SOAS University of London

South East Asia Section, School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics

South East Asia Section Staff

Head of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics

Dr Ben Murtagh

Learning & Teaching Coordinator

Dr Dana Healy

Research Coordinator

Professor Friederike Luepke

Undergraduate Admissions Tutor

Mr Mohamed Said

Undergraduate Programme Convenors

Dr Dana Healy (BA Vietnamese and...)

Dr Ben Murtagh (BA Indonesian and...)

Professor Rachel Harrison (BA Thai and..., BA Burmese (Myanmar) and..., BA South East Asian Studies, BA South East Asian Studies including Year Abroad)

Professor Justin Watkins (BA Burmese (Myanmar) and...)

Postgraduate Programme Convenor

Dr Dana Healy (MA Pacific Asian Studies, MA South East Asian Studies, MA South East Asian Studies and Intensive Language)

Research Tutor

Professor Michael Hutt (Term 1), Professor Francesca Orsini (Terms 2-3)

  • Please note that for Masters Students the Admissions Tutor and Personal Tutor is the Postgraduate Programme Convenor.

Academic Advisors

Year 1: Dr Dana Healy

Years 2-4: Professor Rachel Harrison
Rachel V Harrison
Professor of Thai Cultural Studies / Editor of South East Asia Research
Rachel Harrison 2018
Modern Thai Cultural Studies, Cinema and Literature; gender studies with reference to Thailand; literary criticism and South East Asian Literatures in a comparative context; Western film set in South East Asia
  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4247
  • Email: rh6@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 455
  • Academic Support Hours: On Research Leave in Term 2
Dana Healy
Senior Lecturer in Vietnamese
Dana Healy
Modern Vietnamese cultural studies (literature, film, gender); Vietnamese social and cultural history (the Vietnam War; art and politics); the sociology of contemporary Vietnamese literature; the Vietnamese diaspora
  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4252
  • Email: dh4@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 465
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesday 2-3pm, Wednesday 10-11am
Mulaika Hijjas
Lecturer in South East Asian Studies
Mulaika Hijjas

The Malay manuscript tradition; Islam in South East Asia; gender in the Malay world; modern literatures of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore

  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4253
  • Email: mh86@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 454
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesday 11-12, Friday 11.30-12.30
Ben Murtagh
Senior Lecturer in Indonesian and Malay
Ben Murtagh
Modern Indonesian cinema and literature; queer studies and sexuality in Indonesia; representation of genders and sexuality in Southeast Asian film and literatures; traditional Malay literature
  • Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4248
  • Email: bm10@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 466
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesday 9-10am
Justin Watkins
Professor of Burmese
Justin Watkins

Burmese languages and Burmese linguistics; language policy in Burma; experimental and acoustic phonetics; computer lexicography; minority languages of South East Asia; Mon-Khmer and Tibeto Burman languages; tone languages. Sign languages in Burma and South East Asia.

  • Tel: 020 7898 4254
  • Email: jw2@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 462
  • Academic Support Hours: On leave until April 2019 - SEE BELOW

Senior Lectors

Teaching Fellows

Cristina Martinez-Juan
Senior Teaching Fellow
Cristina Juan

Philippine Post-colonial and Comparative Literature Studies; British Occupation of Manila; Philippine languages and linguistics; Ethnography of Communication; Writing systems; Southeast Asian Studies; Gender and Migration

  • Tel: 020 7898 4252
  • Email: cj14@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 423
  • Academic Support Hours: Wednesday 1-2pm or by appointment

Research Associates

Emeritus Professors

Vladimir I Braginsky
Emeritus Professor; Professorial Research Associate
Vladimir Braginski
Malay and Indonesian classical and modern literature and culture; Islam in the Malay-Indonesian world; Islamic literature of South East Asia; comparative study of South East Asian literatures; Malay philology and traditional literature sufism in Malay literature
E Ulrich Kratz
Emeritus Professor; Professorial Research Associate
SEA-img-Kratz Ernst
Traditional Malay philology; the contemporary literatures, cultures and societies of the Malay-speaking world; Malay society; Malay culture; Malay history; Malay politics; Malay religion