Research Fellows at the IIAS

One of the most important policies of the IIAS is to share scholarly expertise by offering universities and other research institutes the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge of resident fellows. IIAS fellows can be invited to lecture, participate in seminars, cooperate on research projects etc. The IIAS is most willing to mediate in establishing contacts. Both national and international integration of Asian Studies are a very important objective.

The IIAS distinguishes between several categories of fellows:

1. research fellows (post PhD, <40 years)

aa.  individual 
b.   attached to a programme, i.e. 'Changing Lifestyles in Asia'; 'Cultural

Traditions in Endangered Minorities of South and Southeast Asia'; and 'International Social Organization in East and Southeast Asia: Qiaoxiang Ties in the Twentieth Century').
They are attached to the International Institute for Asian Studies for 1 to 3 years, carrying out independent research and fieldwork, and organizing an international seminar once per year.
2. senior visiting fellows (post PhD) The IIAS offers senior scholars the possibility to engage in research work in the Netherlands. The period can vary from 1 to 4 months.
3. professorial fellows The IIAS assists in mediating between universities in the Netherlands and Research Institutes in Asia, inviting established scholars (minimum requirement: assistant professor level) to share their expertise with Dutch scholars, by being affiliated to Dutch universities for a period of one to two years.
4. visiting exchange fellows (post PhD level) The IIAS has signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with foreign research institutes, thus providing scholars with an opportunity to participate in international exchanges. The Nordic Institute for Asian Studies (NIAS) in Copenhagen and the Australian National University (ANU) regularly send scholars to the Netherlands to do research for a period from 1 to 6 months. In exchange, Dutch scholars can apply to be sent abroad to the MoU-institutes of the IIAS. 5. affiliated fellows (post PhD level). The IIAS can offer office facilities to fellows who have found their own financial support and who would like to do research in the Netherlands for a certain period. The Board of the IIAS decides who is eligible.
More detailed information can be obtained via the IIAS secretariat: 071 - 527.22.27. As it is one of the policies of the IIAS to stimulate (inter)national exchange, we will gladly mediate in establishing contacts and availability in delivering lectures, organizing seminars. etc.

1. research fellows
At present the IIAS is host to 11 research fellows. Below you will find an overview of their names and research topics: Dr C. Chou (Singapore)
Dr Chou is working within the programme Cultural Traditions in Endangered Minorities of South and Southeast Asia on 'The Orang Suku Laut (Sea Nomads): the indigenous Malays of Southeast Asia'. From 4 to 6 October she and Dr Will Derks will host the seminar on 'Riau in Transition: The Globalisation of a Peripheral Region in Indonesia' in Leiden.

Dr W.A.G. Derks (the Netherlands)
Dr Derks' topic is 'The Search for Malayness' within the collaborative framework of Changing Lifestyles. He and Dr C. Chou are co-organizing the seminar 'Riau in Transition: the globalisation of a peripheral region in Indonesia', to be held in Leiden from 4 to 6 October 1995.

Dr M.L.L.G. Hockx (the Netherlands)
Dr Hockx is carrying out research on 'Literary Societies and the Literary Field in Pre-war Republican China (1911- 1937)'. He was host to the 'International Workshop on Modern Chinese Poetry', organized by Dr M. Hockx, IIAS fellow, and Prof. Michelle Yeh, University of California, in Leiden from 27 to 29 September.

Dr J.E.M. Houben (the Netherlands)
After having carried out research on 'Theoretical and Socio-Linguistic Attitudes of Bhartrhari and later Sanskrit Grammarians' in 1994, Dr Houben has taken up his second fellowship at the IIAS doing research on 'the early history of Paninian grammar and the origin of eternal Sanskrit'.

Dr M.J. Klokke (the Netherlands)
Dr Klokke is working within the programme Cultural Traditions in Endangered Minorities of South and Southeast Asia looking at 'Principles of Space Arrangement and Orientation in the Ancient Hindu and Buddhist Architecture of Indonesia: an example of the persistence of the Dong-Son heritage'. From 2 to 6 September 1996 she will organize the '6th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists' in Leiden.

Dr P.P. Mohapatra (India)
Dr Mohapatra is studying 'The Making of a Coolie: recovering the experience of indentured Indian migrants in the Caribbean sugar plantations, 1838-1918'. From 26 to 28 October he and Dr M. van der Linden, IISG Amsterdam, will organize a seminar 'South Asian Labour: Linkages - Global and Local' (in Amsterdam).

Dr S. Munshi (India)
Dr Munshi is working within the framework of the programme Changing Lifestyles. She is engaged in research on how traditional concerns of women are being changed to global concerns in the urban scenario of India, and how new forms of identity are available to women. From 6 to 8 November Dr S. Munshi is organizing an international seminar on 'Images of Women in Media', in Leiden.

Dr J.C.M. Peeters (the Netherlands)
Dr Peeters cooperates with other fellows in the programme Changing Lifestyles, investigating 'Islamic Youth Groups in Indonesia: globalization and universalism in a local context'.

Dr D. Tooker (United States of America)
Dr Tooker is working both within the programme and as programme director of Cultural Traditions in Endangered Minorities of South and Southeast Asia on 'Contextual hierarchy: the pragmatics of spatial signs among the Akha'. She is preparing the Second International Conference on Hani-Akha Culture (in Chiang Mai, Thailand), in cooperation with the Tribal Research Institute in Chiang Mai. Co-organizer is: The South-East Asian Mountain Peoples' Culture and Development Organization (SEAMP), a Thai NGO in Chiang Mai, Thailand. To be held from 12 to 18 May 1996.

Dr M.P. Vischer (Switzerland)
Dr Vischer, working within the programme Cultural Traditions in Endangered Minorities of South and Southeast Asia, is undertaking research after 'Origin Structures: a comparative socio-cosmological study'. An international seminar has been planned for Febraury, about 'Hierarchialization'.

Dr Y. Zhang (People's Republic of China)
Dr Zhang's research topic is 'Administrative Litigation in China and Japan'. Extension of his contract has been granted for another year, during which time Dr Zhang will deepen his knowledge of Chinese law in general, with a particular interest in tax laws.

IIAS alumni
Dr R.J. Barendse
Dr B. Bhattacharya
Dr L. Dong
Dr C.R. Groeneboer
Prof. B.J. Ter Haar
Dr M. Liechty
Dr P. Pels
Dr R. Sybesma

2. senior visiting fellows
IIAS offers senior scholars the possibility to engage in research work in the Netherlands. The period can vary from 1 to 4 months. The IIAS will be welcoming several senior visiting fellows in the coming period:

5 September - 31 October 1995
Dr S. Rozario
Field of research: sociology, anthropology Proposed research: 'Women, Health and Development Issues in South Asia'

5 September - 23 December 1995
Dr M. Roberts
Field of research: Ethnic violence and political culture.
Proposed research: 'Understanding Zealotry'.

1 December 1995 - 31 January 1996
Prof. B. Terwiel
Field of research: Thai language and culture

2 January - 30 April 1996
Dr Dilip Chandra
Field of research: socio-politics
Proposed research: 'The Role of Islam in Contemporary Indonesia - an alternative perspective'
April - May 1996
Prof. O. Prakash
Field of research: Economic, social and cultural history
Proposed research: 'Trade as a Variable in Determining Lifestyles: Indian merchants in the Indian Ocean Trade'
15 May - 15 August 1996
Prof. W.H. Frederick
Field of research: history
Proposed research: 'The Revolution in East Java, 1946-1949'

20 March - 20 July 1996
Dr Deepak Kumar
Field of research: Indian colonial history
Proposed research: 'Science and Colonization: a comparative study of the Dutch Indies and British India, 1900-1945'
3. Professorial fellows
The IIAS has assisted in mediating between the University of Ramkhamhaeng, Thailand, and the Leiden University. Dr. Archara Pengpanich (an associate professor at the University of Ramkhamhaeng) arrived in the Netherlands in January 1995. She is offering courses in Thai language and culture for two years at the universities of both Amsterdam and Leiden.
Prof. Abdul Wahab bin Ali of the University of Malaya will be resident in the Netherlands from 1 May 1995 to 31 May 1997 as guest professor in Malayan Studies.

4. Visiting exchange fellows
Close cooperation with the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) and the Australian National University (ANU) has resulted in a regular exchange of scholars. Contacts with Vietnamese universities will become more regular in the near future. The IIAS is expecting the following scholars:

11 September - 20 December, 1995 Dr S. Sato (lecturer in Japanese at the Department of Modern Languages at Newcastle University, Australia/ANU) 'The Impact of the Second World War on Southeast Asia';
11 September - 10 October
Tran Ky Phuong from Vietnam, curator of the Museum of Champa Sculpture at Danang

24-29 September
Dr Leif Littrup (lecturer at the Department of Asian Studies in Copenhagen/NIAS), guest of the Sinological Institute in Leiden;
29 Sept.- end October Dr Knut Sigurdson Vikør (Director of the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway/NIAS) 'The Meaning of "Interpretation": Mohammed b. Aki al- Sanusi's Kitab Iqaz al-wasnan'.

1996
Dr Alison Murray (research fellow at the Department of Human Geography, Division of Society and Environment at the research School of Pacific and Asian Studies/ANU) will stay with the IIAS for 6 months in 1996, doing research on the 'Cultural Practice among the Kalinga of Luzon and the Kenyah of Kalimantan, Indonesia'.
5. affiliated fellows
The IIAS is hoping to welcome the following affiliates:
Dr Alex McKay, who will stay in Leiden for one year on a research award granted by the British Leverhulme Trust. His research is concerned with the history of the multi-faith pilgrimage to Mount Kailas in Western Tibet.
Prof. Chen Xiaoming (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing), a leading authority in China on modern and contemporary Chinese literature, who will stay for one year from November 1995, supported by the Netherlands Royal Academy of Sciences. His research concerns 'Pluralistic Difficulties: contemporary Chinese culture in a transition period'.

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