LSE Southeast Asia Forum

Our flagship event, the annual LSE Southeast Asia Forum (SEAF) is a full-day conference that brings together leading Southeast Asia experts to engage with some of the region's most critical and pressing issues, as well as showcases the high-quality research on Southeast Asia conducted at LSE.

In 2021, as with the previous year, in light of continued issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, SEAF was successfully held as a week-long series of online discussions titled LSE Southeast Asia Week. The events offered a unique opportunity to learn from cutting-edge research and gain insight from experts working in and on Southeast Asia. We very much look forward to hosting the forum again next year.

LSE Southeast Asia Week 2021  – 25th to 29th October

25th October (Monday), 12pm - 1:30pm (GMT)

Environment and Politics in Southeast Asia: Presentations by the awardees of the SEAC Research Fund

This SEAF event showcased two presentations from awardees of the SEAC Research Fund, who discussed some preliminary findings regarding a) the emerging social construction of the 'haze season' in Singapore and b) professional intermediaries as the accomplices of kleptocratic elites. More information on the Research Fund scheme can be found here.

Speakers: Dr. Tom Smith (Department of Geography and Environment, LSE, SEAC Asociate), Felicia Liu (Research Fellow, University of Oxford), Dr. Omar Mcdoom (Department of Government, LSE)

Chair: Prof. Hyun Bang Shin (Director, LSE SEAC)

 A video recording of this event can be found here.

26th October (Tuesday), 12pm - 1:30pm (GMT)

Roundtable: Comparative Urbanism for Southeast Asia 

As part of the Southeast Asia Forum, SEAC hosted a roundtable discussion which featured emerging scholars whose work engages with urbanising sites across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Speakers: Dr. Emma Colven (Oklahoma University, SEAC Visiting Fellow), Dr. Junjia Ye (Nanyang Technological University, SEAC Visiting Fellow), Dr. Shaun Sheng Kiat Teo (National University of Singapore), Dr. Jeremie Molho (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies)

Chair: Prof. Hyun Bang Shin (Director, LSE SEAC)

A video recording of this event is available here.

27th October (Wednesday), 11:00 - 12:30pm

The Role of Philanthropy in a New Social Contract

This Southeast Asia Forum event reflects on the impact of the late Professor Saw’s philanthropy at LSE.

Speakers: Prof. Stephan Chambers (Director, Marshall Institute), Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prof. Hyun Bang Shin (Director SEAC), Patricia Yeo

Chair: Baroness Shafik (Director, LSE)

28th October (Thursday), 12:00pm - 1:30pm 

Work and Life in the COVID-19 Era: (Preliminary) findings from the SEAC Undergraduate Research Fellowship Projects

In this Southeast Asia Forum event, project leaders and associated (undergraduate) research fellows present their (preliminary) findings about work, life and migration in the COVID-19 era.

Speakers: Dr. Sin Yee Koh (Monash University, SEAC Associate), Jimin Oh (LSE SEAC Undergraduate Research Fellow), Prof. Katherine Brickell (RHUL, SEAC Associate), Nirmala Arath Prabhakar (Monash University), Angbeen Abbas (LSE SEAC Undergraduate Research Fellow)

Chair: Prof. Hyun Bang Shin (Director, LSE SEAC)

Video recording of this event is available here.

29th October (Friday), 12:00pm - 1:30pm 

Society and Economy in Southeast Asia: Presentations by LSE PhD researchers

This Southeast Asia Forum event showcases some of the on-going work of PhD researchers at LSE, whose work covers society and economy in Southeast Asia.

Speakers: Meghan Rose Donnelly (LSE Anthropology), Juan Jose Rivas Moreno (LSE Economic History), Yorga Permana (LSE Geography and Environment)

Chair: Prof. Hyun Bang Shin (Director, LSE SEAC)

A video recording of this event is available here.