Scope and Goals:

The project explores the emerging field of public history in Southeast Asia, its principal actor(s) and audience(s), the processes of engagement across various segments of the public, relations between academic and public historians, and the opportunities that public history offers toward more inclusive histories of the region. The project views public history on the ground (i.e., as practiced in Southeast Asia) through four major lenses: from the standpoint of commemorations and memorials; heritage, local communities and other stakeholders; museums; and textbooks and official histories.

Participants, Affiliation and Title of Paper:

  1. Maitrii Aung-Thwin, National U Participants, Affiliation, Title of Paper:
    University of Singapore, Introduction: Towards a Public History of Southeast Asia: Heritage, Memory, and Commemoration
  2. Ariel Lopez, University of the Philippines, Local History’s Challenge to National Narratives in Indonesia and the Philippines
  3. Jirathorn Chartsiri, Mahidol University, Perceptions of Thai History through Monuments and Shrines: The Case of King Taksin the Great
  4. Lim Peng Han, University of Malaya, The William Haxworth Drawing Exhibition of European Civilian Internees at the Changi Prison and Sime Road Camp, 1942-1945: The Untold Social History of Internees
  5. Lee Yuen Thien, Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum, The Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum in Melaka: Home of a Peranakan Chinese since 1861
  6. Nu Mra Zan, Department of Archaeology and National Museum Myanmar, Museums: My Memories, My Movements, My Models
  7. Saidatulakmal Mohd, Jacqueline Liza Fernandez, and Ngai Weng Chan, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Stakeholder Views of Penang’s Untapped Heritage
  8. Idham Bachtiar Setiadi, Ministry of Education and Culture (Indonesia), Overcoming Crazy Times in Borobodur: The Dynamics of Generating a Sense
    of Community in a World Heritage Site
  9. I Ketut Ardhana, Udayana University, Public Historians and the Making of Heritage Cities in Indonesia
  10. Nappy Navarra, University of the Philippines, Tracking the History of Luzon’s North Main Line
  11. Tular Sudarmadi, University of Gadjah Mada, The Official Narrative versus Grassroots Memories of Trowulan Site, Mojokerto Regency, East Java
  12. Duong Keo, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Teaching the History of Democratic Kampuchea: Its Evolution of Teaching and Current Different Projections
  13. Omsin Jatuporn, Naresuan University, Defining Thai-ness in Contemporary Thai Textbooks
  14. Uji Nugroho Winardi, University of Gadjah Mada, Making and Unmaking the Past: The Public History of Kalimantan Barat
  15. Maria Serena I. Diokno, University of the Philippines, Challenges of Being a Public Historian in Southeast Asia