OUR EVENTS

Month
FILIPIÑANA
Aug
28
to Sep 3

FILIPIÑANA

Join Film Forum for the screening of FILIPIÑANA by Rafael Manuel. This Sundance prize winner, executive-produced by Jia Zhangke, follows a young "tee girl" at a posh golf club outside Manila, whose wanderings reveal troubling truths about the club, her native Philippines, and her own past.

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Lust for Silver in Burma, Britain, and Dekalb, Illinois
Sep
4

Lust for Silver in Burma, Britain, and Dekalb, Illinois

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University (NIU) for a talk by Richard M. Cooler, Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the Center for Burma Studies and the School of Art and Design at NIU. The lecture will be followed by a presentation of silver artworks in the North Gallery, Art Museum.

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Challenges Confronting Philippine Democracy
Sep
9

Challenges Confronting Philippine Democracy

Join Sulo: The Philippine Studies Initiative at NYU; NYSEAN; and Team Pinas for fireside chats on China’s role in the West Philippine Sea and Duterte’s War on Drugs and impeachment. Panelists include Dr. Gary Ador Dionisio, Carlo Flores, Dr. Ederson Tapia, Dr. Sherwin Ona, Professor Richard Heydarian, Atty. Dino De Leon, Prof. Cleve Arguelles, and Professor Sofonias Gabonada.

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Understanding Malaysia’s Public Administration and Elite Appointments
Sep
9

Understanding Malaysia’s Public Administration and Elite Appointments

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Chan Xin Ying, PhD candidate in Political Science at the National University of Singapore, and Ooi Kok Hin, Visiting Fellow with the Malaysia Studies Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. The speakers will explore the dynamics of Malaysia’s federal public administration by comparing Malaysia’s two Pakatan Harapan-led administrations: the Mahathir Mohamad government of 2018–2020 and Anwar Ibrahim’s Unity Government from 2022.

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Geraldine Javier’s “State of the Nations” Exhibition at Silverlens Gallery
Sep
10
to Oct 24

Geraldine Javier’s “State of the Nations” Exhibition at Silverlens Gallery

Join Silverlens Gallery for State of the Nations, the first U.S. solo exhibition of renowned Philippine artist Geraldine Javier. Currently central to her practice is “eco-printing,” a laborious, hand-based technique of monoprinting by pressing the sap and pigment of leaves, roots, flowers, and bark directly into paper or fabric, which is then overlaid with intricate embroidery. Javier’s exhibition will be on view from September 10 through October 24, 2026.

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Opening Reception: Geraldine Javier’s “State of the Nations” Exhibition
Sep
10

Opening Reception: Geraldine Javier’s “State of the Nations” Exhibition

Join Silverlens Gallery for the opening reception for State of the Nations, the first U.S. solo exhibition of renowned Philippine artist Geraldine Javier. Currently central to her practice is “eco-printing,” a laborious, hand-based technique of monoprinting by pressing the sap and pigment of leaves, roots, flowers, and bark directly into paper or fabric, which is then overlaid with intricate embroidery. Javier’s exhibition will be on view from September 10 through October 24, 2026.

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Translation as Jungle Warfare: How Zhang Guixing’s novel "The Crossing of the Boars" Crossed into English
Sep
11

Translation as Jungle Warfare: How Zhang Guixing’s novel "The Crossing of the Boars" Crossed into English

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Michigan for a talk by Christopher Rea, professor of modern Chinese literature at the University of British Columbia, who will discuss his and Julie M. Wang’s translation of The Crossing of the Boars by Malaysian-Taiwanese novelist Chang Kuei-hsing (Zhang Guixing).

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Making Orders in Contestation: Civil War and Online Scams in Myanmar’s Borderlands
Sep
14

Making Orders in Contestation: Civil War and Online Scams in Myanmar’s Borderlands

  • NYU Wagner – Lafayette Conference Room, 2nd Floor (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN and the Master’s Program in International Relations at NYU for a talk by Kota Watanabe, Visiting Scholar at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Dr. Watanabe will discuss the shaping of local orders behind the civil war and the expansion of online scamming in the borderlands of Myanmar.

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Teaching Asian American and Pacific Islander History – We Are Here Because You Were There: Race, Colonialism, and Migration
Sep
14

Teaching Asian American and Pacific Islander History – We Are Here Because You Were There: Race, Colonialism, and Migration

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center, with support from The Asian American Foundation, presents this webinar series on teaching Asian American and Pacific Islander Histories for K-12 and University Educators. Learn from leading scholars and classroom educators how to integrate AAPI narratives into your curriculum.

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Five Years after the Youth Protests: The Thai Monarchy Strikes Back
Sep
15

Five Years after the Youth Protests: The Thai Monarchy Strikes Back

  • NYU Wagner – Mulberry Conference Room, 2nd Floor (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN and the Master’s Program in International Relations at NYU for a talk by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University. He will discuss the Thai monarchy’s strategic response to the 2020 youth-led protests that called for reforms to the royal family’s place in national life.

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Between Empires: Vietnam’s AI Ambitions and the Limits of the US–China Frame
Sep
15

Between Empires: Vietnam’s AI Ambitions and the Limits of the US–China Frame

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Dang Nguyen, a Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholar at the School of Information, University of California, Berkeley. By situating Vietnam’s AI strategy within broader debates about technological sovereignty and dependency, this webinar reconsiders how smaller states exercise agency in a landscape increasingly defined by competing technological superpowers.

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Weight of Sentences: Political Prosecutions in Thailand Since 2020
Sep
17

Weight of Sentences: Political Prosecutions in Thailand Since 2020

  • 210 Bogart Street Brooklyn, New York, 11206 United States (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join Engage Thailand and 112WATCH for a typographic poster exhibition and fundraiser regarding political prosecutions in Thailand since 2020. This event features a thought-provoking art exhibit and a fireside chat with Pavin Chachavalpongpun on the state of political prosecutions in Thailand in the aftermath of the 2020 pro-democracy mass movement.

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Environmental Crisis in Southeast Asia: Politics, Misrule, and Resistance
Oct
22
to Oct 23

Environmental Crisis in Southeast Asia: Politics, Misrule, and Resistance

  • NYU Wagner – Main Event Space, Room 101 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN for a conference that brings together scholars and practitioners to examine the politics of the environmental crisis across Southeast Asia—a region where socio-ecological ruptures are not aberrations but products of longstanding structures of extraction and governance failure.

Speakers include: Naser al Haq, Ward Berenschot, Art Blundell, Pai Deetes, Jessica DiCarlo, Brian Eyler, John Gershman, Erik Harms, Thuy Ho, Sidney Jones, Gwen Latoza, Yifei Li, Munawar Liza, Danny Marks, Dian Patria, Natchaya Pichetsatha, Frances Seymour, Jewellord “Jojo” Nem Singh, Dewi Suralaga, Eve Warburton, Piyaporn Wongruang, and Kevin Woods

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Luce Scholars Program Information Session – Q&A for Applicants
Sep
1

Luce Scholars Program Information Session – Q&A for Applicants

Join the Henry Luce Foundation to learn more about the Luce Scholars Program, a 12-month leadership development program that provides immersive, professional experiences in Asia. Designed to deepen mutual understanding and strengthen relationships across borders, the Luce Scholars Program emphasizes experiential learning rather than academic study.

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Asia’s Digital Alignment Through Trade
Sep
1

Asia’s Digital Alignment Through Trade

Join the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) for a virtual panel discussion marking the launch of ASPI’s new tracker, the Asian Digital Trade Agreement Tracker. Speakers include Elina Noor, nonresident scholar in the Asia Program at Carnegie; Nigel Cory, director with Crowell Global Advisors and non-resident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research, and Faye Simanjuntak, a Schwarzman Fellow at  ASPI in New York. Panelists will discuss the tracker's key insights, the strategic logic driving the region's digital alignment, and what this patchwork of trade agreements means for AI governance in the Indo-Pacific.

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FILIPIÑANA and Q&A with Filmmaker Rafael Manuel
Aug
29

FILIPIÑANA and Q&A with Filmmaker Rafael Manuel

Join Film Forum for the screening of FILIPIÑANA by Rafael Manuel, followed by a Q&A with the writer/director/editor.

This Sundance prize winner, executive-produced by Jia Zhangke, follows a young "tee girl" at a posh golf club outside Manila, whose wanderings reveal troubling truths about the club, her native Philippines, and her own past.

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AAIFF Film Shorts: On the Move – Immigrants in 2026
Aug
8

AAIFF Film Shorts: On the Move – Immigrants in 2026

Join Asian CineVision for the screenings of Almost American, Homecoming and Going, Daily Worker, ITALIANO, Confucius Plaza, i see myself in you, and Cabbage Daddy as part of the Asian American International Film Festival. These shorts are contemporary films about immigrants from Asia.

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The Act of Dreaming
Aug
8

The Act of Dreaming

Join Asian CineVision for the world premiere of The Act of Dreaming at the Asian American International Film Festival. This documentary follows three immigrant families as they navigate life in Buffalo, NY in 2024: an Ecuadorian family seeking asylum, a Syrian father rebuilding after war, and a Burmese mother and daughter adjusting after decades in a refugee camp. A Q&A will follow the screening.

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AAIFF Film Shorts: How to Heal a Broken Heart
Aug
7

AAIFF Film Shorts: How to Heal a Broken Heart

Join Asian CineVision for the screenings of i saw you in the flood, Before You, Huong, The Boy with the Dinosaur Head, Whereabouts, and Yu & Me as part of the Asian American International Film Festival. These shorts show how filmmakers find the light in tragedies and overcome heartbreak through the help of their families and communities. This screening will be followed by a Q&A.

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Sea Song
Aug
7

Sea Song

Join Asian CineVision for a screening of Sea Song directed by An-Phuong Ly. This film is part of an in-person shorts-feature combination screening and will be followed by the documentary series, Southeast Asian American Stories.

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Emotional Filipinos: The American Myth of the “Lazy Native” and Islamic Separatism in the Philippines
Aug
5

Emotional Filipinos: The American Myth of the “Lazy Native” and Islamic Separatism in the Philippines

  • NYU Wagner – Lafayette Conference Room, 2nd Floor (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN and Sulo: The Philippine Studies Initiative at NYU for a talk by George B. Radics, senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Radics will discuss his new book, Emotional Filipinos The American Myth of the Lazy Native and Islamic Separatism in the Philippines.

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AAIFF Film Shorts: To Take Then Give – Caring for One Another
Aug
2

AAIFF Film Shorts: To Take Then Give – Caring for One Another

Join Asian CineVision for the screenings of Rice Run, Grandma’s Four Color Cards, Sonia Honey, Milk & Honey, Enough, and The Sale as part of the Asian American International Film Festival. These shorts examine the sacrifices that parents make for the sake of their children’s futures. The insecurities and tears are often unseen by those enjoying the care and comforts of the hard-won sacrifices. The screenings will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A.

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Sisa
Jul
31

Sisa

Join Asian CineVision for the North American premiere of Sisa at the Asian American International Film Festival. A Q&A will follow the screening, with producer Rey Cuerdo and lead cast Hilda Koronel joining in person, director Jun Robles Lana joining live via Zoom from Manila, and moderated by Leslie Li.

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Whisperings of the Moon
Jul
31

Whisperings of the Moon

Join Asian CineVision for the East Coast premiere of Whisperings of the Moon at the Asian American International Film Festival. Nisay, an actress haunted by loss, returns to Cambodia and to Thida — a love once forbidden. Bound by the weight of family and society, their passion survives only in memory and performance, until it must fade away.

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Levitating: AAIFF Opening Night Screening & Reception
Jul
30

Levitating: AAIFF Opening Night Screening & Reception

Join Asian CineVision for the NYC premiere of the Indonesian supernatural drama Levitating, a Sundance 2026 selection directed by Wregas Bhanuteja about spiritual possession and fighting against gentrification. The screening will be followed by an in-person Q&A with the director and the opening night reception for the Asian American International Film Festival.

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The U.S. and China’s Cybercrime Offensives: Successes, Shortfalls, and Next Steps in Southeast Asia
Jul
22

The U.S. and China’s Cybercrime Offensives: Successes, Shortfalls, and Next Steps in Southeast Asia

Join the Asia Society Policy Institute for a webinar unpacking both the state of the cybercrime industry in Southeast Asia and beyond, what the U.S. and China have done so far to address it, where these approaches have fallen short, and needed next steps. Speakers include Sue-Lin Wong, Asia Correspondent at The Economist and host of the award-winning Scam Inc. podcast; Jacob Sims, expert on transnational crime and Visiting Fellow at Harvard’s Asia Center; and Selina Ho, Dean's Chair Associate Professor in International Affairs and Vice-Dean (Research and Development), Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Bryanna Entwistle, Press and Program Officer at ASPI, will moderate.

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Lingua Franca
Jul
11

Lingua Franca

Join the Asia Society and Asian CineVision for a screening of Lingua Franca by Isabel Sandoval.

In her only feature to date made in the USA, Sandoval stars as Olivia, an undocumented trans Filipina woman living in Brooklyn and working as a caregiver.

Followed by a Q&A.

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Aparisyon (Apparition)
Jul
10

Aparisyon (Apparition)

Join the Asia Society and Asian CineVision for a screening of Aparisyon (Apparition) by Isabel Sandoval.

It’s 1971 in a remote forest near Manila, where Sister Lourdes (Jodi Sta. Maria) arrives to join a cloister of nuns—in theory separated from the outside world—at the convent Adoration.

Followed by a Q&A.

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Señorita
Jul
9

Señorita

Join the Asia Society and Asian CineVision for a screening of Señorita by Isabel Sandoval.

Donna (Isabel Sandoval) is a trans woman in a small town in the Philippines who takes care of her friend’s son and works as the aide to a do-gooding mayoral candidate.

Followed by a Q&A.

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Demographic Anomalies During Indonesia’s Years of “Living Dangerously”
Jun
23
to Jun 24

Demographic Anomalies During Indonesia’s Years of “Living Dangerously”

  • McDonald Room, Menzies Library, ANU (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the ANU Indonesia Project for a talk by Siddharth Chandra, Professor of Economics in James Madison College and Director of the Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University, who will discuss demographic changes in Indonesia during the turbulent 1960s. 

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Collection Launch Event: Hanoi Grapevine’s Finest
Jun
19

Collection Launch Event: Hanoi Grapevine’s Finest

Join the Southeast Asia Digital Library to celebrate the launch of their newest collection, Hanoi Grapevine's Finest, with a discussion on Audience-led Archives and Contemporary Vietnamese Art. Speakers include Nguyễn Tú Hằng, Director of Hanoi Grapevine; Emily Zinger, Southeast Asia Digital Librarian, and Đỗ Tường Linh, Director of the Nguyen Wahed Gallery and Art Curator Vincom Center for Contemporary Art.

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Lost Land (Harà Watan)
Jun
9

Lost Land (Harà Watan)

Join the Asia Society New York for a film screening of Lost Land on the eve of World Refugee Day, an international day designated by the United Nations to honor the strength, resilience, and courage of people forced to flee their countries due to conflict or persecution. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Writer and Director Akio Fujimoto and Consulting Producer Eric Nyari to deepen understanding, foster empathy, and engage in meaningful dialogue about the global refugee experience.

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Does She Lift as She Climbs? Female Mayors and Women’s Representation in District Legislatures in Indonesia
Jun
1
to Jun 2

Does She Lift as She Climbs? Female Mayors and Women’s Representation in District Legislatures in Indonesia

  • ANU Crawford School of Public Policy – Miller Theater (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Indonesia Project at the Australia National University (ANU) for a talk by Dr. Nurina Merdikawati, Lecturer at the Indonesia Project, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. This seminar will examine whether electing female mayors increases women’s representation in district legislatures in Indonesia.

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Authoritarianism and Intellectual Freedom: Lessons from Southeast Asia
May
28

Authoritarianism and Intellectual Freedom: Lessons from Southeast Asia

At the AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies, join NYSEAN and SEACAF for a roundtable that will explore the relationship between authoritarianism and threats to academic and intellectual freedom in a way that puts attacks on higher education in the United States in conversation with Southeast Asia. The Roundtable includes the following scholars: Bencharat Sae Chua of the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University in Thailand; Herlambang Wiratraman of the Research Center of Law and Social Justice at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia; Sol Iglesias of the University of the Philippines-Diliman’s Political Science Department in the Philippines, Sidney Jones of NYSEAN and New York University’s International Affairs Program, and Rianne Subijanto of Baruch College, City University of New York. Margaret Scott, a founder of NYSEAN and a journalist with the New York Review of Books, will chair.

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Continental Southeast Asia as a Strategic Space: Geography, History, and Enduring Constraints
May
14

Continental Southeast Asia as a Strategic Space: Geography, History, and Enduring Constraints

Join the Australia National University (ANU) Southeast Asia Institute for a talk by Tommy Chai, a PhD Candidate at ANU’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. This webinar examines continental Southeast Asia as a strategic space structured by two distinct but interacting sets of constraints: the current borders of Southeast Asia and a historically constituted strategic space centered on the mainland river basins of the Irrawaddy, Chao Phraya, Mekong, and Red River systems, but extending into adjoining upland and frontier zones such as Yunnan.

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The A List: Fifteen Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
May
13

The A List: Fifteen Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas

Join the Asia Society Museum and HBO for a special screening of The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas. This film brings together a tableau of voices to explore the themes of representation, belonging, and what it means to be Asian American or Pacific Islander in America. Through intimate reflections, participants explore the relationship between national identity and solidarity, individual and community, home country and home.

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