The SEALG Conference and Annual General Meeting taking place in Marseille on 15-16 June 2023 is approaching fast. Attendance of the event is free, but registration is required and can be completed in a few quick steps online on the SEALG website.
Provisional Program of the Conference and Annual General Meeting
THURSDAY, 15 June Venue: Maison Asie Pacifique, Aix-Marseille Université, 3, place Victor Hugo, 13331 Marseille Cedex 8:30 Welcoming participants 9:00 Round table: Recent information and libraries activities 2022-2023 10:00 Coffee break 10:15 Annual General Meeting 12:00 Lunch 14:00 Paper presentations and discussion 15:30 Coffee break 17:00 End of day 1
FRIDAY, 16 June Venue: Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer 29, Chemin du Moulin de Testas, CS 50062, 13182 AIX-EN- PROVENCE Cedex 5 8:45 Bus transfer from Marseille to Aix-en-Provence 9:30 Visiting the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (Aix-en-Provence), Southeast Asian Collections 11:00 Bus and train to the Blue Coast for lunch at a meridional restaurant 14:00 Round table discussion: SEA librarianship in the digital age 16:00 Opportunity for a walk in the Calanques at the Blue Coast
This year’s Annual Meeting of SEALG will take place at Maison Asie-Pacifique in the sunny city of Marseille, France, on Thursday 15 June and Friday 16 June 2023. The two-day event will begin with a round table on recent library activities and the annual general meeting on Thursday morning, followed by a panel session for the presentation of selected papers on library and archive related topics and collections in the afternoon.
On Friday morning we will visit the Archives d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Provence to see a selection of their materials related to Southeast Asia. In the afternoon, we are planning a thematic round table to allow time for follow-up discussions on the topics of the panel session. After the round table, we will have time for networking while going for a walk along the stunning blue bays of Marseille’s Calanques national park. For those who wish to extend their stay: the region offers ample opportunity for various kinds of activities and outings. All members of SEALG and guests are most welcome to attend this in-person event and participation will not be restricted to library or archive staff.
In preparation of the panel session on 15 June 2023 SEALG invites proposals for papers on three themes to choose from:
collections, archives and library work as well as recent developments in the field of South East Asian Studies
acquisition, storage and access of born digital material
contested heritage and providing access to heritage communities
A paper presentation should not exceed 30 minutes (including time for questions/discussion). Paper abstracts should be no more than 200 words and must include a title, author’s name and affiliation, as well as contact details. We encourage submissions from library and archive staff as well as from scholars and graduate students. The deadline for paper proposals is 31 May 2023. Publication of a paper will be possible in the SEALG Newsletter. For submission of your paper proposal / abstract, registration and further information please contact Christophe Caudron (christophe.caudronATuniv-amu.fr) or Marije Plomp (m.plompATlibrary.leidenuniv.nl).
Photo impressions from a former SEALG annual meeting in Marseille
The SEALG Annual Meeting 2022 took place in Paris in collaboration with the 12th EuroSEAS Conference, 28 June to 1 July 2022. On this occasion, our group organised a conference panel with the title Southeast Asia Libraries between Open Science, heritage collections and ethical standards of custodianship, which was held on 1 July as part of the EuroSEAS Conference. The Annual General Meeting took place on the same day, following the panel presentations, at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), on the new Campus Condorcet, Paris-Aubervilliers.
The program on 1 July started with the SEALG panel which was chaired by Marije Plomp (Leiden University Libraries) and Jana Igunma (British Library). The theme of the panel was inspired by the fact that the foundations of European libraries holding Southeast Asian heritage collections are rooted mainly in the colonial enterprise. Both the collections and the accumulated knowledge about them bear the stamp of the values and beliefs of the European, nineteenth and early twentieth century collectors and scholars, whose assignments were inextricably bound up with the mission of the colonial state. Post-colonial voices from both academia and the broader society have exposed how some of these values have continued to influence the way European libraries manage, describe and present heritage material. As a result, some of these institutions have begun to critically investigate the make-up and provenance of their colonial collections, as well as the manner in which the collections are being managed. These endeavors have given rise foremost to policies directed at bridging the physical distance between heritage collections and the various stakeholders in Southeast Asia. Most libraries have begun taking measures to facilitate access to the collections and academic output through, for example, digitisation and digital collections, Open Access institutional repositories, research scholarships and facilities, and online catalogue tutorials, seminars and Open Access e-publications promoting the collections.
The panel explored these and other practices that can be taken up by libraries aimed at reducing inequalities related to access to heritage collections and knowledge production, next to other topics related to ethical custodianship. Topics for discussion included aspects of supporting Open Science and Open Access; opening up the collections for everyone, not just academia; providing free access to primary and secondary sources, independently from language/script, place of publication, peer-review, and format of publication; improving discoverability of material in non-European languages; critical re-evaluation of the language, scripts and standards used for cataloguing; heritage collection crowd sourcing projects; (re)discovery of collections; provenance research and acquisition transparency in the context of data protection and privacy legislation; optimization of the digitization process and projects; ethical issues arising from digitisation.
During two sessions, which were attended not only by librarians but also scholars and researchers, six papers were presented.
The first session was opened by Marije Plomp (Asian Library, Leiden University Libraries) with her presentation on “Bridging the gap: Managing colonial heritage collections, best practices and opportunities at the Asian Library”. With the transfer of the KIT and KITLV collections related to the former Dutch East Indies/Indonesia to Leiden University Libraries in 2013-14, the library’s Indonesia collection became the second largest in the world. A notable part consists of heritage material that was collected during the colonial period. In the last five years in particular, post-colonial voices from both academia and the broader society have called upon institutions holding colonial collections to critically assess their collections and the manner in which they manage them. Leiden University Libraries reacted with measures directed at bridging the physical gap between heritage collections and the various stakeholders in Indonesia. Marije discussed these measures in her presentation, as well as other actions directed more generally at accommodating Indonesian user groups and stakeholders in the library. Besides this, she looked into the best practices of other institutions that could perhaps be implemented at Leiden University Libraries.
The second presenter was Awang Azman Awang Pawi from the Academy of Malay Studies, University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, with his paper “From Malay to Malaysiana: Collection between Access and Preservation”. Since the establishment of University of Malaya (UML) of Kuala Lumpur’s campus in 1959, UML has been developing a collection of publications known as Malaysiana, which are technically defined as material about Malaysia published locally or overseas. The nucleus of the collection itself was inherited from a British colonial who initiated the field of Malay Studies at the UML in Singapore 1953. UML possesses a unique Malaysiana collection with research potential, however, in general the information about it is still superficial. Awang Azman Awang Pawi discussed the accessibility of the Malaysiana collection, as well as the preservation of the collection in the context of the Open Science concept. UML has started several digital initiatives to improve access to the collection for its users, alongside the library’s obligation to preserve this heritage collection. There is also a need for metadata and information enhancements of the materials in the collection to promote research and to encourage researchers from around the world to use this unique source.
The next speaker was Taufiq Hanafi, a researcher at the Royal Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) and the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Leiden University, with his presentation “The Irony of Abundance: Open Science, Copious Resources, and yet Low Research Output”. According to recent research, with relatively low per-capita GDP, underdeveloped electronic text markets, and rapidly growing student population, Indonesia belongs to top users and largest downloaders of shadow libraries. It ranks second in the use of Library Genesis via the B mirror – after Russia – and becomes a major traffic source for data transactions. In addition, other channels for Open Science and data dissemination, such as the official mailing list group for Indonesia’s largest scholarship program LPDP and accompanying social media accounts, have a strong archival function and consistently address the lack of access to digital copies. In this regard, despite the seemingly-illegal nature of this mode of sharing, to date, Indonesia does not only have the ability to access knowledge but also to collect or even hoard. Nonetheless, Indonesia accounted for only 0.65% of academic publications in the ASEAN region and just over 0.2% of global publications, indicative of narrow engagement in science and a weak knowledge sector of the country. Taufiq Hanafi emphasized that his paper did not aim at negating the noble aim of libraries in the European setting at reducing inequalities related to access and opening up their collections for everyone, but rather questioned what can be done to address the issue of insularity in knowledge production.
Taufiq Hanafi presenting his paper during the first session of the SEALG panel
After a lively discussion of the first three presentations, the second session of this panel was opened by Jotika Khur-Yearn, SOAS Library, London, with his talk on “Digital Collections of Shan Manuscripts: Access, Discovery and Evaluation”. His paper discussed the digital collections of Shan manuscripts that have been made available for Open Access through digitisation projects with the support of generous funding from various organisations and institutions in the last few years. Through both Jotika Khur-Yearn’s participation in some of the digitisation projects and his own research interest in the Shan manuscript literature, these digital collections of Shan manuscripts have become treasure troves for exploration and discovery of rare literary material and information resources on various areas in the fields of humanities and social sciences as he illustrated with some examples in his talk. In addition to the digital collections of Shan manuscripts, he was also involved in a few projects to catalogue Shan manuscripts, and as a result he became aware of many more collections of Shan manuscripts that are still awaiting digitisation and preservation.
Jana Igunma from the British Library, London, followed next with her presentation on “The Thai tradition of manuscript copying and related curatorial challenges”. Until the introduction of printing technology in Thailand (then Siam) in the 1830s, the tradition and art of manuscript copying was one of the two main methods to preserve texts, the other being oral transmission by way of memorising texts. While some scribes and artists aimed to perfect their copying skills to produce luxurious manuscripts for the royal family, others explored ways to integrate their individual creativity and innovation with the process of copying, and yet others worked mainly for patrons who ordered custom-made manuscript copies for Buddhist ceremonies, rites of passage or personal use. For the curator or librarian working with Thai manuscripts certain aspects of the manuscript copying tradition pose challenges – especially in the context of establishing the provenance of manuscripts whose creators remain mostly anonymous – namely creation date/period of undated manuscripts, possible place of origin or art school, patron and purpose of manuscripts. Jana Igunma asked what the term “copy” means in the Thai cultural context, discussed problems that arise with the copying of colophons and art styles, and considered what constitutes the fine line between copy and forgery in the light of a revival of the tradition of manuscript copying in Thailand in the 21st century.
The final talk in this panel was given by Wahyu Widodo, Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Leiden University and Fakultas Ilmu Budaya (FIB), Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, on the topic “Whose Manuscripts are These? The Problems of Authorized Custodianships of the Exiled Clerics Manuscripts in the Nineteenth Century of Colonial Java”. In February 1886, accused of raising a rebellion against the Dutch colonial government, Mas Malangjoeda, a charismatic religious leader of the Banyumas-based Akmaliyyah Sufi order in Central Java, together with seventy-two of his loyal followers, was apprehended and sent to imprisonment in Buitenzorg, West Java. Shortly afterwards, he was tried in colonial court under the colony’s criminal law and exiled to Buru Island. To add insult to injury, the manuscripts on Islamic mystical teachings that he had authored were seized and brought to Batavia. With interference from Snouck Hurgronje, these manuscripts are now kept in Leiden University Library, coded as “notes of Malangjoeda” with Cod. Or. 7577-7588. Wahyu Widodo’s presentation aimed to investigate the detailed processes of the manuscripts’ acquisition by asking: Whose sinful hands were used to expropriate these manuscripts from their rightful owner? This aim is further problematized by the fact that the European library has treated these colonial loots with high regard, which suggest legitimate custodianship. Should these manuscripts find their way home through restitution, would they be treated with equally high regard and used to contribute to the knowledge production in the postcolonial country?
Q&A and discussion following Wahyu Widodo’s presentation during the second session of the SEALG panel
After the lunch break, the Annual General Meeting of the SEALG was opened by the group’s secretary, Marije Plomp. Members from France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US attended the meeting. Jana Igunma gave a short summary of the minutes of the last AGM 2019 in Leiden, which are also available on the SEALG website. Treasurer Margaret Nicholson informed the group in advance that, unfortunately, the financial report had to be postponed due to unforeseen circumstances resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. There had been no expenses the previous two years.
The secretary received notifications from the group’s Chair, Doris Jedamski, and Treasurer, Margaret Nicholson, that they both wished to step down from their roles. This year, the election of the committee that had to be postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic finally took place. Christophe Caudron was elected as the new Chair of SEALG, and the attendants of the meeting congratulated him to his new role. Jotika Khur-Yearn agreed to be interim co-treasurer to assist Margaret Nicholson until a new Treasurer can be found.
Jana Igunma presented the usage statistics of the SEALG blog which saw very good results in the previous year 2021, with 10,562 views in total. However, views for the current year were below average due to the fact that only four blog posts had been published so far. Generally, newly published posts, especially those with a topic related to heritage collections, trigger higher viewing numbers also for previously published blog posts.
Usage statistics of the SEALG blog for the past decadeby 30 June 2022
For example, the top five posts with the highest views during the past 12 months (as of 30 June 2022) were: An illuminated Malay Qur’an, A Treatise on Siamese Cats, Two early 19th-century Malay documents, Remembering the Black African Heroes of WWII in Burma, Buddhist manuscript textiles: Southeast Asia. The top ten countries from where the blog was accessed (all time) were the US, Thailand, the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Myanmar, Singapore, Germany, Philippines which shows that the blog is reaching audiences in Southeast Asian countries.
The next points of discussion were General Data Protection Regulations which affect how we publish information on the SEALG website and blog. The challenge is to follow the regulations, while at the same time we have to fulfil the requirements of transparency and accountability in terms of leadership and how SEALG is run. Another issue that was raised was the cost of the SEALG website (domain name and file storage) which have increased recently, so that the group has to look at possible alternatives.
Last but not least, the attendees gave updates from their libraries, including new and ongoing projects, exhibitions, staff changes, significant new acquisitions, funding, fellowships, news from partner organisations in the US, the use of digital platforms etc. Details of the updates are included in the minutes of the meeting which were distributed to the members of SEALG. Various suggestions for locations to hold the AGM in 2023 were received, including Hamburg, Marseille and Venice.
Apart from attending the SEALG panel and AGM, members had the opportunity to visit two exhibitions that took place during the EuroSEAS conference: Remembering 1965 and its Aftermath and Yadeya & the Coup: Taking Action in Myanmar’s Revolution. In addition, there was a rich cultural programme to accompany the conference, including film screenings, concerts, and book prize award ceremonies.
The SEALG committee, on behalf of the SEALG members, would like to express their gratitude to the organizing team of the EuroSEAS Conference 2022 for their dedicated work and the excellent support given to our group, and especially for accommodating the SEALG panel and AGM!
Performance of Khmu musicians from Northern Laos at the EuroSEAS Conference 2022
The annual meeting of the Southeast Asia Library Group is taking place on 1 July 2022 at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Campus Condorcet, Paris-Aubervilliers. It has been organised in cooperation with the 12th conference of the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS) which will be held from 28 June to 01 July 2022 at the same venue.
On this occasion, a conference panel has been organised on behalf of SEALG with the title “Southeast Asia Libraries between Open Science, heritage collections and ethical standards of custodianship“, to be held in two sessions on 1 July 2022, prior to the annual meeting.
Paper presentations in the panel include:
Bridging the gap: Managing colonial collections, best practices and opportunities at the Asian Library, Leiden University Libraries (Marije Plomp, Leiden University)
From Malay to Malaysiana: Collection between Access and Preservation (Awang Azman Awang Pawi, University of Malaya and Haslan Tamjehi, University of Malaya)
Researchers archives online and Open Science diktats (Louise Pichard-Bertaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
The Irony of Abundance: Open Science, Copious Resources, and yet Low Research Output (Taufiq Hanafi, Leiden University)
Digital Collections of Shan Manuscripts: Access, Discovery and Evaluation (Jotika Khur-Yearn, School of Oriental and African Studies/University of London)
Searching for ‘the real’ Doctor William Bosch in the Dutch colonial collections (Rupalee Verma, Delhi University)
The Thai tradition of manuscript copying and related curatorial challenges (Jana Igunma, British Library)
Whose Manuscripts are These? (The Problems of Authorized Custodianships of the Exiled Clerics Manuscripts in the Nineteenth Century of Colonial Java) (Wahyu Widodo, Leiden University/Universitas Brawijaya)
Visitors are welcome to attend the panel. Registration is still possible through the EuroSEAS website which will give access to the entire programme of the conference, including all panels, roundtables, film screenings, book prize, special events etc . The annual meeting of SEALG is open to members only. For more information please get in touch via the SEALG website.
A virtual symposium taking place 17-19 May 2022, organised by University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Library, aims to examine the complicated histories of cultural heritage collections, the expropriation of artifacts through colonialism and looting, the ethics of ownership and restitution, and decolonization in libraries, archives, and museums.
Repatriation has increasingly become an important topic in the museum, anthropology, and archaeology worlds, yet it is but a blip on the radar in library and archive circles. In conjunction with its return of Judaica items to the Jewish Museum in Prague (JMP), the UCLA Library’s International & Area Studies Department is hosting an online symposium featuring international experts, who will discuss the complicated histories of Western cultural heritage collections, the expropriation of artifacts through colonialism and war, the politics and ethics of ownership and restitution, and decolonization in libraries, archives, and museums. Using case studies as the bases for these discussions, the symposium is intended to bring greater awareness of these issues within libraries and archives. It will also be of interest to scholars in anthropology, archaeology, area studies, art history, history, Indigenous studies, information studies, law, and museum studies.
The symposium will consist of four sessions spread out over three days. The first two panels will focus on the historical roots of the problem and the current calls for rectification. The latter two will focus on existing and potential pathways for repatriation. The detailed program can be viewed online.
Online registration is now open and it is required to receive the links to the sessions. More detailed information on the symposium, speakers, a list of resources and a digital exhibit can be found on the symposium webpage.
Panel: Southeast Asia Libraries between Open Science, heritage collections and ethical standards of custodianship
The 12th conference of the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS) will take place at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), on the new Campus Condorcet at Paris-Aubervilliers, France, from 28 June to 1 July 2022.
One of the panels is organised by Marije Plomp (Leiden University Libraries) and Jana Igunma (British Library) on behalf of the Southeast Asia Library Group, hoping to bring together librarians, archivists, area specialists, curators, and researchers. The title of the panel is “Southeast Asia Libraries between Open Science, heritage collections and ethical standards of custodianship”.
Panel Description The foundations of European libraries holding Southeast Asian heritage collections are found mainly in the colonial enterprise. Both the collections and the accumulated knowledge about them bear the stamp of the values and beliefs of the European, nineteenth and early twentieth century collectors and scholars, whose assignments were inextricably bound up with the mission of the colonial state. Post-colonial voices from both academia and the broader society have exposed how some of these values have continued to influence the way European libraries manage, describe and present heritage material. As a result, some of these institutions have begun to critically investigate the make-up and provenance of their colonial collections, as well as the manner in which the collections are being managed. These endeavors have given rise foremost to policies directed at bridging the physical distance between heritage collections and the various stakeholders in Southeast Asia. Most libraries have begun taking measures to facilitate access to the collections and academic output through, for example, digitization and digital collections, Open Access institutional repositories, research scholarships and facilities, and online catalogue tutorials, seminars and Open Access e-publications promoting the collections.
This panel wishes to further explore these and other practices that can be taken up by libraries aimed at reducing inequalities related to access to heritage collections and knowledge production, next to other topics related to ethical custodianship. Examples include supporting Open Science and Open Access; opening up the collections for everyone, not just academia; providing free access to primary and secondary sources, independently from language/script, place of publication, peer-review, and format of publication; improving discoverability of material in non-European languages; critical re-evaluation of the language, scripts and standards used for cataloguing; heritage collection crowd sourcing projects; (re)discovery of collections; provenance research and acquisition transparency in the context of data protection and privacy legislation; optimization of the digitization process and projects; ethical issues arising from digitization; opportunities of IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework); and digital and/or physical re-unification of archives and heritage collections that were split up historically. Papers can discuss theory, practices, cases or policy making.
Paper presentations on any of the aforementioned topics are invited from librarians, archivists, area specialists, curators, researchers and graduate students who are working with Southeast Asian collections. The deadline for paper proposals is 15 March 2022. If you wish to submit a paper proposal, please contact Marije Plomp or Jana Igunma before the deadline.
The European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS) will hold its 12th conference at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), on the new Campus Condorcet, Paris-Aubervilliers, France, from 28 June to 1 July 2022.
EuroSEAS invites scholars and PhD students from all academic disciplines with an interest in Southeast Asia to submit panels that explore relevant research topics from an interdisciplinary perspective as well as discuss theoretical and methodological aspects of research generated in the field of Southeast Asian Studies.
Proposals are invited for classical panels, roundtable discussions, laboratories that would develop cross-disciplinary collaboration, and for screenings with academic discussion of documentaries or artistic movies on various topics from Southeast Asia. More experimental formats are also welcome.
The deadline for sending proposals for panels, roundtable discussions, laboratories, screenings with academic discussion or alternative formats (for example book forums) by email to euroseas@kitlv.nl is 3 December 2021. The selection committee preserve the right to advise on how to strengthen less clearly articulated proposals or on possible merges of similar panel proposals.
The annual conference of the National Committee for Information Resources on Asia (NACIRA), UK, is taking place virtually on 30 November 2021, 13:00-17:00. The conference theme is “Lessons and reflections: new ways of working in the pandemic era“.
Talks and paper presentations on the day include:
“Research Libraries and Public Engagement: A new future?” by Christopher Burgess, Head of Exhibitions and Public Programmes, Cambridge University Library
“Working in Pandemic Times: the Digital Scholarship Perspective” by Adi Keinan-Schoonbaert, Digital Curator, Asian and African Collections, British Library
“The Endangered Archives Programme – Responses to a Pandemic” by Sam van Schaik, Head of the Endangered Archives Programme, British Library
“TEA and TEI: How I survived Lockdown” by Alasdair Watson, Bahari Curator of Persian Collections, Bodleian Library
“Hebrew Manuscripts Exhibition” by Ilana Tahan, Lead Curator Hebrew and Christian Orient Collections, British Library
NACIRA was established in March 2008, the direct successor to NCOLR (National Council on Orientalist Library Resources) which was itself a development from the U.K. Standing Conference of National and University Libraries Advisory Committee on Orientalist Materials (SCONUL ACOOM).
Its objectives are to provide a general forum for librarians, archivists and researchers involved in the collection, development and use of library resources and services for Asian and Middle Eastern studies; to promote and improve access to these resources; to liaise with and encourage co-operation between the various library groups concerned with particular regions of Asia; and to promote contacts with similar organisations outside the UK.
All members of Regional Library Groups reporting to NACIRA, including the Southeast Asia Library Group (SEALG) have automatic membership. For more information and registration, please contact the NACIRA secretary via the group’s contacts page.
The European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS) will hold its 11th conference at the Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic from 7-10 September 2021.
EuroSEAS invites scholars and PhD students from all academic disciplines with an interest in Southeast Asia to submit panels that explore relevant research topics from an interdisciplinary perspective as well as discuss theoretical and methodological aspects of research generated in the field of Southeast Asian Studies.
Proposals are also invited for a limited number of roundtable discussions about recent developments in Southeast Asia; for a limited number of laboratories that would develop cross-disciplinary collaboration; and for screenings with academic discussion of documentaries or artistic movies on various topics from Southeast Asia.
Due to a limit on the number of participants (aprox. 400) during the 2021 EuroSEAS conference in Olomouc, the organizing committee will favour (but not limit its selection to) panels, roundtables and laboratories on language, literature, performing arts, postcolonial studies, and archaeology/material culture – fields that were underrepresented in previous conferences.
EuroSEAS and the Organising Committee will have to follow international, national and local regulations related to Covid19. In case a physical conference is not possible, the board would do its best to facilitate and organize an on-line EuroSEAS conference or series of activities.
The 2020 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum invites to an international online conference on the theme Thai-Tai Language and Culture in commemoration of Prof. Dr. Khun Banchob Bandhumedha on her 100th Birthday Anniversary.
The conference has three parallel panel sessions which will be streamed live online via the panel session links below. Each session starts at 13:45 Bangkok local time and ends at 16:15 Bangkok local time. The time schedule for the presentations is as follows:
PARALLEL SESSION I (Presentations will be given in Thai): Thai Language and Culture.
Moderator: Prapaipun Phingchim
13.45-14.15
The Journey of the “Conjunction” in Thai Language
Debi Jaratjarungkiat (Chulalongkorn University)
14.15-14.45
The Thai Notion of Self-construal and Some Linguistic Evidence
Natthaporn Panpothong, Siriporn Phakdeephasook (Chulalongkorn University)
15.15-15.45
The Grammaticalisational Relationship Between Comitatives and Instrumentals in Thai: A Diachronic Typological Perspective
Vipas Pothipath (Chulalongkorn University)
15.45-16.15
Distinctions in the Linguistic Encoding of Caused Separation in Thai
Nitipong Pichetpan (University of Sydney and Thammasat University)
——————————————-
PARALLEL SESSION II (Presentations will be given in Thai): Thai-Tai Folklore
Moderator: Arthid Sheravanichkul
13.45-14.15
The Telling of Tai Folktales by Professor Dr. Khun Banchob Bandhumedha in Satri San
Poramin Jaruworn (Chulalongkorn University)
14.15-14.45
The Tai Women: Representations in Myths and Rituals of Tai People in Central Mekong Basin Communities
Pathom Hongsuwan (Mahasarakham University)
15.15-15.45
The Route to Heaven: Cosmology and World Narratives of Tai Dam from Funeral Manuscripts
Pichet Saiphan (Thammasat University)
15.45-16.15
“Roots of the Tai” in “Thailand’s Songkran Tradition”: Tai Cultural Inheritance and Creativity in Thai Society
Aphilak Kasempholkoon (Mahidol University)
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PARALLEL SESSION III (Presentations will be given in English): Tai Languages
Moderator: Nattanun Chanchaochai
13.45-14.15
Constituent Order in Tai Khamti: New Data from Myanmar
Rikker Dockum (Swarthmore College)
14.15-14.45
Lanna Tai of the 16th Century as Attested from Chinese Source
Shinnakrit Tangsiriwattanakul (Chulalongkorn University)
15.15-15.45
Proto-Shan, Old Shan and the Making of Ahom Writing System
Pittayawat Pittayaporn (Chulalongkorn University)
15.45-16.15
Analysing Phonological Variation in Tai Khuen
Wyn Owen (Payap University)
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Dr. Banchob Bandhumedha was a female academic who devoted all her life to the research and teaching of Thai language in and outside of Thailand. Born on April 9th, 1920 in Tambon Baan Moh, Amphur PhraNakorn, Pra Nakorn province, she was the seventh of eleven children. She passed away on 21st March 1992 at the age of 72.
She graduated with a Master’s of Arts degree from Chulalongkorn University in 1944, and later received a scholarship from the Indian government to pursue a PhD degree in philology from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. Dr. Banchob followed in the footsteps of her father who was also a teacher. She spent her whole life teaching, researching, and writing books to share her knowledge. Her teaching career began at Satri Wat Rakhang School, after which she went on to teach at Amnuay Silpa School, Secondary Teacher Training School, and Chandrakasem Teacher College. Her last teaching job was as a part-time teacher in the Department of the Thai Language, Ramkhamhaeng University, teaching Thai and foreign languages in the Thai language program. Dr. Banchob received an honorary doctorate degree in Thai language from the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, an honorary doctor of philosophy degree in Thai language from Ramkhamhaeng University, a Golden Prakeaw Award from Chulalongkorn University for promulgating knowledge of the Thai language in 1986, and the Outstanding Researcher Award in Philosophy from the National Research Council of Thailand in 1987.
Dr. Banchob had a keen interest in the study of Thai dialects and foreign influences in Thai language. She wrote three textbooks on Thai language namely “Laksana Phasa Thai”, “Pali and Sanskrit languages in the Thai language” and “Foreign languages in the Thai language”, which is considered one of the finest Thai language textbooks. Her research and analysis of Thai language in relation to Tai languages in and outside Thailand, as well as other foreign languages, has been praised as being accurate, based on credible evidence and beneficial to the Thai language studies.
Southeast Asia Library Group (SEALG) 
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