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The Channel: A Podcast from the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)
The Channel: A Podcast from the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)
The Channel is the flagship podcast of the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) at Leiden University. Each episode explores a specific topic in Asian Studies across the social sciences and humanities. Through interviews, lectures, discussions, and readings, it connects scholars, activists, artists, and broader audiences in conversations about Asia and its contemporary significance. The show highlights critical perspectives, diverse themes, and interdisciplinary approaches.
Afleveringen
New Currents at the Nieuwe Instituut with Setareh Noorani, Priya Swamy, Sarojini Lewis, and Lou Mo
This episode features a conversation about the "New Currents Symposium," a special event at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam on October 29, 2026. Emerging out of the ongoing project New Currents: Indian Ocean Futures, the upcoming event has been designed to explore the shared histories and futures of the Indian Ocean region through panel discussions, film screenings, and artworks. The f
Coastal Entanglements in Northeast Japan with Andrew Littlejohn
This episode features a conversation with Andrew Littlejohn, assistant professor at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University. He specializes in environmental anthropology and political ecology, with a particular focus on Japan. Littlejohn currently heads the project “Climate Citizenship: Infrastructures, Environments, and Democracy in the Era of Climate
Memories of Timor with Rita Padawangi
This episode features an interview with Rita Padawangi, a sociologist and Associate Professor at Singapore University of Social Sciences. Her work explores the politics of urban placemaking and city development, particularly in Southeast Asia, and she's been very involved with several key IIAS programs over the years, especially as co-coordinator of the Southeast
Cannabis and Colonialism with Utathya Chattopadhyaya
This episode features an interview about the social history of cannabis in colonial South Asia. Utathya Chattopadhyaya is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and coeditor of the journal The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs. Utathya's new book is Ganja Matters: Empire and the Pursuits of Cannabis in British India, which was recently
Sounds of the Matua with Carola Lorea
This episode features a conversation about the Matua community with Carola E. Lorea, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Tübingen. Lorea is interested in gender, oral traditions, and popular religious movements in South Asia, and she leads the ERC-funded project MANTRAMS: Mantras in Religion, Media, and Society in Global Southern Asia. Lorea is the author of Folklore
Public Diplomacy and Casa Asia
This episode features a recording from a recent event hosted at the International Institute for Asian Studies. On May 18, José Pintor Aguilar gave a talk about the importance of public diplomacy and collaborative knowledge exchange, drawing especially on his work as the Director General of Casa Asia in Barcelona. The Casas’ network represents an innovative approach that the Spanish government has
Dreaming of Words with Nandan
This episode features a conversation with Nandan, a filmmaker and writer from Keralam, India. After training and working as a civil engineer, Nandan moved to Mumbai to pursue his passion for filmmaking. As an author, he has published four books: The Dream Balloon, Manam, New Desertlands, and Click, and he has also contributed to several comic anthologies. Nandan’s films, includ
Indian Ocean Worlds with Tom Hoogervorst, Mahmood Kooria, Ariel C. Lopez, and Aireen Grace Andal
This episode features a conversation with four colleagues involved in the International Consortium for Indian Ocean Studies (ICIOS). Mahmood Kooria is Lecturer in the History of the Indian Ocean World at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are in the premodern Indian Ocean world, global history of law, Islamic cultures, matrilineal-matriarchal communities, Afro-Asian connections, a
Soundscapes of Dutch-Japanese Waterworks with Arjan Rietveld
This episode features a conversation with Arjan Rietveld, a writer and curator in the world of electronic music. Arjan is the founder of Field Records, which has released a string of experimental and artistically driven albums since the label was launched in 2008. In this discussion, Arjan introduces Waterworks, a multimedia project he spearheaded which catalogues the cent
The Belt and Road Initiative around the World with Jewellord T. Nem Singh, Linda Tjia Yin-nor, Angela Tritto, and Guanie Lim
This episode features a discussion on current research into China's Belt and Road initiative, particularly as it relates to the Global South. Jewellord T. Nem Singh is a Principal Research Fellow in Global Political Economy at the School of Global Studies, University of Sussex. He is the author of Business of the State: Why State Ownership Matters for Resource Governance&n
A Maldivian Supper (Guest Episode: The Migration Menu)
This episode comes from our friends over at The Migration Menu, a podcast co-hosted by James Staples and Luke Heslop, both based at Brunel University London. As anthropologists with research interests in South Asia, James and Luke created The Migration Menu podcast series to highlight the interrelations of food, global migration, and identity, specifically as related to South Asian communities in
The Promise of Cultural Geography with Ben Anderson and Vickie Zhang
This episode features a conversation with two cultural geographers, Ben Anderson and Vickie Zhang, in which they discuss a collaborative project they spearheaded and recently released, one that provokes their discipline and also embodies an alternative mode of academic thinking and publishing. In late 2024, Ben and Vickie circulated an unconventional announcement welcoming very short reflections a
Casino Capitalism in Macau with Tim Simpson
This episode features an interview with Timothy Simpson, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Macau. Tim's interdisciplinary research focuses on Macau's urban culture, architecture, and tourism industry, tracing the city's history from a colonial Portuguese territory into one of the world's most renowned and lucrative sites of casino gaming. His most rec
Crossing Musical Boundaries with the ADAM Quartet and Vinthya Perinpanathan
This episode features a conversation with Vinthya Perinpanathan and members of the ADAM Quartet about musical exchange and artistic collaboration across genres and histories. The ADAM Quartet is a young string quartet consisting of Minna Svedberg (viola), Margot Kolodziej (violin), Julia Kleinsmann (violin), and Renée Timmer (cello). The group formed in Amsterdam and has performed at major venues
Beijing Sound Art Museum with Colin Chinnery
This episode features a conversation on Beijing's urban soundscape with Colin Chinnery, an artist and curator based in China. Chinnery is a co-founder of Sound Art Museum in Beijing. This museum opened to the public in 2023, and it offers visitors a history of the city through sounds. Sound Art Museum is an immersive space, which also features natural soundscapes, languages, and music from ar
The Division of Vietnam (Guest Episode: Nam Phong Dialogues)
On this episode of The Channel, we’re featuring a full episode from our friends over at the Nam Phong Dialogues podcast. Nam Phong Dialogues is hosted by two Vietnamese American scholars, and the show excels at presenting Vietnamese intellectual and sociopolitical history in ways that are accessible, engaging, and relevant for understanding contemporary global issues. The two co-hosts are Kevin Ph
South Asian Games with Jacob Schmidt-Madsen
This episode features a discussion with Jacob Schmidt-Madsen about Game Studies and the history of South Asian board games. Jacob is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. He earned his PhD in Indology in 2019 from the University of Copenhagen, where he still remains an Affiliated External Researcher. His work focuses on the history, structure, and
Indigo Across Borders with Aarti Kawlra, Jody Benjamin, Min-Chin Chiang, and Jocelyne Vokouma
This episode features Aarti Kawlra, Academic Director of the Humanities Across Borders program at IIAS, hosting discussion about indigo with three colleagues, scholars, and educators. Jody Benjamin is an Associate Professor of History at Howard University. His recent book is The Texture of Change: Dress, Self-Fashioning and History in Western Africa, 1700-1850 (Ohio University
Curating the Africa-Asia ConFest with Laura Erber, Fatima Bintou Rassoul Sy, Chương-Đài Võ, and Fábio Baqueiro Figueiredo
This episode of the podcast is a special discussion connected to our upcoming event, Africa–Asia: A New Axis of Knowledge, which will take place in Dakar from June 11-14. Because not everyone will be able to join us in person, we thought it would be meaningful to bring you some of the conversations and ideas that have inspired this third edition of the event – previously held in Ghana (2015)
Architectural Encounters in the Asia Pacific with Zhengfeng Wang, Amanda Achmadi, Paul Walker, and Soon-Tzu Speechley
In this episode, current IIAS Research Fellow Zhengfeng Wang hosts a conversation on transregional architectural history in the Asia-Pacific. She is joined by Amanda Achmadi, Paul Walker, and Soon-Tzu Speechley, all from the University of Melbourne. The three guests recently co-edited the volume Architectural Encounters in Asia Pacific: Built Traces of Intercolonial Trade, Industry and Labour, 180
Chiang Mai between Empire and Modern Thailand (Guest Episode: Southeast Asia Crossroads)
On this episode of The Channel, we’re bringing you a full episode from our friends over at Southeast Asia Crossroads, a podcast from the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University. We at IIAS have frequently crossed paths with members of the team behind Southeast Asia Crossroads, and we’ve long wanted to do re-post one of their episodes on our feed. A perfect opportunity ar
Bangladeshi Masculinities with Mustahid Husain
This episode features a conversation with Mustahid Husain, who is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. His work explores a variety of themes, from international development and global inequality to mental health and the Bangladeshi diaspora. He is the author of two new books. The first is a short academic monograph, Masculinity
Islam and Politics in Indonesia with Verena Meyer, Zainal Abidin, Saskia Schäfer, and Taufiq Hanafi
This episode features a conversation about contemporary Indonesian politics, with a special focus on the role of Islam. In October 2024, Prabowo Subianto was sworn in as the president of Indonesia. In the Presidential election back in February 2024, he had quite handily defeated his two competitors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, with 59% of the popular vote. This 2024 election was the third t
Asian Bronze at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam with Anna Slaczka, Ching-Ling Wang, William Southworth, and Sara Creange
This episode features a conversation with the team behind the exhibition Asian Bronze at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. The ambitious show celebrates 4000 years of bronze art and the central role of bronze in the traditions of Asia. Ranging from prehistoric objects to contemporary artworks, the exhibition includes pieces from India, China, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal, and Kore
Brazil-Africa Connections with João José Reis and Fábio Baqueiro Figueiredo
On this episode, Laura Erber hosts a conversation with two distinguished historians from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil: João José Reis and Fábio Baqueiro Figueiredo. These scholars represent two generations of researchers committed to reinterpreting and deepening our understanding of the complex relationships between Brazil and Africa.João José Reis is one of Brazil’s foremost histo
Airport Development in the Global South with Irit Ittner, Sneha Sharma, Hanna Geschewski, and Rose Bridger
This episode features a conversation about the debates and land disputes surrounding the development of airports in Asia and Africa. As airport construction projects proliferate across the Global South – often seen as a fast-track to development and modernization – new tensions frequently emerge, particularly when it comes to the huge tracts of land required for these new infrastructures. My guest
Muslim Universities in Post-Partition India with Laurence Gautier
In this episode, Soheb Niazi interviews Laurence Gautier about the history of two Muslim educational institutions – Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia – and what these reveal about the politics of Muslim identity and the position of Muslims in post-Partition India. That topic is the subject of Gautier’s new book, Between Nation and ‘Community': Muslim Unive
Home and the World at Museum Van Loon with Thomas Berghuis
Thomas Berghuis is a curator and historian of Asian art based in The Netherlands. Berghuis recently curated the exhibition Home and the World in Museum Van Loon, an historical building in the canal district of Amsterdam. In this exhibition, fourteen contemporary artists from all over the world used different spaces of the Van Loon canal house to explore the intricate connections between colonialis
Radical Indian Thinkers with Nico Slate and Ole Birk Laursen
This episode brings together two historians who have recently published biographies of 20th-century Indian radicals. The first guest, Ole Birk Laursen is an historian whose work focuses on anarchism and anti-colonialism from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, with a focus on South Asian activists in exile. His first book, Anarchy or Chaos: M. P. T. Acharya and the Indian Struggle for Fr
Migrant Domestic Workers with Liberty Chee, Elsa Ramos Carbone, and Jec Sernande
This episode is guest hosted by Liberty Chee, who is currently a visiting researcher here at the International Institute for Asian Studies. While in Leiden, Liberty is working on a book manuscript that examines recruitment and employment agencies in Southeast Asia, their relations to other state and non-state actors, and how these structure the experiences of domestic migrant workers themselves. F
The Ta-u and their Island Home with Syaman Lamuran and Syaman Rapongan
Here at IIAS, the upcoming edition of our flagship publication The Newsletter (June 2024, #98) comes out next month, just in time for the ICAS 13 conference in Surabaya, Indonesia. This edition of The Newsletter is meant to engage in various ways with the conference theme, “Crossways of Knowledge.” The special Focus section of this issue presents a collection of articles by authors from the I
Resource Extraction and State-Owned Enterprises with Jewellord Nem Singh and Pietro Erber
This episode features a conversation about development, state-owned enterprises, and the political economy of resource extractivism, with a special focus on the case of Brazil. Jewellord “Jojo” Nem Singh is an Assistant Professor in International Development at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. In 2020, Jojo was awarded a gr
The Prejudice and Politics of Food in Northeast India (Guest Episode: The Chicken-Neck Podcast)
On this episode of The Channel, we’re bringing you a full episode from our friends over at The Chicken-Neck (TCN) Podcast. TCN is Northeast India's first policy-based podcast offering an informed take on culture, language, food, clothes, history, politics, law, policy, and much more. The particular episode we're re-posting features an interview with Aditya Kiran Kakati, who was
Reckoning with Historical Sexual Violence with Kate McGregor
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussion of trauma and sexual violence that some listeners may find difficult.On this episode, Kate McGregor joins for a discussion of so-called "comfort women" of Indonesia. McGregor's new book is Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory and Sexual Violence in Indonesia, published in 2023 as part of the Critical Human Rights series at the University of Wiscons
Political Geology in Java with Adam Bobbette
This episode features a conversation about political geology with Adam Bobbette, who serves as a Lecturer in Political Geology at the University of Glasgow. After studying architecture and landscape at the University of Toronto, Adam earned his PhD in geography from Cambridge. His research examines the intersections between politics and environmental and earth sciences, with a special regional foc
Muslim Caste Associations in India with Soheb Niazi and Julien Levesque
In this episode, Soheb Niazi and Julien Levesque discuss Muslim caste organizations in India. Soheb Niazi is an historian who specializes in the social and economic history of modern India. He is particularly interested in studying the history of non-elite (non-ashrāf) Muslim actors in South Asia to understand the formation of caste and class relations among them. Soheb is currently a Research Fel
ICAS Book Prize 2023 with Victoria Lee and John Lie
As listeners may know, this year marked the 10th edition of the ICAS Book Prize (IBP). The prize was established in 2003 by our flagship conference, the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS), to recognize outstanding publications in the field of Asian Studies. The award brings wider visibility to the latest and most impressive books, and it has become one of the most prestigious book pr
Bonus Episode: Cultural Healing with Cha-Hsuan Liu, Aditya Kiran Kakati, Marian Markelo, Fatima Gay Molina, and An-Bang Yu
This bonus episode is guest hosted by Cha-Hsuan Liu, an Affiliated Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies and the editor of the online collection "Global Health Matters" on IIAS' The Blog. To explore the topic of cultural healing and humanistic approaches to health and wellbeing, Cha-Hsuan is joined by four guests: Aditya Kiran Kakati, An-Bang Yu, Marian Markelo, and Fatima Gay Mo
Swahili Poetry of Ustadh Mahmoud Mau with Clarissa Vierke and Annachiara Raia
This episode features a conversation about poetic traditions in East Africa. Earlier this year, Brill published In This Fragile World: Swahili Poetry of Commitment by Ustadh Mahmoud Mau. Ustadh Mau is a spiritual leader and popular poet from Lamu, Kenya. When he visited the Netherlands in May 2023, a local bookshop in Leiden hosted a reading to launch this new collection of English translations. I
Perspectives on Asian Studies with Lena Scheen, Terence Chong, Ilhong Ko, Edwin Jurriëns, and Cathy Harper
On October 13, 2023, the International Institute of Asian Studies celebrates its 30th anniversary, and The Newsletter will be releasing a special issue as part of this celebration. More than just a three-decade retrospective, the issue is meant to reflect on the contemporary state of Asian Studies and the role of institutions like IIAS in the discipline's future. As regular readers will know, ever
Women in East Asian Religions with Jingjing Li and Yingruo Show
This episode features two colleagues having a discussion about gender in East Asian Religions. The first guest, Jingjing Li, is a University Lecturer in Chinese and Comparative Philosophy at Leiden University. Her primary work examines theories of mind and consciousness across East Asian and Continental traditions, particularly Chinese Wei Shi philosophy and Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology, re
Indian Identity in Malaysia with Paul Gnanaselvam
This episode features a conversation between Sally Anne Param and Paul Gnanaselvam. Sally, who serves as the guest host, is a sociologist who has conducted research about the Indian community in Malaysia. Paul Gnanaselvam is an Ipoh-born writer and poet whose work often focuses on the experiences, issues, and identity conflicts of those in the Indian diaspora. His latest collection, The Elephant T
Moral Economic Transitions with Hedwig Waters
Hedwig Waters is a cultural and economic anthropologist with research interests in topics of debt, wildlife, and moral economic transitions in Mongolia. She currently works as a Horizon Europe ERA Postdoctoral Fellow at Palacky University in the Czech Republic. Earlier this month, her first book – Moral Economic Transitions in the Mongolian Borderlands: A Proportional Share – was published by Univ
Textiles and Artisans with Daan van Dartel, Lipika Bansal, and Kirit Chitara
This episode features a conversation hosted by Aarti Kawlra, the Academic Director of the Humanities Across Borders program here at IIAS, in which she speaks with three guests: Daan van Dartel, Curator of Popular Culture and Fashion at the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands; Lipika Bansal, a researcher, social designer, and the founder of Textiel Factorij in Amsterdam; and, final
A Muslim Hub in Western India with Sanderien Verstappen
Sanderien Verstappen is Assistant Professor of anthropology at the University of Vienna. In addition to her writing, she is also a filmmaker and the founding director of the Vienna Visual Anthropology Lab. Sanderien’s latest book is New Lives in Anand: Building a Muslim Hub in Western India, published last year by University of Washington Press. In 2002, when widespread anti-Muslim violence broke
CinemAsia Film Festival with Jia Zhao and Darunee Terdtoontaveedej
Today on the podcast, we welcome Jia Zhao and Darunee Terdtoontaveedej, both of whom are on the team that organizes the CinemAsia Film Festival. Jia is the Artistic Director for the festival, and Darunee is a Film Programmer for CinemAsia and helps organize special events, particularly focusing on LGBTQ programming. CinemAsia is one of the largest and longest-running Asian film festivals in Europe
The Trauma of Caste (Guest Episode: SASSpod)
On this episode of The Channel, we’re bringing you a full episode from our friends over at the Center for South Asia at Stanford University. SASSpod is hosted by Lalita du Perron and features a regular stream of excellent, in-depth discussions. According to the show’s website, “The podcasts feature a wide range of topics, ranging from poetry to politics, from manuscript collecting t
Hooligan Sparrow (Guest Episode: East Asia for All)
For our first episode of 2023, we’re bringing you a full episode from our friends over at East Asia for All, a podcast dedicated to all things East Asian pop culture. East Asia for All is hosted by Melissa Brzycki and Stephanie Montgomery, and according to the show’s website, “As pop culture nerds who also have a decade of experience living and traveling in East Asia, they have personally see
Political Transformation in Southeast Asia with Nhu Truong, Erik Martinez Kuhonta, Maggie Shum, and Megan Ryan
On this episode, we welcome four guests to discuss democratic backsliding and rising authoritarianism in Southeast Asia, and also grassroots mobilizations in response to such phenomena. The first iteration of this group came together as a roundtable at the conference of the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies in 2021. The convenor and chair of that roundtable was Nhu Truong. Nhu is A
Acoustic Atmospheres in Palau with Birgit Abels
Birgit Abels is professor of cultural musicology at the University of Göttingen. She has conducted ethnographic and ethnomusicological research in multiple sites across Asia, and she is the Principal Investoigor on the European Research Council project Sound Knowledge: Alternative Epistemologies of Music in the Western Pacific Island World. Today we are talking about Birgit’s new book,&n
Critical Heritage Studies with Edwin Pietersma
Edwin Pietersma is an historian and anthropologist who specializes in modern and colonial Asian history. Broadly, his research focuses on the concepts of modernity and colonialism in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. Edwin is an alumni of a special initiative here at IIAS, the Dual Degree in Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe. This program encourages an interdisciplinary, multi-sited, and cri
Asian Arts with Cecily Cook
This episode features a conversation with Cecily Cook, former Director of Programs at the Asian Cultural Council in New York. Cecily has had a long career at the intersection of Asia and the arts. Over the course of decades, she has worked in various roles, and at various institutions, in support of the artistic and cultural exchange between different Asian countries and the United States. In addi
Academic Books with Chunyan Shu
This episode explores the ins and outs of academic book publishing through a conversation with Chunyan Shu. Chunyan received a PhD in Chinese Studies from Leiden University in 2013, and she currently works as an Acquisitions Editor at Brill. Brill was founded in Leiden in 1683, and it has since become a well-known publishing house around the globe, particularly with respect to Asian Studies. The w
River Cities #4: Revitalizations with Satya Patchineelam
This is the final episode in our four-part mini-series on River Cities as Method (RCM), a new project under the umbrella of Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). The goal of River Cities as Method is to promote ecologically and socially inclusive revitalizations of rivers and the cities/neighborhoods that coexist with them. In this episode, Sa
River Cities #3: Cartographies with Satya Patchineelam
This episode is the third in a four-part mini-series on River Cities as Method (RCM), a new project under the umbrella of Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). The goal of River Cities as Method is to promote ecologically and socially inclusive revitalizations of rivers and the cities/neighborhoods that coexist with them. In this episode, Saty
River Cities #2: Biographies with Satya Patchineelam
This episode is the second in a four-part mini-series on River Cities as Method (RCM), a new project under the umbrella of Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). The goal of River Cities as Method is to promote ecologically and socially inclusive revitalizations of rivers and the cities/neighborhoods that coexist with them. In this episode, Sat
River Cities #1: Introduction with Satya Patchineelam
This episode is the first in a four-part mini-series on River Cities as Method (RCM), a new project under the umbrella of Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). The goal of River Cities as Method is to promote ecologically and socially inclusive revitalizations of rivers and the cities/neighborhoods that coexist with them. In this introductory
The Craft of Nonfiction with Tom Robertson
This episode features a conversation about the mechanics of writing well. Tom Robertson is a scholar at Kathmandu University in Nepal. Trained in history, Tom’s academic research focuses on international development, with a special emphasis on the environment. Our conversation on The Channel, however, focuses on a different dimension of Tom’s work. During Covid-19, Tom launched two initiatives aim
Colonial Acquisitions with Klaas Stutje (and Jona Mooren)
The Newsletter, our flagship publication that comes out three times a year, has an issue coming out in June 2022. As part of that edition, we’re very pleased to have a special section guest edited by Jona Mooren and Klaas Stutje. The section will include a collection of essays that grew out of something called PPROCE, or the Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era. The proj
Socially Engaged Public Art with Meiqin Wang, Hong Kal, and Minna Valjakka
Today's podcast features a conversation about art, politics, and public space with Dr. Meiqin Wang, Dr. Hong Kal, and Dr. Minna Valjakka. We came together to discuss the new book Socially Engaged Public Art in East Asia: Space, Place, and Community in Action, published this year by Vernon Press. Meiqin served as the editor of the volume, and all three of this episode's guests contributed chap
Malay Print Romance with Alicia Izharuddin
Dr. Alicia Izharuddin is a sociologist of gender and religion, and she has held research and teaching positions at Harvard Divinity School and at the University of Malaya. Broadly, her work explores the intersection of emotion, affect, and Muslim publics in Malaysia. Currently a research fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies, Alicia is working on a book manuscript entitled T
Archiving Japan's Mingei Movement with Marty Gross
Based in Toronto, Marty Gross has spent decades in the film industry as a producer and director. With a special focus on Japan, Marty’s films include Potters at Work, As We Are, and The Lovers’ Exile. For our purposes, Marty also founded and manages a project to restore, enhance, and preserve recordings that document the history of the Mingei Movement and its ongoing legacy in
China's Image in the World with Olivier Arifon
Olivier Arifon is a professor at Université Catholique de Lille, and he has held visiting professorships at universities around the world. He also works as a communications consultant and trainer for diverse clients in academic, diplomatic, and other spheres. His new book, Le Récit Politique Chinois: Soft Power, Communication, Influence, was published in 2021 by L’Harmattan. The book examines
Sex Work and Political Subjectivity with Simanti Dasgupta
This episode was originally recorded during a live webinar event that occurred on February 23, 2022. In the presentation, Simanti Dasgupta discusses her research with Durbar, a grassroots sex workers’ collective in Sonagachi, the iconic red-light district in Kolkata. Simanti offers an overview of her broader project about the emergence of sex work subjectivity, followed by a critical examination o
China-Brazil Relations with Rafael Abrão
This episode was originally recorded during a live webinar event on February 9, 2022. In the presentation, Rafael Abrão discusses the multiple geopolitical dynamics shaping Brazil's engagement with China and the United States. Rafael is a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies, where he is part of the joint research agenda “Energy Program Asia: The Political Economy of th
Casablanca-Hanoi with Nelcya Delanoë and Caroline Grillot
Dr. Caroline Grillot, a social anthropologist and independent scholar affiliated with the Lyon Institute of East Asian Studies, and Prof. Nelcya Delanoë, an ethnohistorian and formerly professor of American history at the Université Paris Nanterre, are the authors of the book Casablanca-Hanoi: une porte dérobée sur des histoires postcoloniales (“Casablanca-Hanoi, an historical side-door onto postc
Subversive Archaism with Michael Herzfeld
Michael Herzfeld is the Ernest E. Monrad Research Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University. He also holds academic appointments at Leiden University, Shanghai International Studies University, the University of Rome-Tor Vergata, and the University of Melbourne. Herzfeld has authored numerous books and articles on a wide array of ethnographic, geographical, and theoretical topics. His
