Research workshops and conferences

Research workshops, convened by academic staff, bring together teams of scholars, experts, and graduate research students to explore a variety of research topics. Often inter-disciplinary, always critical, these workshops are opportunities for academic staff to lead wider research collaborations, build new networks and contribute to enhancing knowledge of pressing issues of the day.

Platform Imaginaries: methodologies and theories for roaming in South East Asian streaming entertainment platforms

Organising Team: Associate Professor Emma Baulch, Professor Annette Hill

Streaming platforms recognise the extent to which the potential audiences for their products are now made up significantly of “roamers,” people finding diverse routes through the options available and combining them in different ways. This presentation reflects on methodological and theoretical developments for understanding the precise movements, combinations and connections which become possible for roaming audiences in rapidly expanding commercial entertainment platforms in South East Asia. Drawing upon a qualitative transnational audience study in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam (with ongoing research in Germany and Canada), the presentation considers how to analyse patterns of movement across streaming services, e.g. Netflix, entertainment platforms, e.g. YouTube, music platforms, e.g. Spotify, alongside national cable and public television channels. Through the use of visualisations of platforms using a combination of creative and walking methodologies this empirical entry point to platforms enables three perspectives by audiences themselves: 1 a drawing exercise that creatively represents spatial relations; 2) a walk and talk through their platform map that articulates mobility relations; and 3) a narrative account of their platform map and its imaginary landscape that explores affective relations. Early findings the virtual and material are intertwined in audience mobility and motility, closely tied to media freedom and power. In our study, audiences adapt to life in a commodified platform culture, becoming enmeshed in the commercial foreclosure of new digital media spheres.

Annette Hill is a Professor of Media and Communication at Lund University, Sweden and Visiting Professor at King’s College London. Her research focuses on audiences and popular culture, with interests in media engagement, everyday life, genres, production studies and cultures of viewing. She is the author of nine books, and many articles and book chapters in journals and edited collections, which address varieties of engagement with reality television, news and documentary, television drama, entertainment formats, live events and sports entertainment, film violence and media ethics. Her latest book is The Handbook of Mobile Socialities (with M Hartmann and M Andersson) and her next books are Media Engagement (with Peter Dahlgren, Routledge 2022) and  Roaming Audiences (Routledge 2023).

Event: Streaming Southeast Asia
Date: 4-5th July 2022
Method: Via Zoom - ID: 819 8498 7535, Password: 946021

Monash Climate Change Communication and Research Hub and Node Workshop

Main Organisers: Monash Climate Change Communication and Research Hub and Node.

The Monash Climate Change Communication and Research Hub and Node will be holding a workshop on 23 May 9:30-12noon. The Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub (MCCCRH) at Monash University Australia researches and implements best practice approaches to communicating climate change, in partnership with leading science and media organisations. In 2021, a Malaysia node of the MCCCRH was established. The purpose of the node is to conduct evidence-based research across communications, social science and biophysical science that is able to inform climate communication programs in Southeast Asia.

This workshop presents the work of the hub and the node and aims to invite feedback and discussion about possibilities for developing the node. Lucy Richardson, David Holmes and Ella Healy (from MCCRH at MUA) and Azliyana Azhari (from the Monash Malaysia node) will be presenting at the event, followed by discussion and feedback. Please register at this Eventbrite link. This is a face to face event.

Governing Technologies: Exploring datafied practices,
imaginaries, and digital state assemblages in Asia

Main Organisers: Monash University Malaysia and University of Nottingham, Malaysia.

The world over, we see states imagining and implementing the digitisation of governance and services through practices of datafication. From biometric citizenship and identity systems for service delivery to the making of humanitarian data systems, the making of digital cities to deliberate internet blackouts disconnecting entire populations, digital technologies today have become closely entangled with social power structures and with how (state) authority is performed. In the COVID-19 pandemic, the socio-technical imaginaries – that order ideas, practices and policies and depict how our (future) societies will be functioning – have become even more datafied and digitalised. These processes and practices are intertwined and coexisting with other forms of authority and structures of marginalization. This workshop organised by Monash University Malaysia in collaboration with University of Nottingham, Malaysia, aims to problematise past and current socio-technical imaginaries and datafication practices of the rapidly digitising nation-states in Asia, and gather critical analyses of where the digital, government, and power intersect.

Find the full Call For Papers here.

Important Dates:

Abstract Submission: 15 June 2022

Notification of Paper Selection: 30 June 2022

Submission for Full Paper: 31 August 2022

Critically considering the Malayan Emergency in the arts

Organising team: A/Prof. Andrew Ng, Dr Jonathan Driskell, Dr Marek Rutkowski, Dr Fikri Jermadi

The Malayan Emergency (1948 – 1960), a major part of the nation’s history, has often been spoken of in hushed tones without being discussed as critically as its significance warrants. That was something the School of Arts and Social Sciences took steps to address, in organising a two-day virtual workshop titled The Malayan Emergency in Film and Literature.

Held on the 4^th and 5^th of November 2021, the event brought together academics from around the world to discuss how the Emergency has been represented through the arts, encompassing various national contexts as well as a range of literary and cinematic forms and genres. These sessions were composed of scholars and researchers, many of whom are conducting ongoing projects in these discourses.

Film and photography in the Malayan Emergency

The first session featured Professor Jon Cowans of Rutgers University-Newark, University of North Texas’s Dr. Kate Imy, and Dr. Nadine Chan (currently attached to Claremont Graduate University). Professor Cowans considered how the Emergency was discussed through published reviews of key films such as The Planter’s Wife. Dr. Imy conducted a more critical reading of gender in the Malayan Police Magazine, while Dr. Chan’s presentation focused on the ways in which the Malayan Film Unit reached its audiences in rural areas.

Later in the same day, Dr. Lawrence Napper (King’s College London), Dr. Jeremy E. Taylor (University of Nottingham) and Dr. Anne Wetherilt would further the discourse on cultural representations found in the Malayan Emergency. Dr. Taylor’s discussion of photographs of the New Villages, for instance, provoked much critical thought, while Dr. Napper reviewed the British audience’s reception to the films The Planter’s Wife and Conflict of Wings.

“We looked at different academic disciplines: different media, different time periods, and different historical perspectives,” said Dr. Wetherilt, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English at The Open University; she herself conducted an enlightening analysis on how the Emergency was represented in Han Suyin’s … and the Rain, My Drink, Anthony Burgess’s Time for a Tiger and The Flying Fox by Mary McMinnies. “I thought the workshop really succeeded in its aim to bring together a variety of perspectives on the Malayan Emergency.”

Looking back to move forward

The second day kicked off with presentations by George Mason University’s Dr. Kevin M. Flanagan and Monash’s very own Dr. Chrishandra Sebastiampillai. Her discussion of how the newer generation may take to the (re)representations of the Batang Kali Massacre in December 1948 was a lightning rod of critically constructive comments about the significance of such events. Dr. Flanagan’s presentation dealt with generational tensions to be found in British war films of the 1950s and 1960s, focusing on how these were played out in The Virgin Soldiers.

“It was a very stimulating workshop the whole, at least for the two panels I was able to attend,” he reflected, taking into account the time difference between the United States of America and Malaysia. “I was happy to be brought into the larger conversation, especially as someone whose prior knowledge was really only on a sliver of the issues up for discussion.”

The knowledge sharing did not abate for the final panel of the event, featuring Dr. Chew Hui Yan, Dr. Eugene Chua and Sim Chi Yin. Streaming from Japan, Dr. Chew considered three films produced by Malaysian filmmaker Lau Kek Huat, whose films Absent Without Leave, The Tree Remembers and Boluomi all touched on the Malayan Emergency in ways both personal and objective.

Dr. Chua followed Dr. Wetherilt’s literature track, considering how the time period has been represented in literature through Beth Yahp’s The Crocodile Fury and The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. Finally, Singaporean artist Sim Chi Yin would wrap up the event with her succinct analysis on various representations of the emergency through works of art found in Malaysia and Singapore.

Critical discourse on the Emergency

“I was quite surprised that there are more scholars who are doing research on the Malayan Emergency than I imagined, and that we could have a workshop in Malaysia discussing this topic,” said Dr. Chew, an adjunct instructor at the International Office of Kagawa University. “I think the workshop is such a great platform for us to rethink the national history that most of us might have forgotten or are unaware of.”

This is a point Dr. Jason Ng Sze Chieh, a senior lecturer at New Era College and a ubiquitous participant of the virtual workshop, concurred with. “It still is relatively understudied and even then, it is quite scattered and limited in breadth and depth in terms of historiography,” he noted. “This workshop facilitates a meeting of minds, allowing people to share ideas and thoughts to provide support for one another to continue expanding this research.”

That such a discourse was held online did not diminish its collegial atmosphere. “I would commend the organisers for creating a welcoming and inclusive environment,” said Dr. Wetherilt. Dr. Chew and Dr. Ng agreed, noting how the efficiency in organisation led to stimulating and inspiring presentations. “I feel the workshop is very beneficial to scholars and to anyone interested in the topic,” he said.

Dr. Flanagan noted much of the same, especially given how it has opened up further avenues for future research. At the same time, there’s always the bigger picture to consider: “The Zoom format worked well, and it also probably reduced the event’s carbon footprint by a lot!”

Written by Fikri Jermadi. For more information on the virtual workshop, visit www.themalayanemergency.8b.io.

Genders, Sexualities, and Theopastoral Imaginations in Southeast Asia (International ECR Workshop 2021)

Main Organisers: Dr. Joseph N.Goh and Dr. Michael Sepidoza Campos.

As an integral part of many Southeast Asian lives, ‘religion’ has always been at the center of discourse when it comes to civil protections in Southeast Asia. Recent consultations address the effects of religious and customary laws on women and examine the legal status of women and LGBTQI persons in light of the principle of Freedom of Religion and Belief. Recognizing the force of religion and its correlation with cultural practices, they have also cautioned that:

• Conflating religion with culture—particularly in Asia’s post/colonial contexts—diminishes its potency to become a critical actor in protecting human rights, and that
• Identifying ‘religion’ too closely with institutional structures overlooks its complicity in propagating gender and sexuality biases that shape legislation.

With this in mind, the Workshop aims to bring together ECRs of Southeast Asian origins to cultivate a series of scholarly discussions on religion and gender, and sexuality in addition to how the interaction of the two has affected lived realities in Southeast Asia. The Workshop will be hosted online by Monash University Malaysia. Scholars who hail from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines will be joining us with their knowledge and experiences in their respective fields.

Migration and Education Early Career Researchers Writing Workshop & Network (Mi-ED ECR)

14 - 18 December 2020, Monash University Malaysia
Organising team: Dr Koh Sin Yee, Dr Melissa Wong and Dr Cora Xu  (Durham University, UK)

For a fuller write-up of this conference, please refer to this link.

2020: Asian feminist theologising on displacement and disqualification

15 - 19 January 2020, Monash University Malaysia
Organising team: A/Prof Sharon Bong and Ecclesia of Women in Asia

The 9^th Biennial Conference of the Ecclesia of Women in Asia from 15-19 January 2020 (EWA 9). Thirty two conference participants who travelled from the US, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines (braving the eruption of Taal) and Hong Kong theologically reflected on and discussed papers presented on the theme, ‘Displacement ad disqualification: Its surfaces and silhouettes’ that foregrounds those among our midst who are made invisible, cast out, deprived of hospitality.

For a fuller write-up of this conference, please refer to this link.

2019: Digital Transactions in Asia III Conference

20 - 22 November 2019, Monash University Malaysia
Organising team: Dr Emma Baulch 

The third Digital Transactions in Asia conference took place at Monash University Malaysia from the 20th to the 22nd of November 2019. The conference was the result of a collaborative effort between Monash University Malaysia’s School of Arts and Social Sciences and the University of Queensland’s Institute for the Advanced Study in the Humanities.

The conference gathered academics and researchers from the larger Asia region to consider the qualities of social and economic changes precipitated by the raid uptake of mobile internet in the Asia region in recent years. It consisted of three keynote addresses and seven themed panels on the following topics: ‘Digital Inter-Asia’; ‘Online Marketplaces’; ‘Managing Elections and Populations’; ‘Everyday Reconfigurings’; ‘Mobilities’; and ‘Technocapitalism and the Digital Subject’.

For a fuller write-up of this conference, please refer to this link.

2019: International Workshop on Food and Representation

29 - 30 October 2019, Monash University Malaysia
Organising team: Dr Ana Grgic

Our two-day workshop, on 29 and 30 October 2019 at School of Arts and Social Sciences, brought together a number of postcolonial, gender, film and media studies early career researchers and senior scholars from Europe, Australia and Malaysia – whose research is concerned with the representation and performance of food to explore issues of race, identity, class, gender and sexuality – to discuss these questions.

For a fuller write-up of this workshop, please refer to this link.

2018: Gender and sexuality justice in Asia: Conflicts and resolutions

12 - 14 November 2018, Monash University Malaysia
Organising team: CoGen 2018 comprising Drs. Joseph N. Goh and Thaatchaayini Kananatu, and Associate Professor Dr Sharon A. Bong

The inaugural International Conference on Gender and Sexuality in Asia (CoGen 2018) saw more than 40 participants comprising early career researchers, senior academics, and even researcher-cum-activists and other interested individuals travel near and far to Monash University Malaysia (MUM), from 12-14 November 2018. The conference, themed ‘Gender and sexuality justice in Asia: Conflicts and resolutions’ successfully connected scholars who work primarily in gender studies, sexuality studies and women’s studies that intersect with multidisciplinary fields, such as Sociology, Anthropology, Film Studies, Literary Studies, Psychology, Political Science, International Relations, Business Law, Communication and Media Studies, Religious Studies and Theology. The conference was generously sponsored and ably supported by a multidisciplinary research platform at MUM’s, Global Asia in the 21^st Century (GA21). The organisers of CoGen 2018 comprising Drs. Joseph N. Goh and Thaatchaayini Kananatu, and Associate Professor Dr Sharon A. Bong are working towards a publishable outcome of the conference and possibly, holding CoGen on a regular basis.

For a fuller write-up of CoGen 2018, please refer to this link.

Participants of CoGen 2018 with organisers (front row): Dr. Joseph N. Goh (extreme left), Dr. Thaatchaayini Kananatu (far right), Agnes Hanying Ong (third from left) and Associate Professor Dr. Sharon A. Bong (middle)

2018: WhatsApp: methods and methodologies

1 - 2 November 2018, Monash University Malaysia
Organising team: Assoc.Prof Emma Baulch, Dr Susan Leong and Dr Ariadna Matamoros Fernandez

In recent years WhatsApp has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing platforms and one of the most important for consumption and dissemination of news, for political organising and for everyday communication. Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017 shows a flattening out in the growth of social media use for news consumption as people turn to WhatsApp, which is more private and does not filter news algorithmically – a phenomenon reflected in changes in modes of news consumption in Malaysia specifically. WhatsApp also emerged as a significant player in the 2018 Malaysia General election for opposition organising and information sharing. WhatsApp’s growing importance calls out for scholarly investigation, including about how the app may privilege the circulation of certain kinds of information over others, afford certain cultures of use, or shape social formations in particular ways. But WhatsApp cannot be studied using conventional digital methods relying on, for example, the extraction of large scale data sets via accessing platforms Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). In this workshop, we bring together a number of digital media scholars from the region – Australia, Singapore and Malaysia – whose research is concerned with WhatsApp to compare and share knowledge and strategies for researching this platform.

2017: Populism in Asia: Contours, Causes, Consequences

15 - 16 November 2017, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leaders: Assoc. Prof. Marco Bünte (Monash University Malaysia) and PD Dr. Andreas Ufen (GIGA)

The rise of authoritarian populists is one of the most dangerous trends in international politics today. Asia is no exception here: The rise of Erdogan in Turkey, Modi in India, Duterte in the Philippines or Prabowo in Indonesia illustrate that populism in on the rise here as well. However, populists do not have a chance in the long-standing democracies of Japan, Korea or Taiwan. How can we explain this and what are the causes and consequences of the rise of populist leaders in Asia?

Our two-day workshop on the 15. and 16. November 2017 brings together 15 scholars from Asia, Australia and Europe to discuss these questions. The workshop is co-organized by the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and Monash's GA21 resarch platform.

2017: The State of Malaysian Literature in the 21st Century: An ASIATIC Symposium

3 November 2017, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leaders: Prof. Mohammad Quayum (IIUM) and Assoc. Prof. Andrew Ng (Monash University Malaysia)

Sedentary at best in its development since the country's independence, Anglophone Malaysian literature has become quite significant in recent years on a global level with local-born writers getting published by renown international presses and winning major literary prizes. As such, the objective of this symposium is to assess the state  of Malaysian Literature in the 21st Century.  Its aim is to cover literature in all the major languages in the country, but with an emphasis on Anglophone writings. The papers presented by participants from Singapore, Australia, Japan and, of course, Malaysia, will contribute towards of a special issue of  ASIATIC, an internationally well-regarded peer-reviewed journal that focuses on Southeast Asian cultures and literature.

2017: Genderworks: Dialogue and Action across Our Differences

8 July 2017, Monash University Malaysia
Conference Conveners: A/P Dr Sharon A. Bong, Dr Joseph N. Goh and Dr Thaatchaayini Kananatu

The inaugural conference for undergraduate students is aimed at facilitating collaboration across disciplines on how genders and by extension, sexualities operate in our everyday lives. Differences that matter—sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, class, social-cultural contexts, religious affiliations—are interpreted to encompass diversity and inclusion rather than singularity (through omitting these differences) and exclusion. It is intended to provide an intellectual and safe space for young minds to critically and reflexively consider the ways in which gender works in their lives and the institutions that they inhabit, e.g. family, education, cultural-religious, work, etc. The synergy between theory and practice, dialogue and action (e.g. activism) is particularly encouraged.

2016: Film Stardom in Southeast Asia Workshop

24-25 November 2016, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leader: Dr Jonathan Driskell

All across Southeast Asia film stars have attained an important place in popular culture, appearing in magazines and newspapers, on billboards and cinema marquees, at public events and premieres, and now on the internet. These stars often possess the general features of stardom commonly noted in film scholarship, such as glamour and charisma, while at the same time offering nationally (or even regionally) specific inflections of the phenomenon, embodying local tastes, values and ideologies. Many have reached stellar levels of fame, with Mitr Chaibancha in Thailand, P. Ramlee in Malaysia and Nora Aunor in the Philippines, for example, all attaining legendary status in their respective countries.

This workshop brought together eleven film scholars to discuss film stardom in Southeast Asia, with papers covering a wide range of topics (including, amongst others, Indonesian "sex bombs", Vietnamese stardom during the 1960s and 1970s, and contemporary Philippine “love teams”), time periods (from the 1950s to the present day), and national cinemas (the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaya/Singapore).

2016: Workshop on Protest Spaces and Social Movements in Asia

14-15 January 2016, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leader: Prof Kuah Khun Eng

Asia is experiencing social and political ferment. Arguably, this can be attributed to the deepening connectivity, flows, and integration of capital, people and ideas catalysed by the heterogeneous agents of neo-liberal economic globalisation, regionalisation and localisation. They range from global financial systems, regional governance bodies, and the media and entertainment industries to the work of transnational and local civil society and NGOs. On the one hand, state governments have to negotiate with and manage these myriad forces in order to maintain a semblance of state sovereignty, autonomy, and social control. On the other hand, an increasing number of ordinary citizens are exerting their democratic aspirations through direct social engagement with state authorities and transnational entities. These range from well-organised large-scale protest rallies to the rallying calls and acrimonious debates found in the spaces of social media. Bringing together scholars located in Malaysia, Southeast Asia, China and the United States, this workshop explored the theme of contemporary 'protest spaces' in a variety of settings and scales mobilized by different actors across Asia.

2015: Workshop on Internet in Southeast Asia: Power and Society

3-4 December 2015, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leaders: Dr Julian Hopkins and Dr Tan Meng Yoe

The inaugural “Internet in Southeast Asia” workshop was held on the 3-4 of December 2015. Led by Dr Tan Meng Yoe and Dr Julian Hopkins, the workshop theme on Power and Society explored how the internet affects negotiations of power in social, cultural, and political dimensions in the Southeast Asian region. The workshop attracted the interest of researchers from reputable institutions worldwide working in the area of internet and society. The range of topics presented was diverse, and over two days, participants listened to and engaged in issues of politics, religion, and popular culture, among others. Dr John Postill, the VC Senior Research Fellow from RMIT University Melbourne gave the keynote address on the subject of Internet Struggles in Southeast Asia: An Ethnographic Account of RightsCon 2015, Manila.

2014: Workshop on Transnational Private Regulation and Multi-level Governance in Southeast Asia: Investigating the Possibilities and Limitations for “Progressive” Governance

8-9 December 2014, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leaders: Associate Prof Helen Nesadurai and Prof Shaun Breslin (Warwick) 

Funded by a grant from the Monash-Warwick Strategic Alliance, this workshop saw eight scholars from Warwick and Monash universities (Malaysia and Clayton campus), led by Prof Shaun Breslin (Warwick) and Assoc Prof Helen Nesadurai (SASS), to explore how rules and standards developed by non-state actors such as private firms, NGOs and experts/scholars, among others, maybe helping to advance a range of rights (such as human, labour, and land rights) and a set of good governance practices (such as accountability, transparency, sustainability) in various economic sectors across the region. While paying close attention to transnational private regulation’s “progressive” governance potential, the project was also alert to its limitations and the challenges faced, including official resistance to private governance and their possible capture by self-interested parties (states, firms).

2011: International Young Scholars’ Conference

14-15 November 2011, Monash University Malaysia
Conference Leaders: SASS Graduate Research Students

The two day international conference, organized primarily by PhD students from the School of Arts and Social Sciences, brought researchers from around the world to discuss social issues, trends, and discoveries within the Southeast Asian region. International participants included researchers from the Southeast Asian region as well as young scholars from England, Germany, and Australia, among others. A wide range of research topics were presented and discussed in the nine panels that took place. The 23 research papers presented discussed ASEAN trade and navigational policies, religious issues, internet studies, arts and literature, as well as unique cultures and people groups in various Southeast Asian nations. Professor Edmund Terence Gomez of University Malaysia and Dr. Kathryn Barker, a consulting futurist at Monash University, set the tone for the conference through their respective keynote addresses, which encouraged and challenged participants to approach research from innovative and unique ways that are not necessarily influenced by dominant Western frameworks and to enjoy the learning and discovery processes that are an integral part of the research and PhD journey. For the PhD cohort from SASS who were involved in organising the conference, the year-long effort served as a valuable training ground for future careers, whether in academia or in other careers. The conference provided practical experience for PhD students in networking with the larger intellectual community as well as honed their organization skills.

2010: Workshop on Malaysian Literature in English

December 2010, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leader: Dr Andrew Ng 

This one-day workshop brought together five experts, including two international scholars, to discuss the state of contemporary Anglophone Malaysian literature and the local arts/literary scene. They explored various themes on this topic but tried to avoid the frequently treaded terrains of nationalism and race that beset much scholarship on Malaysian literature written in English. Although these issues cannot be avoided altogether, because they are deeply embedded in the ideological imaginary of this country and invariably shape its literature, they were deliberately given minimum emphasis in this workshop so that other equally important, but less, discussed features could be foregrounded. Participants explored a variety of major genres: novels, poetry, autobiography, short stories and plays.

2010: International Conference on Trauma, Memory and Transformation: The Malaysian and Southeast Asian Experience

22-24 June 2010, Monash University Malaysia
Conference Leader: Mr Benjamin McKay

This conference tapped into the growing cross-disciplinary interest in both trauma and memory in the humanities and social sciences. Trauma is seen as a moment of profound alteration and change in the lives of both individuals and communities, which may be triggered by the effects of war, terrorism, state violence and natural disaster through to the more personal traumas such as illness and being a victim of crime. The study of memory has also been an important development in the humanities and social sciences. Memory studies, which complements more traditional historical discourse by offering alternative pathways to an assessment of personal and shared experience, provides subaltern communities with a distinctive opportunity to have their recollections and memories considered as a part of living history – revealing narratives that might be alternative to the grand narratives of national and regional historic discourse(s). Against this disciplinary backdrop, the conference was aimed at exploring localised Malaysian and Southeast Asian responses to trauma through examining a variety of case studies that are informed by memory and that reveal patterns of transformation. Key questions addressed include: How is trauma overcome? What roles do reflections play in the process of transformation? What particular features do the Malaysian and Southeast Asian experience of a range of traumas add to our understanding of trauma and memory on a more global scale?

The School would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of Benjamin McKay, the Conference leader, who sadly passed away a month after the Conference but whose memory lives on in the volume of selected conference papers edited by Sharon A. Bong and published by SIRD.

2009: Cross-Campus Workshop on Research in Arts and Social Sciences

February 2009, Monash University Malaysia
Workshop Leaders: Prof. James Chin and Dr Pieter Duvenage (Monash South Africa) 

Academics from the School of Arts and Social Sciences (SASS) from Monash University Malaysia and the School of Arts from Monash South Africa met on the Malaysia campus in February 2009 to exchange research ideas, findings and perspectives. Led by their respective heads of school, James Chin and Pieter Dauvenage, eleven academic staff discussed a wide range of topics including affirmative action experiences, identity politics, ethnic distrust, sexuality and religion, the digital divide and development, regional governance, sidewalk vending and city spaces, and gothic and horror literature. The workshop culminated in close discussion on future research and education collaboration possibilities between the two campuses of Monash University.

2008: International Forum: Diversity Matters Malaysia: Diasporas in the Commonwealth

19-21 November 2008, Monash University Malaysia
Forum Partners: The Australian Multicultural Foundation, the Commonwealth Foundation, the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements, Monash University Malaysia, The Statesman (India), and Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI)

Diversity Matters Malaysia, the fifth in a series of Commonwealth Forums held every two years since 2001, was titled Diasporas in the Commonwealth, and hosted at the Monash University Malaysia campus in Bandar Sunway. The Forum attracted a distinguished list of speakers presenting wide-ranging analyses and discussions on diasporas in the Commonwealth. The conference was particularly honoured in having His Royal Highness Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, Crown Prince of Perak Darul Ridzuan present the keynote address. The thought provoking presentations spearheaded the lively exchanges at the Forum’s four workshops producing several practical and achievable outcomes and recommendations for the Commonwealth. The recommendations are expected to inform future Commonwealth discussions, including the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Malaysia, June, 2009, and the Commonwealth People’s Forum in Trinidad and Tobago, November 2009.