The Association of Mainland Southeast Asian Scholars (AMSEAS) is a sub-regionally focused academic association affiliated with the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA).
AMSEAS seeks to contribute to and expand the work of ASAA by providing new opportunities for the promotion and advancement of research relevant to Mainland Southeast Asia. Recognising the benefits of adopting a multidisciplinary approach and encouraging dialogue between scholars of the individual countries, we promote and support the study of Mainland Southeast Asia in Australian and New Zealand universities, as well as working to enhance the public knowledge of the region.
Mainland Southeast Asia – consisting of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – is one of the world’s most culturally heterogeneous, linguistically diverse and economically dynamic regions. It is home to three of Southeast Asia’s least developed countries, which are also among the ten fastest growing economies in the world. It is also a region of great political complexity. Two of its five members have post-revolutionary single-party states, while the remaining three have gone through distinctive processes of formation and change. Its governments all seek regional collaboration through ASEAN and other frameworks.
Mainland Southeast Asia possesses many shared national borders, including with China (Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) and India (Myanmar). Transborder connectivity is central to the region’s dynamic socio-economic and environmental transformations, as well as geopolitical contestations. In this context, hydropower development and natural resource management, regional and national security, as well as mineral resource extraction and migration patterns, are significant. These characteristics warrant strengthened interdisciplinary and cross-country collaboration in order to provide informed commentary on the importance of Mainland Southeast Asia in relation to Southeast Asia and beyond.
To become a member please sign up here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe77h45sm24J7pH9-X5kdZUIQPbEMqaRB_2DNmLwBlgbz6DWQ/viewform
Executive Committee
President – Patrick Jory, University of Queensland
Secretary – Melissa Crouch, University of New South Wales
Treasurer – Kearrin Sims, James Cook University
Country Representative Laos – Sverre Molland, ANU
Country Representative Myanmar – Nick Cheesman, ANU
Country Representative Vietnam – Lan Anh Hoang, University of Melbourne
Country Representative Cambodia – Lee Morgenbesser, Griffith University
Country Representative Thailand – TBC
Media Officer – Justine Chambers, ANU
International Liaison Officer – Simon Creak, NUS
Student Representative – Gerard McCarthy, ANU