Southeast Asia Crossroads Podcast - CSEAS @ NIU Dr. Eric Jones

In this episode of Crossroads, Dr Kanjana Thepboriruk speaks with Phan Nhiên Hạo about his experience as an immigrant from Vietnam translating into his poetic works and existing between two cultures and languages. Hao Phan (Phan Nhiên Hạo) is the Curator of the Southeast Asia library collection at Northern Illinois University and a published poet. He is the author of three collections of poetry written in Vietnamese and two collections of poetry translated into English. His recent book, Paper Bells (The Song Cave, 2021), translated by Hai-Dang Phan, was on the Longlist of the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards for poetry in translation, and on the Shortlist of the 2021 Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize.

Dr Kanjana Thepboriruk sits down with Dr Michael Dwyer to talk aboutstate reversals of earlier agrarian reforms in Southeast Asia that have rolled back “land-to-the-tiller” policies created in the wake of Cold War–era revolutions. They disucss this trend, marked by increased land concentration and the promotion of export-oriented agribusiness at the expense of smallholder farmers, and exposing the convergence of capitalist relations and state agendas that expand territorial control within and across national borders.

Here is a link to his book Upland Geopolitics
https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295750491/upland-geopolitics

Dr Kanjana Thepboriruk sits with VC Tang to discuss her new cookbook released titled "Come Eat, Grandma!" In this podcast, they discuss the writing process, some of the experiences that lead to the creation of this book, and growing up Thai in America and the joys and struggles it entails.

VC Tang's book has been described as "A collection of flashbacks, lessons, and recipes along a personal journey of growth in the kitchen. The menu ranges from popular Thai favorites to lesser-known home comfort food to the meeting of Thai and Chinese flavors that represent the Teochow migrants in the author's family line."

You can purchase this book on her website https://www.stirfrystories.com/

In this podcast, Dr Kanjana Thepboriruk and Chomkate Ngamkaiwan, a PhD candidate in Criminology at Mahidol University, Thailand, examine the ongoing PM2.5 crisis in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, and its vicinities as a form of environmental crime. She also explores the relationship between the air pollution and policy corruption. In these research areas, PM2.5 pollution has been magnified by the misuse of economic power and political influence towards public policies and legal loopholes related to the major sources of pollutants: transportation, factories, open burning, and construction. To acquire the insight about the issue, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions have been conducted with government officials, NGOs, scholars, entrepreneurs, and local leadership.

Drs Jones and Jui-Ching Wang sit down with Dr Joe Kinzer to explore how centuries of conflicting Hindu-Buddhist and Islamic influences from India and the Middle East have transformed and continue to complicate Malay cultural politics in 21st century musical practices.

Joe Kinzer received his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington in 2017, and specializes in issues of identity and religious expression in Asian musical contexts. He has taught ethnomusicology courses at the University of Washington and Northern Illinois University. Currently, he is the Senior Curatorial Assistant for Harvard University’s Archive of World Music and Affiliate Faculty member for Antioch University’s Individualized Master of Arts (IMA) Program. He plays the ‘ud (Arab lute) in Boston College’s Astaza! ensemble and is Section Editor for the Malaysian Journal of Music

This podcast Dr Jones speaks with Drs Kanjana Thepboriruk and Laura Vilardell and examine the ways in which the team of volunteer Thai language translators navigated their own identities, the collaborative translation process, and the linguistic and cultural challenges of producing the 2020 Thai Letters for Black Lives. Thai was one of fifty-two languages used for translating the 2020 version. The discussion focusses on the ways that translators’ identities and stance informed the translation process, translation choices, and the end product. In particular, the study focuses on how the translators perform their identities, especially Thainess, during the metalinguistic discussions that were essential to the translation task and translation process. The findings contribute to and widen our understanding of Thainess and what it means to be Thai in diaspora.