Institute of the Malay World and Civilization
Established 28 years ago, the Institute of the Malay World and Civilization, or known by its Malay acronym ATMA, is the only full-fledged academic research institute in Malaysia that concentrates solely on the study of the 'Malay World', the vast maritime-riverine complex of Southeast Asia, thus forming a major component of Southeast Asian Studies. The research activities are conducted through an application of the three major universal academic orientations, namely 'disciplinary' (sociology, economics, history, etc.), 'thematic' (development studies, communications studies, gender studies, etc.), and 'area studies' (Malay Studies, Chinese Studies, European Studies, etc.).
Administratively, ATMA is divided into three divisions, namely 'Research and Postgraduate', 'Documentation & Publication', and 'Skill Development' (Malay language and Information Technology), each conducting its own activities but always complementing one another. ATMA both offers fellowships and welcomes funded-fellows to spend time at the Institute, which provides a host of supporting secretarial and technical facilities, both for fellows and postgraduate students. It has its own research library and its special collections, complemented by the main library's Southeast Asia Collection and other holdings.
Research and Related Activities
Research is the Institute's core activity around which other activities are built and generated. The five major areas of interest related to the Malay world that is of concern to the Institute are as follows: 1. theory constructions; 2. language; 3. literature; 4. culture; 5. education. For each area, a senior scholar is designated as the 'lead scholar'-cum-co-ordinator for all research and related activities, including senior research funds.
ATMA also runs short and extended Malay language courses both for beginners and advanced learners, especially for post-graduate students intending to do research and fieldwork in the Malay world. The Institute also publishes books and journals in the traditional printed form as well as electronic digital form. It organizes seminars and conferences regularly both of which are for academics as well as the general public. *
INSTITUT ALAM DAN TAMADUN MELAYU (ATMA)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel.: +60-3-825 0929
Fax: +60-3-825 4698
E-mail: pghatma@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my
Http://www.atma.ukm.my
Professor Hein Steinhauer is co-ordinator of the Dutch-Indonesian Dictionary Project (DIDIC) and the IIAS Extraordinary Chair for the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
E-mail: steinhauer@let.leidenuniv.nl