The European Association for South-East Asian Studies (EUROSEAS).

By Peter Boomgaard

In 1992, nineteen Southeast-Asia specialists from Great Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands held a meeting at which they agreed that there was an urgent need for structured European cooperation. EUROSEAS was founded to meet that need.
A Dutch-language version of the Statutes was registered with a notary public as stipulated by Dutch law on 7 July 1993, which is therefore the official date of foundation of EUROSEAS. A campaign to familiarize European Southeast Asianists with EUROSEAS in order to acquire members had already started by then. In January 1994 when the reactions to the forms sent out by the Secretariat came in, 150 scholars were registered as members. This number has now risen to 400.

Aims
EUROSEAS sets itself the task of enhancing the position of Southeast Asian Studies in Europe. The association wishes to put Southeast Asian Studies into a wider, European context. EUROSEAS looks after the interests of scholars and institutions specializing in Southeast-Asia, and draws the attention of international funding agencies and organizati- ons to this branch of studies.
Importantly, EUROSEAS encourages contacts between European scholars from different disciplines. The Association stimulates collaboration between the various national institutions concerned with Southeast Asian Studies in order to encourage more interdis- ciplinary and international research. EUROSEAS will also encourage inter-regional research within Southeast Asia itself.

Finally, EUROSEAS will provide scholars from within Southeast Asia and from other areas outside Europe with greater access to European research facilities.

Activities
EUROSEAS issues the European Newsletter of South-East Asian Studies (ENSEAS) in collaboration with the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (KITLV) in the Netherlands twice a year. In this Newsletter all meetings, current research programmes, and the titles of newly published studies relating to Southeast Asia in Europe are announced. EUROSEAS members receive the ENSEAS Newsletter free of charge. EUROSEAS regularly organizes interdisciplinary conferences on Southeast Asian topics. Active participation in all is encouraged in order to achieve an intensive exchange of knowledge and ideas. In June 1995 the first EUROSEAS Conference, "Keys to South- East Asia", was held in Leiden, the Netherlands at which two hundred scholars participated.
EUROSEAS is compiling a European Directory of South-East Asian Studies, in which all European scholars specializing on Southeast Asia will be listed. For each scholar listed, the directory will give their position, country of specialization, publicati- ons, and special research interests. The directory will list over 2,000 European Southeast Asia specialists.

In the long run EUROSEAS, besides being an active association of scholars, intends to function as a databank for those wishing to find out what is available in Europe in terms of scholarly expertise, research facilities, and literature in relation to Southeast Asia, and where the sources and specialists on specific fields of research can be found. EUROSEAS will eventually coordinate library facilities and stored data, as well as fundraising and re- search by European scholars on Southeast Asia.

The EUROSEAS members
Ordinary membership of EUROSEAS is open to all residents of Europe possessing an MA or equivalent degree in the social, cultural, or linguistic sciences, or who have passed an exam comparable to an MA in a subject relating to Southeast-Asia.

Members receive discounts on the prices of publications from affiliated institutions and on conference fees. A list of discounts can be obtained from the EUROSEAS secretariat. Members receive the European Newsletter of South-East Asian Studies (ENSEAS) twice a year. The European Directory of South-East Asian studies will be available to EUROSEAS members at cost price. At the General Meetings of EUROSEAS all ordinary and corporate members have voting rights.
Scholarly associations, institutions and other organizations focused on Southeast Asia can also become members of EUROSEAS. To obtain membership, they should send an application to the secretariat. They will then be accepted as a corporate member. Members may nominate students for associate membership at a reduced fee.

Application
To apply for membership, graduates should fill in an application form which is available from the EUROSEAS secretariat. Students resident in Europe may become associate members on the recommendation of a supervisor who is a member of the Association.

The EUROSEAS Board
To ensure the full representation of all European nationalities on the board of EUROSEAS, the founders of the Association have opted for a structure in which there are two board members per European geographical region. The members of EUROSEAS elect the board for a two-year period. A new Board was elected in 1995.
The EUROSEAS Board meets once a year. The Executive Committee of the Association also meets once a year, in between the Board Meetings.

For details on membership of EUROSEAS, Board matters, conferences or the Directory, please contact:

The EUROSEAS Secretariat
Ms Ageeth van der Veen
c/o KITLV
P.O.Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands.
Tel: +31-71-527 2295
fax: +31-71-527 2638.
E-mail: kitlv@let.leidenuniv.nl

Professor Peter Boomgaard is the Secretary of EUROSEAS