Centre of South East Asian Studies

SOAS-Alphawood Programme

The Alphawood scholarships form part of an academic programme which is generously supported by the Alphawood Foundation (Chicago). The remit of the programme is to support and advance, through study and research, the understanding and preservation of Southeast Asian Buddhist and Hindu art and architecture from ancient to pre-modern times.

The remit includes study of the built environment, sculpture, painting, illustrated texts, textiles and other tangible or visual representations, along with the written word related to these, and archaeological, museum and cultural heritage studies.

Since 2014, Alphawood has provided for over 100 scholarships which supported Southeast Asian scholars' postgraduate study at the Diploma, MA and MPhil/PhD levels at SOAS.  

Alphawood scholarships also provide support for our students to advance their English-language proficiency through dedicated courses at the SOAS Department of International Foundation Courses and English Language Studies (IFCELS). 

For further details and information on how to apply, please visit the SOAS-Alphawood Programme web page.

Jointly organized by CSEAS and the SOAS-Alphawood Asian Art Programme, this lecture series invites leading experts to share their latest insights and research on Hindu-Buddhist Southeast Asia. The series is hybrid in format consisting of both in-person and online lectures. 

This year’s series is convened by Dr Mizuho Ikeda (Research Associate, CSEAS) and Dr Panggah Ardiyansyah (Research Associate, Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield). 

Funding for this lecture series has been kindly provided by the Alphawood Foundation.

Lecture programme

18 November 2025, 12pm UK time (Online): Ancient Kedah As A Trans-Oceanic Economic Hub: Recent Findings In The Bukit Choras Archaeological Site. Associate Professor Dr. Nasha bin Rodziadi Khaw (Director, Centre for Global Archaeological Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia).

16 December 2025, 12pm UK time (Online): Currents Of Currency: Tracing Early 1st Millennium Southeast Asian Trade Through “Die Studies” Of Rising Sun/Srivatsa Coinage. Dr. Andrew Harris (Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National University of Singapore).

20 January 2026, 5:30pm UK time (In-person): The Precarious Past in Premodern Java. Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan (Australian National University).

27 January 2026, 12pm UK time, (Online): Iconography of the Vessantara Jātaka in Khmer Temples: Change and Continuity from the Angkor to the Post-Angkor Period. Associate Professor Makiko Kubo (Faculty of Buddhist Studies, Rissho University, Japan). 

This annual lecture, in honour of Prof Elizabeth H. Moore (1949–2024), invites a leading scholar in the field to present on their latest research. The lecture will take place in person in late Spring 2026. Stay tuned for more details. 

Funding for the Annual Elizabeth H. Moore Memorial Lecture has been kindly provided by the Alphawood Foundation.

Practices of Life in Southeast Asia

This semester’s theme foregrounds how communities across Southeast Asia have sought to live, believe, and flourish through the practices of everyday life. From ritual and governance to kinship and sport, the seminars explore how ordinary practices are imagined and enacted across different times and places. The series brings historical and ethnographic perspectives into conversation to illuminate the ethical, political, and creative dimensions of daily life in the region.

This year’s graduate-led seminar is convened by Dr Daniel Whitehouse | SOAS (British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology and Sociology) and Conan Yongneng Cheong | SOAS (PhD candidate, School of Arts). 

Lecture programme

Details to follow shortly. 

This interdisciplinary seminar series explores the deep connections between creative expression and the shifting political and social landscapes of Southeast Asia. It engages with themes including development, migration, poverty, identity, and freedom of expression, focused particularly on how the visual intersects with shifting social, economic and ultimately geo-political trends. We will examine how artists and cultural practitioners illuminate complex realities, from structural inequality to personal experiences of alienation and explore how the visual responds to power, providing a means to both critique, but also aid state structures and inter-state relations. Designed to be accessible in content, language, and approach, without compromising academic depth, the seminars invite participants from all backgrounds to consider creativity as a powerful mode of inquiry, critique, and engagement in a rapidly changing region.

This series is convened by Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra (Research Associate, CSEAS) & Dr Matthew Phillips (Research Associate, CSEAS). 

Programme

21 April 2026, 11:00am UK Time (Hybrid session, venue tbc): Storytelling, Place, and Cultural Resilience in the Award-Winning Film Tegkang, Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra, in conversation with Tegkang’s Director, Josh Nawan and Producer, Lyn Nasihin.

Stephen Murphy, "Buddhist Landscapes: Art and Archaeology of the Khorat Plateau, 7th to 11th Centuries" (NUS Press, 2024)
New Books in Southeast Asian Studies

Each year, the Centre of South East Asian Studies welcomes Visiting Scholars and Research Associates working in the field of South East Asian studies. These scholars join us to benefit from SOAS's vibrant research culture and world-class library collections.

We are pleased to support both early-career and established researchers seeking affiliation with the Centre.

For full details on eligibility, fees, and how to apply, please visit our Honorary Appointments page.

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