We hope the academic year is off to a safe and smooth start for you!
This year, we will continue to build research that draws together scholars, artists, activists, and community members working in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and community. Together, we aim to explore the histories and ongoing transformations of Southeast Asian coastal livelihoods, ecologies, and environments. This quarter, SEACoast will begin transitioning to more in-person meetings with great care as we keep COVID safety in mind.
We start off the year with an exciting Slow Seminar discussing Teren Sevea’s award winning book, Miracles and Material Life: Rice, Ore, Traps, and Guns in Islamic Malaya, with Dr. Benny Baskara. This will be an in-person event, hosted at the Cowell Provost House.
We will also be hosting several other exciting scholars throughout the year, possibly with remote options, so keep a lookout for future event announcements.
Slow Seminar and welcome reception
For this Slow Seminar, we discuss Teren Sevea’s book, Miracles and Material Life: Rice, Ore, Traps, and Guns in Islamic Malaya. The publication won the Association for Asian Studies’ Harry J. Benda Prize for best first book on Southeast Asian Studies, and we hope it might open up conversations about the role of animism, religion, and nonhumans in critical landscape transformations. The e-book may be accessed through UCSC Library through this link.
We are fortunate to have Dr. Benny Baskara join and open the discussion with a few thoughts and questions. Dr. Baskara is a Research Associate and Fulbright IIE Fellow, who received his Ph.D. in Interreligious Studies from Gadjah Mada University (Indonesia). His current work focuses on religious identity and environmental interactions in maritime societies in Eastern Indonesia.
The discussion will be followed by an outdoor reception, with refreshments and plenty of opportunities to get to know SEACoast, ask questions about our Center and events, and find ways to get involved!
Please fill up this form to RSVP for the event, and contact seacoast@ucsc.edu if you have any questions.
Unless otherwise noted, masking indoors is strongly encouraged at all SEACoast events in-person.
Unless otherwise noted, masking indoors is strongly encouraged at all SEACoast events in-person.
Heartfelt thanks to Wayne Huang!
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Wayne Huang, who performed his role as Graduate Student Research Assistant for SEACoast this past year with diligence, flexibility, and an attentiveness that I could only hope to match. Thank you for steering us through the shifting tides and winds, Wayne!