SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM FALL BULLETIN 2019 - ECOMMONS@CORNELL
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Southeast Asia Program FALL BuLLetin 2019
Southeast
Asia
Program FALL
BuLLetin
2019
SEAP DIRECTORY
seap.einaudi.cornell.edu INSIDE
SEAP ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE F E AT UR E S
4
180 Uris Hall, Cornell University 4 From Dissertation to Book:
Ithaca, New York 14853 Islamist Mobilization in Indonesia,
607.255.2378 | fax 607.254.5000
by Alexandre Pelletier
SEAP@cornell.edu
listserv: SEAP-L@cornell.edu 9 18 Days in Myanmar, by Nisa Burns
14 Performing Angkor: Dance, Silk, and Stone,
Abby Cohn, Director
seap_director@einaudi.cornell.edu
Cornell in Cambodia, by Kaja McGowan
and Hannah Phan
Thamora Fishel, Associate Director 14
tfishel@cornell.edu 18 Unraveling the “Field” in Fieldwork,
by Alexandra Dalferro
James Nagy, Administrative Assistant
jen72@cornell.edu 22 Pluralism on Trial? Conference Focuses
on Religion in Contemporary Indonesia,
by Connor Rechtzigel
KAHIN CENTER FOR ADVANCED 24 Language Exchange and Community 18
RESEARCH ON SOUTHEAST ASIA Engaged Research at the Border of
640 Stewart Avenue Thailand and Myanmar, by Mary Moroney
Ithaca, New York 14850
26 Toward Southeast Asian Study,
Anissa Rahadiningtyas by Christine Bacaereza
Kahin Center Building Coordinator
26
kahinbuildingmngr@einaudi.cornell.edu
Kahin Center, Room 104
607.255.3619
C o L UMNS
29 SEAP Publications
SEAP OUTREACH AND 30 The Echols Collection—How Does the
COMMUNICATIONS Echols Collection Acquire Material?,
Brenna Fitzgerald, Editor, SEAP Bulletin, by Jeffrey Petersen and Gregory Green
Communications and Outreach Coordinator
bef7@cornell.edu
32 Cloud Watchers: Cornell Linguists Collecting
34
Kahin Center, Room 117 Data on Lao, by Nielson Hul
607.255.6688 34 Sharing Southeast Asian Language and
Kathi Colen Peck, Postsecondary Outreach Culture with Children in Local Schools,
Coordinator by Brenna Fitzgerald
190E Uris Hall 36 New Developments in SEAP’s Post-
ksc32@cornell.edu Secondary outreach, by Kathi Colen Peck
seap.einaudi.cornell.edu/outreach
SEAP-out@cornell.edu
37
NE W S
37 Upcoming Events 38
SEAP PUBLICATIONS 38 Announcements:
Editorial Office on Campus and Beyond
Kahin Center, Room 215 41 visiting Fellows
607.255.4359
42 Degrees Conferred
seap.einaudi.cornell.edu/publications
43 SEAP Faculty 2019-2020
Sarah E. M. Grossman, Managing Editor
sg265@cornell.edu
Fred Conner, Assistant Editor
flc2@cornell.edu C o v E R C AP T I o N
Two fishermen performing for tourists
on Inle Lake in Myanmar. Photo by Nisa Burns.
LETTER
from the Director
Reflecting over the past year, Iandamtogratified to see how many things have fallen in place
note areas of genuine progress and stabilization. This
is in part the result of the successful renewal of our Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) and
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship grants for 2018–22. (SEAP has successfully competed for NRC/Title VI fund-
ing since the inception of the grants program in 1958.) This year’s progress also stems from the dynamic conversation about
the importance of international studies at Cornell, led by Vice Provost for International Affairs Wendy Wolford, and reflects a
renewed appreciation of international studies, from Cornell’s President Martha Pollack down through the colleges. Those of us
in Arts and Sciences were pleased to welcome our new Dean Ray Jayawardhana, a Sri Lankan who, among other things, fully
appreciates the importance of our continued engagement in teaching Less Commonly Taught Languages of Southeast Asia and
South Asia. (Cornell is the only institution outside of Sri Lanka to offer regular multilevel instruction in Sinhala.)
Recognition as a National Resource Center enables us to support a number of programmatic and curricular activities, and
we are particularly pleased to have moved ahead collaboratively in hiring a postsecondary outreach coordinator, Kathi Colen
Peck, who has hit the ground running, reaching out to our community college and school of education partners, launching our
Community College Internationalization Fellowship Program, and taking the Global Education Faculty Fellowship Program
to a new level. Kathi is a great addition to our strong administrative/outreach team. On the faculty side, we were also pleased
to welcome Christine Bacareza Balance, performing and media arts/Asian American studies focusing on the Philippines and
Philippines diaspora. In addition to Christine earning tenure at the end of her first year here, SEAP’s two junior faculty in Asian
studies, Chiara Formichi and Arnika Fuhrmann, have both been awarded tenure as well.
This spring again saw a series of conferences and special events hosted or cohosted by SEAP. In March, SEAP held its 21st
Annual Graduate Student Conference on the theme of “Conformities and Interruptions in Southeast Asia,” with Christine giving
the keynote lecture, “Making Sense and Methods of Surprise: Notes Towards Southeast Asian Study.” The fifth in the series of
Cornell Modern Indonesia Project conferences, organized by Chiara Formichi, took place in April, exploring “The State of Reli-
gious Pluralism in Indonesia.” SEAP wrapped up the year in June as host to the Sixth International Conference on Lao Studies,
organized by Greg Green, with attendees from Asia, Europe, and the across the United States—including many members of the
New York State Lao community. SEAP was well represented at the 2019 AAS-in-Asia meeting in Bankok in July with three SEAP
faculty in attendance as well as many current and former SEAP students. We were pleased to be able to serve as co-sponsors.
Thanks are due to this past year’s SEAP graduate committee cochairs Astara Light and Michael Miller, not only for organizing
a terrific conference, but also for putting together an intellectually engaging lineup for the Gatty Lecture series. Complementing
our weekly Gatty talks, Michael also launched a podcast with National Resource Center funding. The Gatty Lecture Rewind pod-
cast features conversations among graduate students and our visiting speakers and is developing a national and international
following.1
Our incoming student committee cochairs Emily Donald and Sarah Meiners are putting together an exciting schedule of Gatty
talks for the fall, and graduate student Bruno Shirley will chair our 22nd Annual Graduate Student Conference. We are honored
that Caroline Hau will be returning to Cornell to give the eleventh Frank H. Golay Memorial Lecture.
SEAP continues to actively engage Cornell undergraduates through Southeast Asia Language Week and numerous events
geared at planting seeds of interest in Southeast Asia. Cornell in Cambodia will be cotaught during Winter session in Siem Reap
and Phnom Penh by Sarosh Kuruvilla and Vida Vanchan (from Buffalo State University), with a focus on labor, economics, and
society.
On the horizon in 2020 is the seventieth anniversary celebration of the founding of the SEAP program! The SEAP History
Project has begun, and video interviews with founding faculty are now available online, with an online portal and photo archive
in the works.2 We are anticipating holding a celebration and symposium in September 2020. As soon as the date is set, expect a
save-the-date notice, and we hope to see you back in Ithaca to join us in the celebration.
—Abby Cohn, professor, linguistics, director,
Southeast Asia Program
1
http://seap.einaudi.cornell.edu/story/podcast-seap-gatty-lecture-rewind
2
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/59825
•3•
From Dissertation to Book:
Islamist
Mobilization
by Alexandre Pelletier,
SEAP visiting fellow
in Indonesia
Seated on the porch of a small bamboo Islamic boarding school, or pesantren, in Garut,
West Java, sipping perhaps what was the strongest coffee I had ever had, I began to
understand the focus of my dissertation. I was well into my fifth month of fieldwork as
a PhD candidate in political science at University of Toronto, investigating how main-
stream Muslim leaders had responded to new Islamist groups since Indonesia’s transi-
tion to democracy more than a decade earlier.
I had just returned from Jombang, East (Front Pembela Islam), were mostly
Java, where I met various Muslim lead- focusing on “cleaning up” the streets
ers and was amazed at how large and of Jakarta from “sinful” activities such
wealthy their Islamic boarding schools as gambling, prostitution, and alco-
were. While pondering my observa- hol consumption. Since the mid-2000s,
tions of East Javanese pesantren in this however, they have expanded their
small and modest pesantren, similar to agenda and started targeting “mis-
all the others I had visited in West Java, guided” religious minorities, as well as
I realized how different Islamic author- people considered guilty of blasphemy
ity looked in these two regions of Indo- against Islam. Bolstered by this new
nesia. That day, I understood that my agenda, they have spread to smaller
dissertation would focus on the links cities and rural towns throughout Java,
between the status of Muslim leaders, attacking, closing down, or destroying
economic resources, and Islamist mobi- mosques of Muslim sects deemed devi-
lization. ant and Christian churches considered
I graduated from the University illegal.
of Toronto in 2019 and am current- My research aims to understand why
ly a Social Sciences and Humanities Islamist groups have clustered in some
Research Council of Canada post- regions of Java and not others. In more
doctoral fellow hosted by the Cornell general terms, the question driving my
Southeast Asia Program. While at Cor- work is why do Islamist groups suc-
nell, I am working on a book manu- ceed in some regions and not others.
script entitled Competition for Religious The province of West Java, for example,
Authority and Islamist Success in Indone- accounts for nearly 60 percent of all
sia. Based on my dissertation, the book Islamist protests and contains 50 per-
seeks to understand radical Islamic cent of all Islamist groups in Java. The
mobilization in Java, Indonesia. The contrast with East Java, for example, is
primary task I am pursuing while here striking, given that this province has
will include some additional research, witnessed only 10 percent of the pro-
mostly in colonial and postcolonial tests and contains only 20 percent of all
archives, and the streamlining of the the Islamist groups. What makes West
book’s broader narrative. Java so unique?
My book’s starting point remains At first glance, West Java does not
the same as my dissertation. Since the appear different enough to justify such
democratic transition of 1998, dozens of a high level of Islamist success. The
small yet vocal Islamist groups in Indo- province has a higher unemployment
nesia have sprung up throughout the rate and a slightly lower gross domestic
archipelago. In the early 2000s, groups product per capita but scores higher on
such as the Islamic Defenders’ Front various indicators of human develop-
•5•
small landholdings, and only a fifth
engage in agriculture while at least
half of the schools do so in East Java.
West Java also has a much more leveled
authority structure. The map illustrates
regional differences in Islamic authority
by representing with black dots schools
with more than 1,000 students. As we
can see, West Java has only twenty-four
schools with more than a thousand stu-
dents, while East Java has an impres-
sive ninety-two. In other words, despite
having far more Islamic boarding
schools, there are no dominant schools
in West Java, as most of them are small.
These institutional differences, I
The outskirts of Bandung (West Java) where many Islamic groups have been active. contend, are crucial for contemporary
patterns of Islamist mobilization in
Java. The influence of a Muslim cleric
ment and has less severe poverty than across Indonesia are rooted in the in Indonesia is inherently tied to the
other provinces in Java. Socioeconomic way Islam is structured and institu- size of his Islamic boarding school:
grievances do not seem to explain the tionalized in the province, rather than clerics with more students generally
success of Islamist groups in that prov- socioeconomic grievances or the local command more influence both in and
ince. Islamist mobilization in West Java culture. While conducting fieldwork in outside their region. Influential clerics
is often imputed to the local culture. Java in 2014-2015 and 2016, I observed are better able to leverage their popu-
Given its long history of Islamic mil- surprising differences in the status and larity into access, power, and resources.
itancy and its absence of Hindu-Bud- wealth of Muslim clerics (called kyai in Low-status clerics with fewer students
dhist history, academics and journalists Indonesia) throughout Java. As I trav- are much more peripheral and have
often suggest that West Java, a Sun- eled east of the island, Islamic boarding fewer opportunities to do so. Instead,
danese majority region, is a hotbed of schools (pesantren) tended to be larger they are precarious or have to be partic-
intolerance and conservatism, an ideo- and had more students and more land. ularly entrepreneurial if they are to sur-
logical environment conducive to Isla- As I traveled west, however, schools vive in the longer term. The shortage of
mist mobilization. This explanation were smaller, had fewer students, and large schools in West Java means that
has always struck me as tautological: did not own much land. In addition to the province has a shortage of influ-
West Java is more intolerant, because dozens of interviews with Muslim cler- ential clerics. Islamic authority is thus
it is intolerant. East Java, by contrast, ics, I went on to collect data from the inherently more competitive and prone
is often seen as having a more tolerant Ministry of Religious Affairs, which to appropriation in West Java.
and moderate brand of Islam, promot- confirmed those astonishing variations. My interviews with Muslim leaders
ed by its dominant Islamic mass orga- The Islamist-prone province of West revealed that West Java was particularly
nization, Nahdlatul Ulama. Java has more schools than East Java, susceptible to the emergence of radical
What I argue, however, is that these but those schools are twice as small, on groups because of a larger pool of po-
variations in Islamist mobilization average. West Javanese schools have litical “entrepreneurs.” Low-status cler-
Central Java East Java
3,719 pesantren 5,025 pesantren
Banten
2,246 pesantren
West Java
7,691 pesantren
Pesantren with more than 1,000 students
•6•
Alamendah, a village south of Bandung (West Java) where the local pesantren engage in agriculture.
ics—who abound in the region—found the preangerstelsel (Priangan system). the countryside, but not in West Java. In
it useful to join, support, or form a new Under that regime, the Dutch pursued this region, the Dutch granted the pen-
Islamist group as a way to expand their high profits on coffee but little in the ghulu the monopoly over the collection
religious authority. They used morality way of state building. Even once the of Islamic charity (zakat and fitrah). This
and sectarianism as ideologies of mo- Dutch abolished the Priangan system, prevented independent kyai from col-
bilization to stake out their own claim most of West Java remained under a lecting an important source of revenue,
to power and wealth. Through mobi- distinct administrative regime. One key as they did elsewhere in Java, which
lization, many gained recognition and feature characterized this regime. The is one reason why we find few large
followers and were better able to lever- Dutch did not implement village insti- pesantren in West Java.
age their authority into influence and tutions until much later, did not pro- These initial differences in colonial
power. vide villages with “village land” (called styles shaped subsequent political
Why did Islamic institutions grow tanah bengkok in Indonesia), and did cleavages. In the late and early post-
so differently in East and West Java? not collect land taxes like elsewhere in colonial period, most Javanese clerics
What is so unique about West Javanese Java. In the absence of land tax and vil- became increasingly cohesive as they
“soil”? This important question forced lage land, used elsewhere to pay native resisted the incursion of modernist
me to research back in time when the officials, they let native officials rely on Islamic leaders and communist groups
differences started to take shape. The informal taxation and corvée labor as in rural Java. This conflict prompted
majority of Java’s largest and most in- a means of retribution. These discre- clerics to strengthen their ties, further
fluential schools were opened some tionary powers led to perhaps the most institutionalize their authority, and
time between 1800 and 1945. I argue exploitative and oppressive system of grow their schools.
that the differences between East and forced labor in colonial Java. In West Java, however, the colonial
West Java are rooted in the history of Some of the native officials that ben- regime led to a different political cleav-
colonial and postcolonial state building efited the most from this system were age. Clerics were divided, not cohesive.
in the region. the penghulu, or the government clerics. Some clerics furiously opposed the
During the nineteenth century, Java Elsewhere in Java, penghulu were mar- colonial regime and their native repre-
was under increasing direct rule as the ginal officers in the colonial bureaucra- sentatives, particularly the penghulu
Dutch sought to modernize the state. cy. Instead, independent clerics (kyai) because of their monopoly over Islamic
Yet, the Dutch placed most of West Java who owned and operated an Islamic charity and their lavish lifestyle. Others
under a different political regime called boarding school were the true leaders in were part of the penghulu patron-cli-
•7•
Above: A pesantren in the regency of Bandung, West Java.
Below: Alexandre interviewing KH Acep Sofyan, chairman of the Islamic Defender’s Front, in Tasikmalaya, West Java (2015).
West Java
West Java areareless
lessable
ablethan
thantheirtheircoun-
terparts in East Java to
coun- terparts in East Java to convert convert their
religious authority into political capital.
their religious authority into political
Because of that, they have had more
capital.
incentivesBecause
to lineofup that,
withthey have had
radical Isla-
more incentives to line up with
mist groups, as they can quickly bolster radical
Isla-
theirmist groups,
standing andasinfluence.
they can quickly
The Isla-
mist groups
bolster have thusand
their standing found West Java
influence.
a particularly fertile ground for their
The Isla- mist groups have thus found
activities.
West Java a particularly fertile ground
Cornell University and the SEAP
for their activities.
program have been Cornell University
invaluable for me
and
as I the
workSEAP on program
this bookhave beenI am
project.
invaluable
currently for me as I work
conducting some on addition-
this
al research
book project.atI am thecurrently
Kroch Library,
conducting one
of the largest collections of primary
some addition- al research at the Kroch
and secondary material on Southeast
Library, one of the largest collections of
Asia. Moving forward, I am particu-
ent networks and supported colonial dozens of Muslim clerics left the coun- primary and secondary
larly interested materialsuch
in documents on as
authorities. The 1920–30s were par- try, some were killed, and their Islamic Southeast
the InquiryAsia. Moving
on Land forward,ofI 1867,
Ownership am
ticularly violent in West Java as both boarding schools destroyed. From the the Declining Welfare Inquiry
particu- larly interested in documents of 1905–14,
groups frequently clashed. After inde- 1960s on, Muslim clerics were almost and the
such as Population
the InquiryCensus on Land of Ownership
1930 for all
pendence, traces of that conflict fueled fully under the grip of the state in West the rich and detailed information they
of 1867, the Declining Welfare Inquiry
the Islamic rebellion that took place in Java. By contrast, they were still largely contain about land ownership patterns
the region. independent in East Java. of
in 1905–14,
Java. I was and the Population
happy to be involved in
In response to the unrest in West Under the Suharto regime (1967–98), Census of 1930
the Cornell for all the
Modern rich and Proj-
Indonesia
Java, state officials started to repress the weakness of Muslim clerics kept detailed information
ect conference last they contain
spring, as itabout
was
independent clerics. Strategies of West Java in a relatively peaceful state. on religious intolerance
land ownership patterns in Java. I was in Indonesia.
repression became one of the dominant Yet it is this very weakness that is now I look forward to presenting my work
happy to be involved in the Cornell
modalities of interaction between the backfiring in the post-transition period. to the SEAP community on November
Modern Indonesia Proj- ect conference
state and Muslim leaders in West Java Weak clerics have had trouble engaging 21, 2019 at the Gatty lecture series and
for the years to come. As a result, from with the expanded opportunities of the last
know spring,
I willas it wastremendously
benefit on religious from
the 1920s to the 1950s, Islamic life was democratic era. In an increasingly com- intolerance
the experience. in Indonesia.
n I look forward
profoundly disrupted in West Java: petitive political environment, clerics in to presenting my work to the SEAP
•8• community on November 21, 2019 at
the Gatty lecture series and know I will
benefit tremendously from the
experience.
18 Days
in Myanmar
by Nisa Burns,
undergraduate in
linguistics
Shwedagon
Pagoda in
Yangon.
Two fishermen performing for tourists on Inle Lake in Myanmar.
In the wInter of 2018–19, SEAP read did not take place in the current with me, as the exchange rate was
supported a pilot course titled Gender day, as it detailed the life of the first approximately 1500 Myanmar kyat to
and Global Change in Myanmar that Miss Burma, a Karen-ethnicity woman one American dollar. The food units
included an eighteen-day visit to the who grew up during World War II.2 in class were also relevant, as I could
country. I was one of two undergrad- While Have Fun in Burma provided us easily articulate the foods I liked or
uate students on the trip, encouraged with a modern cultural context, Miss did not eat. In Bogyoke Market, a bus-
to go because I had been studying Burma was a harrowing look into the tling hub of open-air stalls in Yangon, I
Burmese at Cornell since my freshman tribulations and persecution faced by made all the shopkeepers laugh when
year. The other student, Evelyn Shan, the Karen ethnic minority. While pre- I correctly said, “Oh, bother!” when a
undergraduate in government and his- reading helped set the stage for visiting stack of shirts fell over. Even the tidbits
tory, was writing her senior thesis. Our Myanmar for the first time, nothing I learned in my three semesters of Bur-
group leader was Thamora Fishel, asso- could compare to touching down in the mese proved useful. Armed with my
ciate director of SEAP, who was making bustling hub that is Yangon. dictionary app and my notebook for
her fourth visit to Myanmar. With us When I first arrived in Myanmar, I writing down new vocabulary words,
was Ngun Siang Kim, who was hired to was too embarrassed to try speaking I added to my knowledge for when I
assist with program logistics. Siang was Burmese. I had been warned that Bur- returned to the classroom.
put in contact with Thamora because mese people were unaccustomed to for- Our itinerary was shaped by Evelyn’s
she had previously worked with Cor- eigners speaking their language and, as and my interests, so the people we met
nell PhD candidate Hilary Faxon, who such, did not slow down their speech with varied greatly. I was interested
does research with women farmers in when responding. As time went on, in language education, while Evelyn
rural Myanmar. Currently, Siang works I grew more confident speaking with was interested in women’s rights and
for the gap-year program Where There locals. Sure, my sentences may not have the Rohingya crisis. Despite women’s
Be Dragons and travels all over Myan- been complex or grammatically perfect rights not being my topic of interest,
mar when she is not working. all the time, but I was able to commu- I was nonetheless captivated by the
Before the trip, we were given a book nicate. work of the various groups we met
list to read. One of the items on that list In preparation for the trip, my Bur- with such as Women’s Open Spaces, a
was Have Fun in Burma: A Novel, written mese teacher at Cornell, Yu Yu Khaing, loose consciousness-raising effort that
by SEAP alumna Rosalie Metro.1 The had drilled counting high numbers runs women’s self-defense classes;
story takes place during the early days
of the current Rohingya crisis within
the past decade. It details the naivete of When I first arrived in Myanmar, I was too embarrassed
a white American student who rushes to try speaking Burmese. I had been warned that Burmese
into activism in Myanmar without con-
templating the widespread backlash
people were unaccustomed to foreigners speaking their
that her actions receive from Burmese language and, as such, did not slow down their speech
people, offering a critique of the “vol-
untourism” trend. The other novel we
when responding.
• 10 •to two more people about Myanmar’s
educational policies. One was a student
named Peter, who hailed from Shan
State. His family is Wa, and he spoke
only their language until kindergarten.
Now, at the end of his university career,
he laments his minimal Wa skills after
speaking Burmese in state education
his entire life. He wishes there was
formal Wa-language education for stu-
dents like him so that they are able to
express deeper concepts when talking
with family.
The other person I talked to was a
lecturer in theology. Ms. Seng Tawng, a
speaker of Kachin who hails from the
northern state of the same name, dis-
cussed how Burmese is necessary to
operate beyond one’s village. Accord-
ing to her, the mother-tongue educa-
Evelyn, Thamora, and Nisa pose with a Karen grandfather and grandson at the Innsein tion that she received in her village
train station on Karen New Year’s Day. made learning easier for the children,
but the lack of experience with Bur-
mese-language education put them at a
Strong Flowers Sexuality Education or community, as the government has disadvantage when middle school was
Services, a program led by Dr. Thet Su declared that state education is to be outside the village and taught by non-
Htwe (who also goes by Zakia), that conducted in Burmese. Kachin speakers. Unlike Peter, she had
offers classes about sexuality to groups I first encountered the issue of some Burmese knowledge before enter-
all over the country; Triangle Women’s minority language speakers in state ing school due to the frequent presence
Support Group, an organization run education when talking to Siang, who of the Burmese military in her village.
by Khin Lay, whose interfaith event grew up in northern Chin State speak- These viewpoints varied greatly,
our group attended; and the Karenni ing the Falam language. When she giving me a wider perspective on the
National Women’s Organization in moved to Yangon for high school, her issue of language in such a multiethnic
Loikaw, Kayah State, which teaches Burmese language ability was low. As country. At first, I naively assumed that
local law enforcement how to properly time went on, her Falam skills grew education in solely the mother tongue
respond to sexual assault. Though the weaker, as she was no longer sur- would present itself as the best solu-
ways in which the women affiliated rounded by it in Burmese-speaking tion, but talking with everyone taught
with these organizations advocate for Yangon. A decade and a half later, she me that the situation is much more
women’s rights varies greatly, each one feels that she is without a native lan- complex. Upon returning to Cornell
of them is on the ground day in and day guage, as she is not totally comfortable for my spring semester, I combined
out, being the change they want to see in either Burmese or Falam. She will what I learned from these interviews
in their country.3 never have a native speaker intuition with academic articles about languages
As the trip unfolded, what started (that is, the sense that “I can’t articu- of instruction in Myanmar, gaining a
as my vague interest in language edu- late why, but this just sounds right”) deeper understanding of these issues in
cation shaped into a curiosity about for Burmese, as it is not her native lan- the process.
minority language (mother-tongue) guage. When talking with her family Outside of our personal academic
education. While I had been aware on back home, they note glaring mistakes interests, our group’s adventures took
a basic level that Myanmar is home to in her Falam, despite the fact that it is us on learning experiences beyond
many ethnicities and languages, it took her mother tongue. As such, there has the city. Within Yangon, we visited the
being in the country for that to sink in. been a trade-off in skills that has put her famous 2,500 year-old, 110-meter (326-
I soon learned that state education does in a linguistic limbo. foot) Shwedagon Pagoda. Contrary to
not embrace this diversity. Instead, stu- At the end of my stay, I visited the popular belief, Shwedagon is not the
dents all over the country study solely Myanmar Institute of Theology, a sem- tallest pagoda in Myanmar, though we
in the Burmese language, regardless of inary situated in Innsein Township, visited that one, too. The Shwemawdaw
what languages are spoken in the home where I had the opportunity to speak Pagoda in Bago stands fifteen meters
• 11 •(49 feet) taller than Shwedagon, and we drove to it with my Cornellian friend Lin and his family, who were excited that friends from his school were visit- ing their country. On the way to Bago, we stopped at the World War II memo- rial, a sobering reminder of how many lives were lost in Burma (which called back to reading Miss Burma). There were rows and rows of gravestones, mostly for soldiers from Great Britain, as Myanmar was still its colony at the time. The names of tens of thousands of men who were missing in action were carved onto massive columns. Karen soldiers, Indian soldiers, men from all over were memorialized together. Our trip did not solely focus on the social changes happening with wom- en’s rights and language education. We journeyed northward to Shan State to Our group eats lunch at a popular halal cafeteria in Yangon. Clockwise from left to right: see rapid social and ecological changes Rhoda Linton, Thamora, Evelyn, Zakia, Nisa. While locals supplement their incomes through tourism ventures, they are paying the price of losing the tranquil, lake-centric lifestyles that have been there for generations. in action. Joining us on this leg of the tourists whizzing through their watery course, students are given a cultural trip was SEAP faculty member, Jenny streets. From the myriad boat stops at and linguistic crash course before they Goldstein, professor of development artisan shops and the encroaching float- set foot in the country. A course like this sociology. Together, we visited the ing farmland to the local market that would greatly benefit students head- famous Inle Lake, arriving there after a has a whole knickknack section before ing off to Myanmar, as it would enable four-hour boat ride from a lower lake. locals can get to the food stalls, rapid them to communicate, even slightly, Professor Goldstein, who usually does changes were happening everywhere. without someone nearby to interpret. work on peat bog fires in Indonesia, While locals supplement their incomes Additionally, as more students learn has been expanding her research into through tourism ventures, they are about Myanmar, they may be inspired Myanmar. She had yet to visit Inle, so it paying the price of losing the tranquil, to further their studies about the coun- was a first experience for all of us. lake-centric lifestyles that have been try. Yu Yu Khaing, my Burmese teacher, In preparation, Thamora had sent there for generations. often laments the lack of linguistic us articles on the rapid development Reflecting on this program, I think it research into the Burmese language. of tourism in this area. After Bagan, an is fantastic for a new cohort of students Since Myanmar had not opened itself ancient city home to thousands of tem- to experience a beautiful and diverse to the world until recently, research ples, Inle Lake is the second-most pop- country that they likely do not know regarding many aspects of the coun- ular tourist destination in the whole of much about. At the same time, because try is lacking; bringing more Cornel- Myanmar. We did not have to look far many students do not know much lians to the country could improve to witness examples of the rise of tour- about Myanmar, it would be useful upon that. Likewise, engaging Cornell ism during our travels; we simply had to have the opportunity to take a one- students with organizations, schools, to glance outside our speedboat—well, credit jumpstart course offered in the and resources across Myanmar serves even at our speedboat to see how tour- fall semester before the trip—a course to strengthen the connection between ism was taking over the local lifestyle. modeled on the jumpstart course Cornell and Myanmar, which is what Inle Lake had been home to fishing vil- offered for students enrolled in SEAP’s Cornell’s Myanmar Initiative aims to lages built directly on the water. While established winter course in Cambo- do.4 Myanmar’s universities, especially these villages are still thriving, villagers dia, led by Hannah Phan, the Khmer outside Yangon, lack resources. Luck- must adapt to the speedboats full of language instructor. In this jumpstart ily, Cornell has an abundance of them. • 12 •
This partnership would benefit many One initiative I learned of, the Yangon-based Third
students in the country’s periphery
who do not otherwise have access to Story Project, gets their message out by publishing and
the experiences that their urban coun- distributing children’s books in more widely-spoken
terparts do.
This experience taught me that I am
minority languages (in addition to Burmese and English)
capable of being independent, espe- throughout Myanmar...I hope to get involved in producing
cially in regard to traveling around for-
eign countries. While I was no stranger
resources and materials for underserved language
to international travel, visiting my communities in the future.
mom’s family in Thailand every other
year, pretty much all travel I had done
previously had been with my family. As important step in convincing myself Third Story Project, gets their message
such, this trip was quite a change. There that, yes, I can. out by publishing and distributing
were a couple of times in the trip where Additionally, my interviews and dis- children’s books in more widely-spo-
I was without the rest of the group, cussions about language and educa- ken minority languages (in addition
such as when I explored some streets tion within Myanmar cemented for me to Burmese and English) throughout
near our guesthouse and when I was how I want to pursue work that com- Myanmar. An added benefit of pub-
a teacher’s aide for an English class at bines both elements, especially with lishing in regional/local languages is
Myanmar Institute of Theology. These a focus on endangered or otherwise that it aids language maintenance by
new situations, while at first daunting, underserved languages. After learning giving younger generations more expo-
gave me confidence that I can succeed Burmese and acquiring the wonder- sure to their written language. As these
in new environments no matter where ful experiences I had during this trip, minority languages have fewer writ-
in the world they may be. As someone I would love to return to the country ten resources than Burmese, having
who wants to work with minority lan- and do work in this regard. One ini- the children’s books is a major boost
guages around the world, this was an tiative I learned of, the Yangon-based for speaker communities. I hope to get
involved in producing resources and
After an interfaith gathering sponsored by our friends at Triangle Women’s Group, Siang materials for underserved language
gives Evelyn a crash-course on Myanmar geopolitics. communities in the future.
I learned so much in my eighteen
short days in Myanmar. Previously, I
had known very little about the state
of minority languages in Myanmar and
not much about the country’s history.
From readings and from talking with
people of all different backgrounds
and experiences, I was able to learn
about the social and ethnic histories
that shaped the land. More than that, I
gained confidence in my speaking abili-
ties and my ability to travel on my own,
and I realized exactly the sorts of things
I want to do with my life. n
11 Rosalie
RosalieMetro, Have
Metro, Fun in
Have Burma:
Fun A NovelA(DeKalb:
in Burma: Novel
(DeKalb:
Northern IllinoisNorthern
UniversityIllinois University Press,
Press, 2018).
2018).
2
Charmaine
2 Charmaine Craig,
Craig, Miss Miss Burma:
Burma: A NovelA(New
Novel (New
York:
York: Grove Atlantic, 2017).
Grove Atlantic, 2017).
3
Two Women’s
3. Myanmar, Dr. ThetOpen Spaces
Su Htwe activists
and Kyaw from
Thein, will be
Myanmar, Dr. Thet Su Htwe and Kyaw Thein,
in residence at residence
will be in Cornell for the month offor
at Cornell September 2019.
the month of
September 2019.
4
See: “From Yangon to Mawlamyine: First Steps
in Building a Burma/Myanmar Initiative” by
Thamora Fishel in the 2015 Spring E-bulletin
pp. 7-10 at the following link: https://seap.
einaudi.cornell.edu/sites/seap/files/SEAP%20
e-bulletin%202015--FINAL_0.pdf
• 13 •Cornell in Cambodia students attempting to “take
flight” in Cambodia Living Arts Master Class.
PERFORMING ANGKOR:
Dance, Silk, and Stone
Cornell in Cambodia January 1–18, 2019
Cornell UnIversIty’s ongoIng CollaboratIon with the Center for
Khmer Studies (CKS) continues to flourish and bear fruit much like the gestural
progression seen on the lacquerware plaque from Artisans Angkor (displayed on
next page). Hand gestures in Khmer classical dance are called kbach. In combination
with the feet, kbach can convey anything from tendrils extending infinitely through
time and space to the mysteries of flight. As the force that evolves the form, kbach is
pervasive in Cambodian culture, transferring from a dancer’s flexible fingers to the
foliate patterns on her silk embroidered waistband. It extends as well to traditional
by Kaja McGowan, associate
professor of art history and architectural elements in wood and stone and to linguistic embellishments.
archaeology and Hannah Phan, As a generative form, kbach is well suited to the new iteration of Performing
senior lecturer of Khmer Angkor: Dance, Silk, and Stone, the two-week Cornell in Cambodia course offered
for the second time to nine undergraduates in collaboration with CKS in 2019. Last
winter, a two-week intensive experience abroad was tucked sequentially between a
one-credit “jumpstart” language course taught by Cornell’s senior Khmer language
instructor Hannah Phan in the Fall, followed in the Spring by a two-credit course
taught by Professor Kaja McGowan that included seven weeks of course meetings
to accommodate the required number of contact hours, while giving students the
extended time to explore, digest, and reflect on their experiences in-country. Among
the many assignments in Performing Angkor, students visited sacred sites; attended
weaving workshops; observed dance classes and performances; and visited Cambo-
• 14 •dia’s National Museum, the Royal Palace, and the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes
(S-21). The course addresses in a variety of ways the densely textured interplay between
memory and place.
In Siem
In Siem Reap,
Reap, students
students werewere introduced
introduced to Angkor
to Angkor Thom/Bayon,
Thom/Bayon, Banteay Banteay
Srei, Srei, Ta Prom,
Ta Prom,
Banteay Samre, and Kbal Spean, where the class of nine undergraduates can be seen here
Banteay Samre, and Kbal Spean, where the class of nine undergraduates can be seen here
enjoying the cooling effects of a sacred waterfall. Thanks to the exceptional organizational
enjoying the cooling effects of a sacred waterfall. Thanks to the exceptional organizational
skills of CKS administrative officer, Tith Sreypich, students were able to learn firsthand from
skills of CKS deputy
Cambodian administrative
directorofficer,
of theTith Sreypich,of
Department students were able
Conservation to learn
of the firsthandOutside
Monuments from
Cambodian deputy director of the Department of Conservation of the Monuments
Angkor Park, and Apsara National Authority, Ea Darith, archaeologist, professor, and photog- Outside
Angkor
rapher, Park, and providing
seen here Apsara National Authority,
an engaging Ea at
lecture Darith,
Angkorarchaeologist,
Wat. Students professor,
were alsoandintroduced
to Artisans Angkor workshops for stone, wood carving, lacquerware,
photographer, seen here providing an engaging lecture at Angkor Wat. Students were and weaving. Through-
also
out the course, lectures and writing prompts were introduced by McGowan, combined with
introduced to Artisans Angkor workshops for stone, wood carving, lacquerware, and weaving.
a guest appearance by Professor of Government (and CKS board member) Andrew Mertha.
Through- out the course, lectures and writing prompts were introduced by McGowan,
A highlight of our time in Phnom Penh was our visit to Koh Dach, an island famous for silk
combined
weaving in with
thea Mekong
guest appearance
river, where by Hannah
Professor of Government
Phan read from a(anddraftCKS board
of her member)
illustrated chil-
Andrew Mertha.
dren’s book, A highlight
Sokha Dreams ofofDolphins,
our time performed
in Phnom Penh on thewas ourbanks
very visit to
ofKoh Dach,that
the river an inspired
island
her story.
famous for silk weaving in the Mekong river, where Hannah Phan read from a draft of her
As As
we we
took
illustrated took
thethe ferry
ferry
children’s back
back
book, to the
toSokha
the city,
city, wewe
Dreams could
could
of see see along
along
Dolphins, thebanks
the banks
performed the
onthe braided
thebraided bamboo
bamboo
very banks of thefish-
ing baskets called chhneang and the bell-shaped fish traps known locally as ang rut. We were
fishing baskets
river that called
inspired chhneang and the bell-shaped fish traps known locally as ang rut. We
her story.
to reconnect with these culturally gendered woven forms later that evening during a lively
were to reconnect with these culturally gendered woven forms later that evening during a
performance of a popular Khmer folk dance called Robam Nesat (Khmer Fishing Dance) by
lively performance
dancers of a popular
from Cambodian Khmer
Living Arts.folk
Afterdance called Robamstudents
the performance, Nesat (Khmer Fishing
and faculty reenacted Artisans Angkor, lacquer
Dance) by dancers
the romantic from Cambodian
conclusion of the fishing Living
dance Arts. Afterboards
on face the performance,
provided atstudents
the event.and faculty plaque depicting kbach.
reenacted the romantic conclusion of the fishing dance on face boards provided at the event.
Like silver fish caught in bell-shaped scoops and baskets, here are some students’ recollections of
their experiences, cast in alphabetical order:
Alina Amador-Loyola: When you are restricted to a
classroom learning about something that is far off,
knowledge remains one-dimensional. However,
when I was in Cambodia actually witnessing how
textiles had woven their way into material culture,
how nature had influenced traditional dance, and
how religion had manifested itself on the stonework
of Angkor Wat, I was not only learning the material,
I was living it.
Carolyn Bell: The
Carolyn Bell: The Cornell Cornell
in Cambodia in introduced
program Cambodia program
me to pidan
textiles, which have become a new research interest of mine. I will be visiting
introduced me to pidan textiles, which have become
the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan over the summer in order to examine this
a new research interest of mine. I will be visiting the
museum’s collection of antique Khmer pidan textiles. Perhaps I never would
Fukuoka
have known ofArt Museum
the existence of pidaninifJapan over
not for our visit tothe summer in
the National
order to
Museum examine
of Cambodia, thiswhich
during museum’s
I first saw a collection
pidan textile onof antique
display. From
Khmerprogram
Sreypich, textiles.
pidanofficer and CornellPerhaps
winter studyI never would
abroad facilitator have
at the
Center for Khmer Studies (CKS) in Cambodia, to Mr. Pheng, program
known of the existence of pidan if not for our visit
facilitator, every- one involved brightened my day with their kindness, humor,
to the National Museum of Cambodia, during which
and good spirits. The program allowed one the freedom to explore by oneself,
I first saw a pidan textile on display. From Sreypich,
and also the experience of traveling together with experts such as Professors
programDarith,
McGowan, officer and
and Phan. MostCornell
memorablewinterfor me wasstudy
our danceabroad
lesson at
facilitator
Cambodian at Arts
Living thein Center
Phnom Penh, forwhen Khmer
dancersStudies (CKS) in
from the program
showed
Cambodia, us various togestures from classical
Mr. Pheng, dance, andfacilitator,
program they also taught us the
every-
Above: Dinner at Romdeng in Phnom Penh. Left to right, front row: “coconut” dance, which I am sure everyone in our program would agree was
one involved brightened my day with their kindness,
Monique Oparaji, Jael Ferguson; back row: Stephanie Bell, Carolyn Bell, very fun to perform! All in all, I will look fondly back on my memories from
humor, and good spirits. The program allowed one
Willa Tsao, Alexis Vinzons, Alina Amador-Loyola, Tiffany Ross, and Cambodia, and in my research I hope to incorporate not only what I learned
Luke Bowden. the freedom
about to weaving
textiles and the explore by oneself,
industry, but also whatand alsoabout
I learned the classical
expe-
Khmer dance, the murals of the Angkor temples, and the daily lives of the
Khmer people whom we had the pleasure to meet.
• 15 •Under the waterfall below Kbal Spean. Professor Ea Darith lectures at Angkor Wat, while Professor
Left to right: Willa Tsao, Alina Amador-Loyola, Alexis Kaja McGowan takes a photograph of the class. Left to right: Jael
Vinzons, Monique Oparaji, Jael Ferguson, Luke Bowden, Ferguson, Alexis Vinzons, Alina Amador-Loyola, and Tiffany
Carolyn Bell, Stephanie Bell, and Tiffany Ross. Ross.
rience of traveling together with experts such as Professors
McGowan, Darith, and Phan. Most memorable for me was our
dance lesson at Cambodian Living Arts in Phnom Penh, when
dancers from the program showed us various gestures from
classical dance, and they also taught us the “coconut” dance,
which I am sure everyone in our program would agree was
very fun to perform! All in all, I will look fondly back on my
memories from Cambodia, and in my research I hope to incor-
porate not only what I learned about textiles and the weaving
industry, but also what I learned about classical Khmer dance,
the murals of the Angkor temples, and the daily lives of the
Khmer people whom we had the pleasure to meet.
StephanieBell:
Stephanie Bell:MyMyCornell
Cornell inin
Cambodia
Cambodia experience
experiencefelt like
felt it
like
it fit seamlessly into my other major areas
fit seamlessly into my other major areas of study despite of study despite
being an art history class. As a history and Asian Studies major
being an art history class. As a history and Asian Studies
with a focus on Japan and China, a trip to Cambodia felt a bit
major with a focus on Japan and China, a trip to Cambodia
out of my usual area of focus. However, both during the trip
felt
anda inbitthe
outseven-week
of my usual course
area ofafterward,
focus. However, both to
I was able during
draw
the trip and in the seven-week course afterward,
connections between Cambodia and Japan to pull together I was able to
draw connections
a research projectbetween Cambodia
that fit perfectly andother
with Japanresearch
to pull I am
together a research project that fit perfectly with otherfreedom
already doing. I know others on the trip felt the same
to draw connections, as the research presentations contained
research I am already doing. I know others on the trip felt the
topics related to medicine, human rights, NGOs, and urban
same freedom to draw connections, as the research
planning as well. The Center for Khmer Studies encouraged
presentations
all of us to applycontained
to come topics
back related
during tothemedicine,
summer humanfor longer
rights,
researchNGOs, andand
periods, urban planning
I know as well.
several of usThe Center
began for the
to view
CornellStudies
Khmer in Cambodia experience
encouraged all of as
usatogateway
apply totocome
future learn-
back
ing in Cambodia.
during the summer for longer research periods, and I know Performing the Fishing Dance Face Boards at Cambodian Living
Arts. Left to right: Monique Oparaji and Professor Kaja
several of us began to view the Cornell in Cambodia McGowan.
experience as a gateway to future learning in Cambodia.
• 16 •Senior lecturer of Khmer from Cornell University, Hannah Phan, Cornell in Cambodia students in a Cambodia Living Arts Master
performs her story. Class swept up in the coconut dance. Left to right: Monique
Oparaji, Tiffany Ross, Jael Ferguson, Carolyn Bell, and Stephanie
Bell
Luke Bowden: Cornell in Cambodia reinvented my way Tiffany
TiffanyRoss: Templewas
Ross: Bayon Temple wasby byfar
farmy
mymost
mostfavorite
favoriteplace
of thinking through an experience unique to the program. visited in Cambodia. Being in its presence
place visited in Cambodia. Being in its presence had had an overwhelm-
an
Rather than traveling to a single city or region, studying in a ing, spiritual effect, which likely had to do with the fact that
overwhelming, spiritual effect, which likely had to do with the
predetermined field, Cornell in Cambodia allowed students it is still intertwined with the nature/greenery of the environ-
fact that it is still intertwined with the nature/greenery of the
to interact with multiple locations and in multiple disciplines, ment. Additionally, the messages conveyed by the reliefs on
including art history, law, urban planning, biology, traditional environment.
the walls of the Additionally,
temple werethe humorous
messages and conveyed by the
relatable, which
medicine, and international aid. Each of these topics and each reliefs on the walls
was refreshing, of the
since temple were
sometimes humorous
the “past” (as itand
is depicted
of the Cambodian people we met through our guides from the relatable,
in art) seems which wasdistant—but
quite refreshing, since
these sometimes
reliefs, whichthefeatured
“past”
Center for Khmer Studies created new research interests that I (as it is depicted in art) seems quite distant—but these to rec-
scenes from everyday Khmer life, allowed the viewer
am excited to continue exploring. ognize the similarities between the past and the present, in
reliefs, which featured scenes from everyday Khmer life,
terms of our humanity and universal emotions that stretch
allowed the viewer to recognize the similarities between the
JaelFerguson:
Jael Ferguson:I was drawn
I was to the Cornell
drawn to the in Cambodia
Cornell program because
in Cambodia pro- across time and space.
of my interest
gram becausein international planning,
of my interest development, and
in international language.
planning, devel- past and the present, in terms of our humanity and universal
When reflecting
opment, and on my experiences
language. Whenin reflecting
the Cornell in
onCambodia program,
my experiences emotions
WillaTsao:
Willa that
Tsao: Tostretch
To Mr. across
Mr.Pheng,
Pheng, time
your
your and space.
knowledge
knowledge ofofmedicine
medicineand
and
the
in words that come
the Cornell intoCambodia
mind are friendship,
program,growth,
the and happiness.
words that come local botany is truly amazing. Thank you so much
local botany is truly amazing. Thank you so much for for teach-
Genuine
to mind life-changing friendships
are friendship, were formed
growth, andwith the group, along
happiness. with
Genuine ing us about various plants and remedies and making sure
teaching us about various plants and remedies and making
life-changing
CKS, friendships
Apsara Authority, EGBOKwere formedGonna
(Everything’s with the group,
Be OK), along
and the that everything went smoothly.
sure that everything went smoothly.
with CKS,
people I met Apsara
during myAuthority,
time there. EGBOK (Everything’s Gonna Be
OK), and the people I met during my time there. AlexisC. C.
Alexis Vinzons:
Vinzons: With Professor McGowan’s
With Professor art history background
McGowan’s and
art history
visual eye, Professor
background and Darith’s
visual expertise in Angkorian
eye, Professor historyexpertise
Darith’s and modernin
Monique Oparaji: Transferring into the Biology and Society day preservation,
Angkorian and Ms.
history andPhan’s language
modern dayknowledge and personal
preservation, and Ms.
major during my sophomore year, I felt like I never had the experiences living in Cambodia,
Phan’s language knowledge it was
anda personal
privilege toexperiences
travel with andliving
be
time to explore different fields of study. One reason why I lectured by such great
in Cambodia, it wasminds. This program
a privilege and the
to travel professors
with and be and
lectured
love the Cornell in Cambodia program is because it allows lecturers
by suchwho led itminds.
great encouraged
Thisa program
curiosity and open-mindedness
and thatand
the professors I
students, who may not have taken an art history class and will apply towho
lecturers everyled
fielditofencouraged
inquiry I pursue. n
a curiosity
and open-mind-
don’t have time during the semester to take one, not only to edness that I will apply to every field of inquiry I pursue. n
become exposed to the knowledge, but also to learn about it
in the actual country.
Students would like to thank SEAP and the Department of Asian Studies for providing extra funding to those in need.
Also, thanks to Chan Vitharin for Kbach: A Study of Khmer Ornament (Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Reyum Publishing, 2005).
• 17 •Unraveling
Unravelingthe “Field” in Fieldwork
the “Field”
in Fieldwork
My phone buzzed with a notification from Facebook that
Mae Wan from Samorn Village, Surin
Province, Thailand, was calling me. As soon as I said hello, she requested that I
turn on the video feature so that we could see each other’s faces and flashes of sur-
roundings. I obliged but warned her that I didn’t know how long we would be able
to video chat before the rain started again and I’d have to close the camera to open
my umbrella. “What time is it there?” she asked. It was 10 a.m. in Ithaca, 9 p.m. in
Samorn. She propped her phone up against a stool and resumed her task.
by Alexandra Dalferro, PhD
“Mae“Mae
graw mai graw maiinformed
yuu!” she yuu!”me, she informed
using me, using
one hand to quickly onewooden
rotate a large handspool
to quickly
called an ak,rotate a large
around which
candidate in anthropology
whirls of silk thread gathered in time with her rhythmic spinning. In her other hand, she held the thread taut as the motion of the
wooden spool called an ak, around which whirls of silk thread gathered in time with
ak pulled it from the flexible wheel where she had wound the silk after dyeing and patterning it. Mae Wan was reeling silk that
her rhythmic spinning. In her other hand, she held the thread taut as the motion of
she’d turned red with the resinous secretions of an insect called khrang in Thai, or lac in English. My eyes barely registered the
the pink
warm ak huepulled it from
in the chunky, the flexible
pixelated wheel
darkness. Behind where
Mae, I noticedshe hadfigure
the blurry wound
of Pawthe
Sak, silk after
who sat dyeing
on a low wooden
andeating
table patterning
dinner alone.it. Mae
“He Wan
just came was
back fromreeling
the fields, silk
helpingthat
Dtaashe’d turned
Perm plant his rice red
seeds.with the resinous
Nong Sack is in the
secretions
house, weaving—can of an youinsect called
hear?” Mae askedkhrang
me. in Thai, or lac in English. My eyes barely regis-
• 18 •Samorn residents gather to offer food to the ancestors during the Saen Don Taa ritual.
tered the warm pink hue in the chunky, that matched her nighttime threads. baan, or to “come home,” whenever I
pixelated darkness. Behind Mae, I no- “Are they real?” she asked me as drops wanted. Samorn became an import-
ticed the blurry figure of Paw Sak, who started to fall and I scrambled for my ant “fieldsite” for my dissertation
sat on a low wooden table eating dinner umbrella and wished her a hasty “sweet research on the politics and processes
alone. “He just came back from the dreams” in English, the same way I said of silk-making and weaving among
fields, helping Dtaa Perm plant his rice goodnight when I stayed at her house Khmer communities in Thailand.
seeds. Nong Sack is in the house, weav- in Surin, when she climbed up to the I useI use discipline-specific
discipline-specific methodologi-
methodological
ing—can you hear?” Mae asked me. second floor to sleep, and I settled on a cal terms like fieldwork and fieldsite with
terms like fieldwork and fieldsite with
I could
I could discerndiscern
the steady the steady
clatter clatter
of Sack’s of
loom, makeshift bed near Sack’s loom. ambivalence. “Fieldwork,” as tradi-
ambivalence. “Fieldwork,” as
Sack’sorloom,
maybe, else themaybe,
breaks and or else
echoes theof breaks
the I first
I first met Mae metinMae in November
November 2017 at an 2017 at tionally conceptualized (but rarely as
and echoes
irregular of the
connection irregular
transformed intoconnection
the sounds an ikat/matmee
ikat/matmee pattern-making
pattern-making contest at thecontest traditionally
practiced), conceptualized
implies a separation (but rarelyof the
oftransformed into the sounds
weaving to my impressionable ears.of Maeweav-
said at theSurin
annual annual Surin
Elephant Elephant
Festival, shortlyFestival,
after I had as practiced),
spheres impliesand
of “home” a separation
“field” that of are
ingNong
that to Sack
my sitsimpressionable
weaving from morning ears. until
Mae shortly
arrived after I had
in Thailand arrived
to begin in Thailand
my long-term bounded
the spheresbyof time “home” and andplace.
“field”Anthro-
that
said that
midnight nowNong
that heSack sits weaving
is on summer break fromfrom to begin my
“fieldwork.” Shelong-term
was there to“fieldwork.”
support Nong Sack,She pologists
are bounded leave the familiar
by time and place. behind to
university. Currently he is making his weft fromhe
morning until midnight now that was there to support Nong
who was competing in the “youth/male” division, Sack, who immerse themselves in the strangeness
Anthropologists leave the familiar
theispinkish-red
on summer khrang break
threadfrom
that sheuniversity.
finished waswecompeting
and chatted in thein theof“youth/male”
corner the tent away of their chosen fieldsite. After one year,
behind
maybeto immerse themselves intothe
reeling earlier today in order to fill anweft
Currently he is making his order from division, and we chatted
from the crowd, lest we make Sack in the corner
too nervous two, they return “home” ana-
the pinkish-red
placed by a new customer khrang thread that
on Facebook. I she toofproperly
the tent tieaway from the
the hundreds crowd,
of tiny knotslest
thatwe strangeness of their chosen
lyze these experiences, the validity and fieldsite.
finished
praised reeling
Sack’s diligenceearlier
and toldtoday
Mae Iin orderI
wished makealign
might Sack too anervous
to form first-prizeto properly
matmee tie I
pattern. After
“truth” one of year, maybe
their two, they
insights return
guaranteed
to fill
could comeanhelp
order placed
her spin by turning
the silk, a newmycus- thetohundreds
got know Mae Wan, of tiny
Pawknots
Sak, Nong thatSack,
might by a critical
“home” distance
to analyze these that is both geo-
experiences,
tomer
phone awayonfrom
Facebook.
my face to Ishow praised
her Sack’s alignSandee,
Nong to form a first-prize
Nong Nudee, Nammatmee Sai, Sodapat-Lek, graphic and epistemological, perpetu-
the validity and “truth” of their insights
rain-dripping chestnut blossoms with frillyI pink
diligence and told Mae I wished could tern. I got to know Mae Wan,
and other inhabitants of Samorn Village quickly Paw Sak, ating what Trinh T. Minh-ha calls “the
guaranteed by a critical distance that is
come help her spin the
petals in a deep shade that matched her silk, turning Nong
due Sack,generous
to Mae’s Nong Sandee, Nong
invitations Nudee,
to klaap baan, positivist dream.”1
my phone away both geographic
Scholars like Minh-ha,
Scholars likeand epistemological,
Donna Haraway,
Minh-ha, Liisa H. Malkki,
Donna
nighttime threads. “Arefrom my face
they real?” to show
she asked me or to “come home,” whenever I wanted. inhabi-
Nam Sai, Soda Lek, and other Samorn
her rain-dripping chestnut
as drops started to fall and I scrambled for my blossoms tants of
became Samorn “fieldsite”
an important Village for quickly
my due perpetuating
Kamala Visweswaran,
Haraway, Liisa what Trinh
and others T. worked
have
H. Malkki, Minh-ha to
Kamala
destabilize these historical understandings of and
with frilly
umbrella pink her
and wished petals in a“sweet
a hasty deepdreams”shade to Mae’s research
dissertation generous invitations
on the politics andto klaap calls “the positivist
Visweswaran, anddream.”1
others have worked
approaches to field-work, drawing attention to how “fields”
in English, the same way I said goodnight when I processes of silk-making and weaving among have always existed as shifting assemblages shaped by
• 19 •
Khmer communities in Thailand. uneven power relations, which are epitomized by the
stayed at her house in Surin, when she climbed
anthropologist’s ability to frame the “field” and to bring it
up to the second floor to sleep, and I settled on a
into selective being through writing. They assert powerfully
makeshift bed near Sack’s loom. and with urgency that the “field” is messy,You can also read
