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MONASH ASIA INSTITUTE BULLETIN 7/2007

2 July 2007

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In this bulletin

1. Asian Studies Association of Australia conference

2. Seminar: The emerging Indo-US strategic partnership

3. Seminar: Pentecostal Christianity in India

4. Seminar: Islamic education and Pakistan

5. Seminar: Celebrating Rumi and the mystics of the East and West

6. Conference: 'Migration and social protection in China'

7. General Sir John Monash Awards 2008

8. La Trobe University Annual Anthropology Lecture

9. Seminar: Sidney Jones on terrorism as a family activity

10. Lecture: Diasporic and entrepreneurial Muslims

11. 38th Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest

12. Australia Korea Internship Program

13. Position available: NUS

14. 2007 Social Responsibility Writer's Prize

15. International Eco Community Conference

16. 2008 Fulbright Scholarship applications

17. International Urban Design Conference 2007

18. Anthony Reid Prize for Excellence in Asian Studies

19. Conference: Democracy, Development and Civil Society in India

20. Conference: Re-interpreting Pacific Governance

21. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review (APSSR)

22. Website of the month: The Virtual Museum of Japanese Arts

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Monash Asia Institute and Monash University News and Events

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Item 1. Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) 17th biennial conference

Call for papers

Closing date for receipts of abstracts: 20 February 2008

"Is this the Asian Century?"

1-3 July 2008, Sebel Albert Park Hotel, Melbourne

This conference will bring together specialists to assess trends in Asian law, medicine and health, science, ethics/human rights, politics, regional security, economics, culture, religion, environment, media, the performing arts and many other fields. Given the theme we encourage cross-country and inter-regional analysis. To assess how Asia is doing, we need to think broadly about Asia and compare trends in India and China, the new giants of Asia, with the older industrial power Japan and newly emerging economies of Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. We also need to link up these trends with events outside Asia.

Join us either as a presenter of a conference paper or as a participant to debate what is happening in the Asian region and its impact on the rest of the world. In

some fields, trends in Asia are driving world affairs but in other areas Asia lags behind. What is the case in your field? Will this be the Asian century?

Register now: http://www.secureregistrations.com/Asian

Conference website: http://www.conferenceworks.net.au/asaa/

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Item 2. Seminar hosted by Monash Asia Institute and the AustralAsia Centre

ìThe emerging Indo-US strategic partnership: How George W. Bush made India the third-most pro-American nation in the worldî

Mr Pranit Pal Chaudhuri, Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Fellow

Tuesday 17 July 2007, 3.00 pm

Theatre L5, Level 2, Building 12 (Law Faculty)

Monash University Clayton campus

Pramit Pal Chaudhuri is a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society, New York, and a foreign editor of the Hindustan Times, New Delhi. He is a member of the Aspen Institute Italia, the Institute for International Strategic Studies in London, the Mont Pelerin Society and the Liberty Institute, New Delhi.

RSVP to Dr Tony Donaldson, tony.donaldson@adm.monash.edu.au with "US-India seminar" in the subject heading of your email.

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Item 3. Seminar

"The new wave of conversions to Pentecostal Christianity in India's north eastern tribal highlands ñ what does this mean?"

By the distinguished Humbolt University Scholar Professor Toni Huber

Friday 20 July 2007, 2.00 pm

Venue: TBA, Monash University Clayton campus

More details to follow.

RSVP to Dr Tony Donaldson, tony.donaldson@adm.monash.edu.au with "Christianity in India seminar" in the subject heading of your email.

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Item 4. Seminar hosted by Monash Asia Institute

"Islamic education and Pakistan"

Speaker: Dr Saleem Ali

Tuesday 24 July 2007, 1.00 pm

Room S822, Level 8 South, Building 11 (Menzies)

Monash University Clayton campus

RSVP to Dr Tony Donaldson, tony.donaldson@adm.monash.edu.au with "Islamic education" in the subject heading of your email.

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Item 5. Celebrating Rumi and mystics of East and West

Seminar hosted by Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology, Monash University

Sunday 29 July 2007, 2.00pm - 4.30pm

Building K3.09, Lecture Theatre

Monash University, Caulfield Campus

900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East

A seminar commemorating the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Sufi poet, Mevlana Jala-e-Din Mevlavi Rumi, in UNESCO's International year of Rumi.

Speakers and topics at this seminar include:

- Associate Professor Constant Mews: The age of Rumi: mystical and renewal in Christian, Islamic, and Indian worlds in the 13th century

- Professor Zeki Saritoprak (John Carroll University, Ohio): Rumi on Love

- Swami Shankarananda (Shiva Ashram, Mount Eliza): The Indian poet saints of Maharashtra

- John Wood (founder of the Eckhart Society) Meister Eckhart

There will also be panel discussions with speakers from various mystical traditions.

Details: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/religion-theology/news-and-events/index.html

Free admission, bookings (essential) for limited space: Ms Susan Grist (03) 9905 2164

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Item 6. Conference

"Migration and Social Protection in China"

hosted by

Asian Business and Economics Research Unit (Monash University)

Institute of Population and Labor Economics (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Renmin-Monash Advanced Centre for Economic Studies

25ñ26 September 2007, Beijing

The conference will focus on the key issues involved in establishing a social protection regime for migrant workers including a critical examination of the deficiencies in existing arrangements and a study of the proposals that have been offered by the Chinese government and international lending agencies for extending social security coverage. The conference has attracted the worldís leading scholars on Chinese migration and social security issues including

academics from Harvard, LSE, Michigan and UCLA as well as representatives from the Ford Foundation, UNDP and World Bank.

Conference website: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/units/aberu/Conference2007/index.php

Enquiries: Ingrid Nielsen, Ingrid.Nielsen@BusEco.monash.edu.au, Tel: 9905 2401

Russell Smyth, Russell.Smyth@BusEco.monash.edu.au, Tel: 9903 2134

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Item 7. General Sir John Monash Awards 2008

The General Sir John Monash Awards are offered annually to Australian citizens graduating from Australian universities who are looking to undertake postgraduate study abroad at the worldís best universities, appropriate to their field of study.

The Awards are Australia's prestigious equivalent to the Rhodes scholarship and the American Fullbright program and offer up to $150,000 over three years for postgraduate studies (PHD, DPhil or professional Masters Degree) at any of the worldís best universities overseas.

Only eight awards are made each year to Australian citizens judged to have outstanding academic achievement, community consciousness and service and leadership potential of their field and the community. The Foundation expects award winners to make a significant contribution to the future development of Australia.

Full information and application forms are available at http://www.monashawards.org

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Other News and Events

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Item 8. La Trobe University Annual Anthropology Lecture

Monday, 2 July 2007, 5.30 ñ 7.00 pm

Western Lecture Theatre 2, La Trobe University

"Anthropology, Economics and the Social: A discipline and what it missed"

Speaker: Professor Diane Austin-Broos FASSA, Radcliffe-Brown Professor of Anthropology, University of Sydney

In the second half of the twentieth century a substantial part of anthropology ñ although not all of its most able practitioners ñ turned away from analyses of the economic and its import in social life. Issues of discourse and representation dominated the discipline. Beginning with the interpretation of Polanyi within anthropology, this paper will trace briefly how this circumstance was produced. Its adverse effects will be discussed with particular reference to the current debate about remote Indigenous communities.

All welcome ñ admission free

Enquiries: Dr Alberto Gomes, a.gomes@latrobe.edu.au

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Item 9. Seminar

"Terrorism as a Family Activity: Understanding Jemaah Islamiyah's Social Ties"

Sidney Jones, Indonesia Crisis Group

Seminar presented by Asialink, University of Melbourne

Tuesday 3 July 2007, 6.30 for 7.30pm

Copland Theatre, Economics and Commerce Building, University of Melbourne (Enter from Gate 13 on Royal Parade, Parkville)

The capture of Indonesia's most wanted men from Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Abu Dujana and Zarkasih, has been heralded as a counter-terrorism success by law enforcement authorities. But are we now safe from JI's terrorist activities?

Sidney Jones, the Southeast Asia Project Director of the International Crisis Group in Jakarta, is one of the foremost experts and sought after commentators on regional security. Ms. Jones will examine the ways in which JI has been able to draw in women and children, and how it can provide a social security network for members. Understanding some of these linkages underscores the importance of thinking beyond law enforcement as a way of addressing extremism.

RSVP: To reserve a seat, please send an email to Asialink Events at events@asialink.unimelb.edu.au with "5 Minutes - Terrorism" in the subject line.

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Item 10. Public Lecture

"Diasporic and entrepreneurial Muslims: some questions about modernity"

Speakers: Dr. Filippo Osella and Emeritus Professor Clive S. Kessler

Public Lecture in Honour of Professor Joel S. Kahn

Wednesday 4 July 2007, 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Yasuko Hiraoka Room, Sidney Myer Asia Centre

Dr Filippo Osella is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies, University of Sussex. This research is based in both South India and some Gulf countries. His current research examines contemporary identity transformations among a South Indian Muslim community.

Emeritus Professor Clive Kessler (BA Syd., PhD Lond.) is a Professor in UNSW's School of Sociology. His major publications include Islam and Politics in a Malay State: Kelantan 1938-1969 (Cornell U.P., Ithaca N.Y., 1978) and Hannah Arendt: Thinking, Judging, Freedom (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1989, ed. with Gisela T. Kaplan).

Enquiries and RSVP to Linda Poskitt, lposkitt@ unimelb.edu.au, phone 03 8344 5554

More details, http://events.unimelb.edu.au/eventid_3913.html or

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/socsci/kahn-lecture.html

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Item 11. 38th Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest

Organised by the Japanese Language Speech Contest Steering Committee, Consulate-General of Japan, Melbourne, Japan Foundation, Sydney

Applications close: Wednesday 25 July 2007

Saturday, 4 August 2007

Carrillo Gantner Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre

Corner of Monash Road and Swanston St, University of Melbourne

The contest is open to Japanese language students aged 17 and over in Victoria. Participants are given the opportunity to fine tune their language and cultural skills, and to try them out in the form of speeches.

Please come and listen, if you speak Japanese. There will be an opportunity to talk with the speakers.

Enquiries, k.toyama@nexnet.net.au

Website, http://www.melbourne.au.emb-japan.go.jp/index.html

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Item 12. Australia Korea Internship Program 2008

Application close on Friday 27 July 2007

The Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific at the University of Sydney is currently accepting applications for the 2008 Australia Korea Internship Program funded by the Australia-Korea Foundation, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Applications are now open to students from all states and territories in Australia who are studying a postgraduate coursework degree, or in their 3rd or 4th year of an undergraduate degree in one of the following faculties/departments: economics, commerce, finance, accounting, business, marketing, information and communications technology and international trade.

Applications close Friday 27 July 2007. Applicants must be Australian citizens.

More details, http://www.riap.usyd.edu.au/akip

Enquiries, Rachel Nolan r.nolan@usyd.edu.au or phone 9036 5146.

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Item 13. Position vacant: South Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore

Two tenure-track scholars at the Assistant or Associate Professor levels are available in the following areas:

(a) South Asian Diaspora and Transnational Studies

Candidates should have doctoral training in one of the following areas: history, sociology, geography, politics, economics, literary and cultural studies. Further,

they should have strong theoretical and empirical grounding in the area of South Asian Diaspora and Transnational Studies and must show evidence of multi-disciplinary research.

(b) Political Economy of South Asia.

Candidates should have doctoral training in economics or political science, with a strong disciplinary grounding in political economy. They should have experience of policy-oriented research and must show an ability to analyze economic institutions, state-market relations, deregulation, public policy and its relationship to the complex socio-political environment of South Asian economies.

Both appointees would be expected to teach and develop multi-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate modules in relevant areas, supervise postgraduate students and build up the research profile of the South Asian Studies Programme at NUS. Familiarity with and competence in a relevant South Asian language is essential. Teaching and curriculum development experience would be advantageous.

Applicants must submit (1) a full vita; (2) a statement detailing individual research agenda and professional experience; and (3) a statement outlining the contributions she/he can make towards these appointments; (4) Names of three academic referees with complete contact details.

The Search Committee will begin to review applications from 1 August 2007. All materials should be sent to:

Chair, South Asian Studies Programme Search Committee

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

National University of Singapore

5 Arts Link, Singapore 117570

Tel: (65) 65164528; Fax: (65) 67770616

Email: sasbox2@nus.edu.sg

Short-listed candidates will be invited to make campus visits in September/October 2007, with a view to the appointments starting in January 2008.

Please visit the South Asian Studies Programme website at http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg.sas and the faculty website at http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/

For these positions, salaries and benefits are highly competitive. For details of benefits, terms and conditions of appointments, see http://www.nus.edu.sg/ohr/. The university provides generous research support to faculty members, including research grants, funds for organizing and attending conferences and academic leave.

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Item 14. The 2007 Social Responsibility Writer's Prize, an Australian Government Initiative

Due date: Friday 3 August 2007, 5.00 pm

The Social Responsibility Writerís Prize is aimed at secondary school and tertiary students and offers an opportunity for students to express their opinions or concerns about the hopes for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and serves to promote CSR in the broader community by encouraging debate. The Prime Minister and the other members of the Partnership are particularly keen to hear the views of students on this topic because, as well as being important members of the community, they are Australiaís future employees, employers, and business and community leaders.

The 2007 Social Responsibility Writerís Prize invites students to submit a response to a series of questions in a creative writing format. Prizes for winning entries are offered as follows:

The winning students will be awarded $2,000 cash and his or her institution will receive a prize valued at $3,000. Second prize and third prize are $600 and $400 respectively. The judges may award certificates of merit or encouragement at their discretion. In addition, each finalist and a guest will be invited to attend a presentation ceremony. The winning entries may be published on the Partnership website and in a special booklet which will be released at the presentation ceremony.

Entry details:

To enter please call 1800 050 009 to order an entry pack or download the guidelines from:

http://www.partnerships.gov.au/csr/essay_competition.htm

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Item 15. An International Eco Community Conference)

Call for Papers

Due date: 31 August 2007

A three day conference to be held in Melbourne

26,27,28 March 2008

Community Development can provide alternate pathways through new theoretical paradigms and creative responses about how we view our place on

this fragile planet. By critiquing the government and mainstream inaction/denial we can lead the way towards solutions for preventing global warming.

Two streams to the conference, one on academic papers and the other on community workshops & forums, will run concurrently.

Abstracts (word length 200 - 300 words) focussing on the conference topic Ecology and Community Development are welcomed and should be submitted by 31 August 2007 to aok@deakin.edu.au (all academic abstracts and papers will be blind peer refereed for possible publication)

More details: http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts/cchr/conferences_seminars.php

Enquiries: Anne OKeefe, Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights

Deakin University, Geelong Campus, Geelong, Victoria 3217 Australia.

Website: http://www.deakin.edu.au/cchr

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Item 16. 2008 Fulbright Scholarship applications

Applications for the 2007 Fulbright Awards are now open.

Valued at up to $A40,000 - Fulbright scholarships are open to Australian citizens to undertake research or study in the United States for 3 ñ 12 months. Scholarships can be started between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2009.

Applications are open to Postgraduates (to do research related to their Australian PhD. or enrol in a US degree); Postdoctoral, Professional and Senior Scholars from any field of study.

For further information and application forms see the section 'Fulbright Scholarships/For Australian citizens' on our website at http://www.fulbright.com.au

Applications close 31 August 2007.

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Item 17. International Urban Design Conference 2007

"Waves of Change - Cities at Crossroads"

Conference hosted by Gold Coast City

6 - 8 September 2007

Conrad Jupiters Gold Coast

This three day conference will feature national and international key-note presenters and include workshops, debates and tours of Australia's fastest growing city. The conference gala dinner will include the Bi-annual Gold Coast Urban Design awards for 2007.

For more details: http://www.astmanagement.com.au/urbandesign7/images/Docs/UrbanDesign.pdf

To register visit the conference website at http://www.astmanagement.com.au/urbandesign7/

Enquiries to the Conference secretariat jan.marquardt@astmanagement.com.au

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Item 18. Anthony Reid Prize for Excellence in Asian Studies

This prize is awarded biennially by the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) to a mid-career researcher (or researchers) for research on an Asian subject, as represented in a book or a portfolio of articles.

Applicants must be ASAA members employed at an Australian university at below Associate Professor level at the time of application. Applicants must have completed their PhD at least five years before the application is lodged.

Applicants must be supported by a scholarly book (not based on a thesis) or ten chapters or journal articles published in the last five years. If joint candidates submit a portfolio of articles or book chapters, then at least six must be co-authored and 50% of the remaining articles or book chapters must be single-authored by each candidate. If an individual candidate submits articles or book chapters, a maximum of three can be co-authored (in this case the co-author does not have to meet the application criteria).

Submissions for the 2007-2008 round of the prize must reach the ASAA Secretary (michele.ford@usyd.edu.au) by 30 October 2007. The submitted materials must be in hard copy form, accompanied by a cover letter that outlines the applicantís/nomineeís claims to eligibility.

Dr Michele Ford

Department of Indonesian Studies, Brennan McCallum Building, A18

The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia

Email: michele.ford@usyd.edu.au

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Item 19. Conference

"Democracy, Development and Civil Society in India"

Hosted by School of Social and Environmental Enquiry, University of Melbourne

20-21 September 2007

Lecture Theatre 2 and Room B1.24

School of Social and Environmental Enquiry

University of Melbourne

221 Bouverie Street, Carlton Australia 3010

In 2007 India is celebrating its sixtieth year of independence. One of its most notable achievements is the endurance of its democratic institutions despite internal and external challenges to its democratic governance. International scepticism about its economic and political prospects is giving way to optimism about its future and increasing intellectual curiosity about its democratic developmental experience.

This conference will address some of the challenges facing India and provide a forum for debating its unique democratic development with local and international speakers. It aims to go beyond discussions of procedural democracy and provide fresh perspectives by examining ways in which more inclusionary forms of democratic participation and development might be obtained.

Details and enquiries:

http://www.social-environmental.unimelb.edu.au/DDCSconference/index.html

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Item 20. Conference

"Re-interpreting Pacific Governance: Voices of the Pacific"

Hosted by Institute for Community, Ethnicity and Policy Alternative (ICEPA), Victoria University, Australia

22-24 November 2007

Venue: Victoria University, 300 Flinders St, Melbourne

Call for papers: Due date: 24 August 2007

This is a rare opportunity to attend a whole range of forums on key Pacific issues and also meet with leading Pacific civil society leaders who will be key speakers. The conference will present opportunities for networking to anyone wishing to update on the Pacific, interested in pursuing post graduate studies and/or researching on the Pacific.

Enquiries: Mr Mosese Waqa, Institute for Community, Ethnicity & Policy Alternatives, Victoria University

Email: Mosese.Waqa@vu.edu.au

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Item 21. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

The Asia-Pacific Social Science Review (APSSR) is an internationally refereed journal published biannually by the College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University-Manila (Philippines). It aims to advance and deepen the study of social sciences in Asia and the Pacific. The APSSR provides a venue for social scientists, policymakers, and practitioners to articulate, ventilate, and argue key questions and concerns towards a better understanding of social science disciplines and their impact on broad development issues. It welcomes manuscripts relating to politics, economics, sociology, history, psychology, anthropology, geography, demography, social work, urban and rural studies, forensic science, and associated disciplines. The APSSR encourages theoretical and methodological papers with an emphasis on comparative study and empirical research addressing development problems in Asia and Pacific contexts. It seeks to publish research arising from a broad variety of methodological traditions and those with multi- and inter-disciplinary focus.

Enquiries, apssr@dlsu.edu.ph

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Item 22. Website of the month

The Virtual Museum of Japanese Arts

http://web-japan.org/museum/

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The Monash Asia Institute Newsletter incorporates news items from the

six research centres of the Monash Asia Institute, partner organisations

and other groups working to promote Asian Studies in Australia.

For further information about the Monash Asia Institute and this newsletter: http://www.monash.edu.au/mai/

To unsubscribe, please send an email to: monash.asia.institute@adm.monash.edu.au

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