Raissa DeSmet collaborates on Southeast Asia authoritarianism project funded at $1,000,000

IAS faculty member Raissa DeSmet is collaborating with faculty colleagues from the University of Washington Southeast Asia Center (SEAC) on a four-year $1,000,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation's Luce Southeast Asia initiative for a project titled, "Tracing Authoritarianism: Linking Southeast Asia with Southeast Asian America Through Archives, Language, and Pedagogy." Along with DeSmet, faculty who developed the project are Jenna Grant, Judith Henchy, Celia Lowe, Linh Nguyen, Vince Rafael, and Pauli Sandjaja.

Through the lens of critical archival studies, SEAC’s project will examine authoritarianism and develop new pedagogies that bridge Asian studies and Ethnic studies to engage Southeast Asian American audiences. Work with American and Southeast Asian partners in museum and archival collections will connect heritage communities to their homelands and histories and offer opportunities for empowerment and recovery from acts of violence and appropriation.