Karl D. Jackson, Director
Established in 1991, the Southeast Asia Studies Program has evolved into one of the leading regional studies programs in the United States. The program offers multidisciplinary courses, language instruction and practical experience through summer internships.
Course work includes a regional focus on international relations, security issues, the policymaking process, democratization, human rights and economic development as well as courses dedicated to in-depth study of individual countries. Taken together, these supply the intellectual background needed to interpret current developments and provide sharp insight into new challenges facing Southeast Asia. Special consideration is given to Southeast Asia’s relationship with the United States and the major Asian powers (China, India and Japan). Students supplement formal classroom training with special lectures, brown-bag lunches, crisis simulations, internships and the international events that abound in the greater Washington area. In recent years, international conferences organized by the Southeast Asia Program included: “Thailand: The Way Forward,” “Progress in the Newest Country in the World: Timor Leste,” “The United States and Indonesia: Bilateral Relations and External Factors” and “Can the Philippines Break Out of Its Affliction? Prospects for Democratic Governance, Economic Development and Philippine-U.S. Relations.”
The personal networks developed through the program are supplemented by an ongoing SAIS network in government, business, NGO and academic circles in Southeast Asia. Graduates of the Southeast Asia Studies Program form an active alumni network whose members hold responsible positions in government, international organizations, business and the nonprofit sector. For example, one recent graduate was recently elected to the parliament of her nation, where she will apply the skills taught at SAIS to solve real-world problems.
Academic Requirements
Students concentrating in Southeast Asia take four Southeast Asia courses and two courses from any of the other Asian Studies programs, including Asia Regional course offerings. Students decide on the appropriate mix of courses in consultation with their adviser. In addition, students are expected to pass a proficiency examination in a Southeast Asian language other than their own, choosing from Indonesian, Vietnamese or Thai.
Internships
Summer internships are an integral part of the Southeast Asia Studies concentration. Faculty help identify and arrange internships, according to students’ interests. In recent years, Southeast Asia Studies concentrators have worked in U.S. embassies in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam; at the United Nations Development Programme in Bangkok; in research centers, think tanks and NGOs throughout Southeast Asia; and in a wide range of private sector activities including banking and finance, insurance, strategic communications and corporate social responsibility.
For more information about internships, click here.
Research Opportunities
Some students concentrating in Southeast Asia Studies are selected as research assistants to faculty members. Southeast Asia concentrators are also eligible for participation in the funded study trip to Southeast Asia discussed below.
Co-curricular Activities
The Southeast Asia Studies Program brings Washington policy experts, foreign diplomats and government officials, journalists, development specialists and businesspeople together with SAIS students in a weekly luncheon seminar. Discussions cross a range of interests, allowing students to learn firsthand from practitioners about critical issues in the region.
In conjunction with the summer internship program described above, the Southeast Asia Studies Program sponsors a study trip to selected countries for students interning in Southeast Asia. In 2006, a group of 10 Southeast Asia students and two faculty members visited Thailand and Vietnam prior to their undertaking individual internships in the region. In 2007, students traveled to Malaysia and Cambodia. The study groups met with government, political, business, NGO and media experts.
Because language skill is an important element in the development of regional expertise, the program assists students in acquiring three weeks of intensive Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese language training in the region during the mid-year break.
For the past three years, the program also sponsored informal no-credit, no-cost, co-curricular classes in the Burmese language. This course, which emphasizes speaking, listening and reading skills, is taught by a professional Burmese instructor and is available to the SAIS community.
Ph.D. Program
The Southeast Asia Studies Program accepts Ph.D. students.
Typical Southeast Asia Studies Courses
(See www.sais-jhu.edu/courses for course descriptions.) - Burma: The Dilemma of Myanmar
- Business and Politics in Indonesia, 1945–2005
- Contemporary Thailand
- Contentious Politics in Southeast Asia: From Riots to -Terrorism
- Development Issues in Southeast Asia
- Domestic Politics of Southeast Asia
- History of Southeast Asia: From Empires to Independent States
- International Relations of Southeast Asia
- Managing “Success”: The Politics of Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei
- Political Leadership in Southeast Asia
- Politics of Indochina
- Security Issues in Southeast Asia
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