[Oct 29] Mapping Knowledge Production in Southeast Asian Studies: A Data-Driven Analysis

The study of Southeast Asia, in both the humanities and social sciences, has been centered in the West. Due to colonial influence, missionary missions and colonial civil servants having to govern the indigenes, knowledge production and knowledge accumulation were based in Leiden, Lisbon, Paris and London. With the entrance of the Americans in the Vietnam War, the center for Southeast Asian Studies largely shifted to the United States, to Cornell, Berkeley, Yale and Stanford, among others. Southeast Asian studies was always peripheral in Southeast Asia. With decolonization, the emergence of nation-states, and the establishment of higher education institutions, teaching, research and centers for Southeast Asia studies began to be established in the region. However, the hegemony of knowledge, particularly in the social sciences, remained very much a western domain. This paper, based on both qualitative and quantitative data, examines the future of Southeast Asian Studies in Southeast Asia. It will survey the focus of research, publications and institutional developments in and on Southeast Asia, looking at historical patterns and emerging trends. While it can be suggested that interest in Southeast Asian studies have shifted to Southeast Asia, the paper will demonstrate that there is a process of de-centering, and the future of Southeast Asian studies will be multi-centered.

For enquiries, please contact Prof. Diego Fossati (fossati@hku.hk).

Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=109895

Date: October 29, 2026 (Thu)

Time: 16:30-18:00

Venue: CRT-5.41

(5/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU)