“Beloved Community”: The Need for Southeast Asian Studies at Rutgers University

By Colleen Tonra, President of SEARU

Jonathan Holloway, the 21st president of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, consistently emphasizes his commitment to a “beloved community” at our university. This mission seemingly values diversity, inclusion, and respect. The reality of this “beloved community,” however, is easily uncovered once you look at the most basic parts of our institution: academics. Under the gilded exterior of surface-level DEI programs, lie underfunded and understaffed academic departments, particularly those revolving around culture. Rutgers fails to adhere to its own ideals of inclusivity and limits its own academic research by undervaluing Southeast Asian Studies in the greater context of Asian and Asian American studies. As a result, Southeast Asian students are unable to feel wholly accepted and appreciated at an institution that does not reflect their own culture academically.

Rutgers-New Brunswick is home to a flourishing Asian community, making up 26.9% percent of the full-time student population. The Asian American Cultural Center, founded in 1999, acts as a resource for students across campus. There are growing Asian and Asian American Studies departments. Nonetheless, these resources and programs largely center the experiences of East and South Asians. According to Northern Illinois University, “Southeast Asia is composed of eleven countries of impressive diversity in religion, culture, and history: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.” Southeast Asian students lack institutional resources that are catered to them. Rather, students have advocated for themselves and created their own communities at Rutgers. These take form in student organizations such as Southeast Asians of Rutgers University (SEARU), the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA), and Rutgers Association of Philippine Students (RAPS). The institution may praise students and use these organizations as ways to prove their commitment to diversity, however, these organizations were founded by and succeeded as a result of student activism. These are not resources or programs provided by the institution. As a public university that claims to want their students to succeed, Rutgers needs to provide programs that are specific and culturally-relevant. Southeast Asia is a region that holds histories and traumas that are unique to its neighboring regions, emphasizing the importance of these programs.

The following American universities have some form of center or program dedicated to Southeast Asian Studies: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Cornell University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, Northern Illinois University, University of Washington, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Internationally, prestigious institutions dedicate vast resources to Southeast Asian Studies. Unlike Rutgers, these universities recognize the value in investing their money and time into this growing field. Rutgers places itself at a disadvantage by failing to provide students with a rich, global education. While other institutions are appreciating global studies, including Southeast Asia, Rutgers continues to heavily rely on western, Eurocentric perspectives and disciplines. Rutgers is falling behind and betraying its own ideals.

The information on this page is to encourage students interested in Southeast Asian studies to enroll in relevant courses. In order to grow Southeast Asian Studies, students must show academic interest in what Rutgers currently offers. Below you will find a list of Rutgers faculty and upcoming courses that may be of interest.

AMERICAN STUDIES (050)

ASIAN STUDIES (098)

RELIGION (840)

Faculty

Alex Hinton

ahinton@newark.rutgers.edu

Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, UNESCO Chair on Genocide Prevention

Research: Genocide, mass atrocity, extremism, transitional justice, law and society, human rights, memory and trauma, cultural anthropology, Southeast Asia, Cambodia

Chie Ikeya

chie.ikeya@rutgers.edu

Associate Professor of History

Research: Inter-Asian intimacies; histories, laws, and geopolitics of marriage, family, and collaboration, 1850-1950

Allan Punzalan Isaac

apisaac@amerstudies.rutgers.edu

Professor of American Studies and English

Research: Asian American literature and culture, critical race theory, Filipino labor, U.S. postcolonial studies

D. Christian Lammerts

dcl96@rutgers.edu

Associate Professor of Religion

Research: Buddhist studies, Southeast Asia, legal history

Viola Lasmana

viola.lasmana@rutgers.edu

ACLS Emerging Voices Fellow/Postdoctoral Fellow

Research: transpacific studies, Asian American studies, gender and sexuality studies, genocide studies, and global digital humanities

Pamela McElwee

pamela.mcelwee@rutgers.edu

Associate professor of Human Ecology

Research: Environment, climate, development, sustainability, biodiversity, ecosystems, Southeast Asia

Hieu Phung

hieu.phung@rutgers.edu

Assistant Professor of Asian Studies

Research: environment; climate history; water history; Vietnam; Southeast Asia; premodern East Asia

Louisa Schein

schein@rci.rutgers.edu

Associate Professor of Anthropology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Research: Critical race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality and media/cultural studies in relation to China, Asian diaspora/transnationalism, Southeast Asian Americans, especially Hmong

Tatiana Seijas

tatiana.seijas@rutgers edu

Associate Professor of History

Research: Philippine Islanders, Slavery & freedom, Pacific World — 17th century, Early Modern economics, Mexico, African Diasporas, Iberian empires