution in North Vietnam in the late 1950s, Pham shows how the NVGP defend free speech as a collective right, rather than an individual one, and as something that can invigorate the Party so that it can more effectively guide the people towards socialism.

Join the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale for a talk by Michele Thompson, Professor of History at Southern Connecticut State University and NYSEAN Member. Dr. Thompson will share an overview of the Vietnamese Buddhist involvement in health care and the changes in Vietnam that resulted in a resurgence of Buddhist political and medical activity, culminating in the Buddhist protests of the 1960s.

Join the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale for a talk by Quan Tue Tran, Senior Lecturer in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration at Yale University. Professor Tran’s lecture explores contemporary Vietnamese and Angolan connections through the lens of Quang Linh Vlogs, created by a young Vietnamese migrant who worked and lived in Angola.

Join the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies for a talk by Pamela Nguyen Corey, Associate Professor of Art History at Fulbright University Vietnam. In this talk, she looks at metaphor as an artistic method that emphasizes temporal and tacit dimensions of regional imagination, using the 2023 Thailand Biennale in Chiang Rai and artworks by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Nguyen Trinh Thi as case studies.

Join Vietnamese Boat People (VBP) and Think!Chinatown Studio for a Story Slam in which Vietnamese Americans share their journey of migration, identity, love, loss, healing, and discovery. The event is preceded by a reception and an introduction by VBP’s Founder, Tracey Nguyễn Mang.

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 Wisconsin-Madison for a talk by Christina Schwenkel, Professor of Anthropology at UC Riverside. Looking back on the early months of the pandemic in Vietnam, the talk argues for greater attention to the sensory dimensions of public health security, particularly as experienced through sonic rupture.

Join the Global Vietnam Studies at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University for a celebration of Vietnamese culture through its arts, crafts, and national dress, the áo dài. There will be a conversation with Vietnam’s leading fashion designer Minh Hanh and artisans, a live performance featuring Minh Hanh’s contemporary designs, and an arts and crafts exhibit.

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 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 Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UCLA for a professional development workshop by Heather A. Badamo, Associate Professor of art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Mya Chau, Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies and Asian Pacific American Studies at Loyola Marymount University. They will discuss the cultures and histories of the Middle East and Southeast Asia through their religious spaces and places of worship.

Join Mekong NYC for the book launch of Introducing Đàn Tranh Techniques & Expressions, including a guided conversation with the authors Anh Thu Phan and Ngo Thanh Nhan, and editor, Kim To. There will be a performance of the songs featured in the book, hands-on dan tranh playing, and light refreshments.

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at University of Hawaii-Mānoa (UH Mānoa) for a webinar about the influence of community narratives on the memory and ongoing legacies of the Vietnam War. Barbara Watson Andaya of UH Mānoa will moderate the discussion with a panel that includes: Long T. Bui (UC Irvine), Dan “Fig” Leaf (Honorary Consul for Vietnam in Hawaii), and Thy Phu (University of Toronto Scarborough).

Join Asian CineVision for the screenings of Rooftop Lempicka; Sex, Baseball, and All Pussibilities; Clementine; They Call Me the Tattoo Witch; OK/NOTOK; and Zari as part of the Asian American International Film Festival. These are films by and for the girl with an emphasis on platonic love, self-affirmation, and healing through art and expression. They celebrate femininity in all its forms, from the tenderness of youth to the antics of young womanhood and beyond. The screenings will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A.