We invite applications from faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students for the SUNY/CUNY SEAC Workshop and Field School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in June 2025.

Applications are due by February 17, 2025 at 5 pm ET.

Core research agenda

This academic year (2024-25), our theme is “Southeast Asian identities in popular culture and literature.”

Papers for the workshop may address issues of identity as connected to or reflected in popular culture and/or literature, in any area of Southeast Asia, from any disciplinary perspective. (Paper presentations are optional for undergraduate student attendees.)

For the field school, participants will explore emergent, creative scholarly approaches, including applied methods, to examine how popular cultural efforts and artifacts reflect, shape, and are shaped by both dominant and marginalized Southeast Asian identities, in Southeast Asia and among diasporic populations.

Eligibility

Faculty (including temporary, non-tenure track, tenure track, and tenured), graduate students (PhD, MA, and other), and undergraduate students at SUNY and CUNY enrolled in any discipline of study who are engaged in research or studies related to this year’s theme are eligible to apply.

Approximately twelve (12) participants will be selected.

Responsibilities

Selected graduate students and undergraduate students will participate in:

• an online synchronous SUNY/CUNY orientation in the Spring semester

• a 3-day workshop in June 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• a 7-day field school following the workshop, also in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Students who plan to apply to the field school are encouraged to enroll in a related online-synchronous course in Spring 2025.

Selected faculty (and graduate students interested only in the workshop) will participate in:

• an online synchronous SUNY/CUNY orientation in the Spring semester 2025

• a 3-day workshop in June 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

All major expenses, including economy airfare and accommodations, will be covered by SEAC.

How to Apply

Deadline: February 17, 2025, 5 pm ET.

Please compile all materials as a single PDF and submit them via email to SEAC@sunycunysoutheastasiaconsortium.org with the subject line “SEAC Workshop 2025” by February 17, 2025, 5 pm ET. Selected applicants will be notified no later than March 17, 2025.

Faculty:

Please submit this application form and the following documents:

1.      Statement of interest in the SUNY/CUNY SEAC Fellowship and this year’s core research agenda, “Southeast Asian identities in popular culture and literature.” Please indicate your prior exposure to or engagement with Southeast Asia, if any, and address how this program will benefit your future academic and/or career goals. (300-500 words)

2.     An abstract for consideration for the workshop (300-500 words)

3.     An updated curriculum vitae

4.     This application form

Graduate students:

Please submit this application form and the following documents:

1.      Statement of interest in the SUNY/CUNY SEAC Fellowship and this year’s core research agenda, “Southeast Asian identities in popular culture and literature.” Please indicate your prior exposure to or engagement with Southeast Asia, if any, and address how this program will benefit your future academic and/or career goals. (300-500 words)

2.     An abstract for consideration for the workshop (300-500 words)

3.     A resume or curriculum vitae

4.     A digital copy of recent university/college transcripts

5.     This application form

Undergraduate students:

Please submit this application form and the following documents:

1.      Statement of interest in the SUNY/CUNY SEAC Fellowship and this year’s core research agenda, “Southeast Asian identities in popular culture and literature.” Please indicate your prior exposure to or engagement with Southeast Asia, if any, and address how this program will benefit your future academic and/or career goals. (300-500 words)

2.     A proposed topic of research interest you would like to explore in the workshop related to this year’s theme, popular culture and literature in Southeast Asia (300-500 words)

3.     A resume or curriculum vitae

4.     A digital copy of recent university/college transcripts

5.     This application form

Inquiries about the application and admission process may be submitted to SEAC@sunycunysoutheastasiaconsortium.org 

About SUNY/CUNY SEAC

The consortium aims to develop institutional infrastructure and robust connections across New York’s public university systems—the 64-campus, 370,000-student State University of New York (SUNY) and 25-campus, 270,000-student City University of New York (CUNY)— with the wider New York public and policy community, and with counterparts in Southeast Asia.

Each year, SUNY/CUNY SEAC delves into one interdisciplinary theme, through curricular, research, and public-outreach components. Centerpiece initiatives each year align with that signature theme, related to Southeast Asian and diasporic polities, cultures, landscapes, and communities. Each highlights an area in which SUNY and CUNY have expertise, while maximizing interdisciplinary reach, encouraging innovative research, and fostering connections between Southeast Asian and diasporic studies.

Facilitators

Dr. Lauren Meeker (SUNY New Paltz)

Dr. Martina Nguyen (Baruch College, CUNY)

Dr. E.K. Tan (SUNY Stony Brook)

The SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asian Consortium (SEAC) is funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.