SEAArch – The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

The BBC World Service has a podcast on China’s Forgotten Admiral – Admiral Zheng He, who in the 1400s travelled from China to Africa, making stops through Southeast Asia.

China’s Forgotten Admiral
BBC World Service, 05 February 2010
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The Jewel of Muscat, an Omani sewn-plank ship modelled after the Tang Treasure Shipwreck, is set to leave the port of Muscat at the end of February, to recreate a maritime trade route between Oman and Singapore.

Another ancient sailing ship to set forth
Sail-World.com, 12 January 2010
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Readers in Singapore may be interested in a public lecture by Dr John Miksic of the National University of Singapore on Southeast Asian Ceramics. For readers who might not be able to attend the lecture, you may want to purchase Dr Miksic’s latest book, Southeast Asian Ceramics.

Ceramics for the Archaeologist: Recent Advances in Understanding Pottery in Southeast Asian History
Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
Date: 28 January 2010
Time: 7.30 – 8.30 pm

The student-run journal for graduate students based at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa is seeking papers for the Spring 2010 issue. Deadline for submissions is November 9, 2009. Download the flyer here.

Explorations showcases student research on Southeast Asia from a diverse range of disciplinary perspectives and welcomes submissions from graduate students currently enrolled in a formal program of study in the US and abroad. We welcome submissions from all disciplines, including history, Asian studies, languages and literature, social sciences and the humanities.

From the SEAANTHARCHHST list:

Please be advised that the third Southeast Asian Archaeology Workshop will be held on Thursday 10th June 2010 at the Institute of Archaeology in Oxford (http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/institute.html). As per previous workshops held at University College London in 2006 and 2008, the event is intended to promote ongoing research and foster grass roots interest in the archaeology of both Mainland and Island Southeast Asia – including the countries: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China (some southern provinces), East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Although the workshops have primarily been aimed at scholars from UK institutions, attendees from further afield have been and will be very welcome indeed.
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If you’re in Singapore, check out this talk by Prof. Pierre-Yves Manguin at the Asian Civilisations Museum on Thursday. Registrations closes tomorrow (Tuesday).

The Spread of Vaishnavism: Religion, Trade and State in Early Historic Southeast Asia
Date: 09 July 2009
Time: 7:00 – 8:45 pm
Venue: Ngee Ann Auditorium, Asian Civilisations Museum Empress Place

Much research work has been devoted to early Buddhist expansion into Southeast Asia, and to the role of Saivism after the 7th century CE. Historians, however, have not paid much attention to Vaishnavite developments between the 4th and the 7th century, when the first Indianised states of the region were being formed. The central role of devotional forms of Vaishnavism can now be reassessed by bringing together new evidence from archaeology and epigraphy and considering this in the light of some earlier research by art historians.

About the speaker
Pierre-Yves Manguin is a professor at the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO, French School of Asian Studies) and also teaches at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris). His research focuses on history and archaeology of the coastal states and trade networks of Southeast Asia. He has led archaeological field work in Indonesia and Vietnam and published on themes related to maritime history and archaeology of Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, and on the archaeology of Funan (Vietnam), of Srivijaya (South Sumatra), and of Tarumanagara (West Java).

This lecture is jointly organised by the Research and Publications Unit of ACM and Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies).

Due to limited seating, registration is required. Please R.S.V.P to nhb_acm_rpu@nhb.gov.sg by 7th July, Tuesday. Successful registrants will be notified by email.

Thanks to Alison for the link. Scholars, especially those in Southeast Asia, might be interested in the grants offered by the Henry Luce Foundation for Research Fellowships, Field Schools, Translation and a Summer Dissertation Seminar. More details by clicking on this link or on the image.