Institute Of Asian Studies

The Institute of Asian Studies

The Institute of Asian Studies (IAS) at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) is a research institute dedicated to producing and disseminating cutting-edge knowledge about the (1) regionalism and internationalisation, (2) urbanisation, sustainability and precarity and (3) people, environment and culture of the Asian region. With a core staff and affiliated researchers producing multidisciplinary scholarship, and located at the heart of Asia on the beautiful and ecologically diverse island of Borneo, the IAS serves Brunei as well as the global community in elevating our understanding of this dynamic region of the world.

News & Events

Seminar on The River as Method: Revisiting Asian Studies

The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) recently held a seminar on “The River as Method: Revisiting Asian Studies” by Assoc. Prof. Iftekhar Iqbal, FASS, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

New journal article on international student mobility by IAS researcher

Senior Assistant Professor and Director of the Institute of Asian Studies Koh Sin Yee recently published a journal article entitled “Racial Sensemaking and International Student Mobility: Mainland Chinese Students in Singapore and Malaysia Navigating Multiculturalism and Multiracialism” in Ethnic and Racial Studies (Q1, Scopus). The article is co-authored with Madeleine Shutler (National University of Singapore) and Professor Brenda Yeoh (National University of Singapore). […]

Working Paper on Brunei’s Digital Voices: Uncovering Algospeak and How TikTok Consumers Drive Language Change

The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam is pleased to announce the publication of IAS Working Paper No. 90: Brunei’s Digital Voices: Uncovering Algospeak and how TikTok consumers drive language change by Nur Hayati binti Mohd Yusof . Please see below for details. Download the Working Paper Abstract: This paper investigates the role […]

Seminar on The Myth of Homogeneity: Asian Values and the Cultural Limits of the “Global South”

The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) recently held a seminar on “The Myth of Homogeneity: Asian Values and the Cultural Limits of the “Global South”” by Prof. Chang-Yau Hoon, Visiting Professor at IAS, Universiti Brunei Darussalam; Professor and Director of the International Office at Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Seminar on Colonial Photography: Hendrik Tillema in Search of the Exotic and the Ethical

The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) recently held a seminar on “Colonial Photography: hendrik Tillema in Search of the Exotic and the Ethical” by Prof. Victor T. King, IAS, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Staff

The staff of IAS consists of researchers in the Institute and research fellows from across the University. While the main focus of the IAS staff is on conducting research and publishing, IAS researchers also regularly teach modules for such majors as Anthropology & Sociology and History & International Relations in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), as well as supervise graduate students in IAS, and both graduate and undergraduate students studying in programs in other faculties.

Scholarship

The core mission of the IAS staff is to engage in research and to publish.

These are some recent representative publications.

B. Jetin (2018). “Production Networks of the Asian Automobile Industry: Regional or Global?”. International Journal of Automobile Technology and Management, 18 (4), pp. 302-328. DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2018.097346

Franco, F.M. and Minggu, M.J. (2019). “When the Seeds Sprout, the Hornbills Hatch: Understanding the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Ibans of Brunei Darussalam on Hornbills”. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 15 (46). DOI: 10.1186/s13002-019-0325-0

Victor T. King (2019). “Truth’s Fool: Derek Freeman and the War over Cultural Anthropology”, International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 15 (1), pp. 183-197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13063

Paul J. Carnegie (2019). “National Imaginary, Ethnic Plurality, and State Formation in Indonesia,” in Ratuva S. (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_165-2

Chang-Yau Hoon and Esther Kuntjara (2019). “The Politics of Mandarin Fever in Contemporary Indonesia: Resinicization, Economic Impetus, and China’s Soft Power”, Asian Survey, 59(3): 573-594. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2019.59.3.573

Liam C. Kelley (2020). “The Centrality of ‘Fringe History’: Diaspora, The Internet and a New Version of Vietnamese Prehistory,” International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 16 (1): 71–104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21315/ijaps2020.16.1.3

Seminar Series

To exchange ideas with other members of the University community and the public, the IAS holds a regular seminar series.

Working Paper Series

The Institute also maintains a working paper series to highlight and disseminate the cutting-edge work of IAS researchers, UBD faculty, and other scholars working in and on the region.

Book Series

The Institute maintains a book series with academic publisher Springer on “Asia in Transition.”

Video Interviews

The Institute creates video interviews with IAS staff members, IAS research associates, UBD lecturers who research about Asia, and visitors to IAS who share their knowledge on topics ranging from the Belt and Road Initiative to Hornbills in Brunei.

Graduate Studies

IAS offers research-based MA and PhD programmes in Asian Studies.

Conferences

The Institute maintains productive relations with numerous international scholars and scholarly organizations.

Global Engagement

The Institute maintains productive relations with numerous international scholars and scholarly organizations.