[Tlc] L-Summary of Lao Studies Conference

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Dear All,
Please see the summary of the International Lao Studies
conference below from Vinya Sysamoth and laostudies.org.
Best,
justin

Summary of the
Second International Conference on Lao Studies
May 3-7, 2007 | Arizona State University | Tempe, AZ USA
Center for Lao Studies
www.laostudies.org

 
The Second International Conference on Lao Studies was hosted
by the Center for Asian Research (CAR) at Arizona State
University, chaired by Professor Karen Adams of ASU, and the
Center for Lao Studies (CLS) in San Francisco.  Over 200
people attended the conference, and there were 101 presenters.
 This year‘s conference brought in many scholars and cultural,
community and nonprofit groups from all around the globe.  In
attendance were representatives from the United States,
Canada, France, Laos, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Germany and
Australia.   The main focus of the conference was the academic
presentations; however, many cultural activities, including
cultural shows and museum and library exhibitions, also took
place. 

The First International Conference on Lao Studies was held at
Northern Illinois University in May 2005 and co-chaired by
Professor John Hartmann and Vinya Sysamouth
(www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/LaoStudies/FICLS2.htm).  The main
objective of these Lao Studies conferences is to provide an
international forum for scholars to present and discuss
various aspects of Lao studies. Topics include all
ethnolinguistic groups of Laos, the Isan Lao and other ethnic
Lao-Tai groups in Thailand, cross-border ethnic groups in
Thailand, Vietnam, China, Burma, and Cambodia (e.g., Akha,
Hmong, Khmu, Mien, Lao Phuan, Tai Lue, Tai Dam), and overseas
Laotians.

Two prominent guests, namely Dr. Vatthana Pholsena and Dr.
Bualy Paphaphanh, attended the conference.  Dr. Vatthana was
sponsored by Arizona State University as the conference‘s
keynote speaker.  As a fellow of the French National Center
for Scientific Research (CNRS)-Institut d‘Asie Orientale,
Lyon, France, Dr. Vatthana gave astimulaitng talk on the Lao
Revolution.  Dr. Bualy was sponsored by Northern Illinois
University, by the Center for Lao Studies, and by the U.S.
Embassy in Laos.  Dr. Bualy is currently the Head of the
Department of Lao Language and Mass Communication, Faculty of
Letters, National University of Laos (NUOL), Lao PDR.  He was
the first official representative from the National University
of Laos, Lao PDR to attend a Lao Studies conference.  At the
conference, he presented a paper on "The Origin of the Lao
Script: The Search for Its Origins by Following Notable
Characteristics of Its Character Form."

Opening Ceremony & Exhibitions

The conference registration opened on Thursday May 3, 2007 at
noon; the opening ceremony was held at 4:30 p.m.  Professor
Karen Adams welcomed the conference participants; she was
followed by William Sage (Adjunct Faculty of the CAR), John
Hartmann (Presidential Teaching Professor of Foreign Languages
& Literatures, Northern Illinois University, Vinya Sysamouth
(Executive Director of CLS), Stephen H. West, (Director of
CAR), and Professor Bualy Paphaphanh (the official
representative of the National University of Laos).

After the opening ceremony, participants were ushered through
several exhibits that were made available for viewing by the
general public during and after the conference dates.  They
included:

Recollecting Lao: Selections from the Sage, Hanks, and Hudak
Collections
The exhibit contained a collection largely of textiles from
different ethnic groups of Laos, including the Akha, Alak,
Hmong, Kasseng, Khamu, Lahu, Lao, Lue, Mien, Tai Dam, and
Ta-oi.  These pieces were collected between 1950-70 in Laos by
William Sage, Jane R. Hanks and Tom Hudak.  Artifacts such as
blankets, baby carriers, bags, betel nut boxes, pipes, jewelry
of silver, brass and beads, baskets, musical instruments,
forms of money, tools, weapons, amulet and figurines, altar
objects, sacred paraphernalia and handwritten texts also form
a part of William W. Sage collection.  For more information on
the William W. Sage Collection, please visit: 
www.asu.edu/lib/colldev/se_asia/sagebib.html

Naga Rising: Lao in Print, Image, and Sound at ASU Libraries
According to the ASU Libraries, the Lao Language Collections
at ASU began with a major donation from William W. Sage in
1993. Since that time, ASU has diligently collected materials
in the Lao language in all formats. ASU Libraries is one of
twelve major academic libraries in the United States that
currently maintain extensive Southeast Asia collections both
in Western languages and the vernacular languages of Southeast
Asia. For more information on the exhibition, please visit: 
https://librarynews.blog.asu.edu/2007/04/17/naga-rising

Memories of Silk, Memories of Gold by Tiao (Prince) Somsanith
Nithakhong
Tiao Somsanith is an artist known for his work in gold-thread
embroidery, painting, stenciling, lacquer, and flower
arrangement; he learned his crafts from the old Lao Royal
Court, and received his M.A. in fine arts from France.  Tiao
Somsanith‘s exhibition was sponsored by the Lao Heritage
Foundation (www.laoheritagefoundation.org).

Legacies of War  (www.legaciesofwar.org)
Legacies of War is a nonprofit organization created to raise
awareness about the history of the Vietnam War-era bombing in
Laos, to provide space for healing the wounds of war, and to
create greater hope for a future of peace.  The traveling
exhibit shown during the conference mainly consisted of
information in Lao and English about the project, archival and
contemporary photographs, and interactive displays that show
the dangers of unexploded cluster munitions.  The exhibition
opened with a Buddhist ceremony led by a local monk and
concluded with a performance, Refugee Nation, by Leilani Chan
and Ova Saopeng from the TeAda Production (www.teada.org).

Proud Journey Home: Cambodia, Laotian and Vietnamese
Communities in Arizona
Held at Tempe Historical Museum, this community history
exhibit explores Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese refugee
experiences in Tempe, 30 years after the Vietnam War.  More
information can be found at: www.tempe.gov/museum/exhnew.htm

In addition to the exhibitions, the conference also provided
tables for vendors and publishers to display books, artworks,
products, and information about their organizations.
Participants were given the opportunity to learn about various
organizations and to purchase the books and other merchandises
on display.

Business Meeting

The business meeting was held on Thursday May 3, 2007 at 7:00
p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to select a new host for
the Third International Conference on Lao Studies, which will
be held in 2010.  Eleven people, known as the Business Meeting
Board (BMB), were selected from the organizing committee to
choose the next host. Representatives of the National
University of Laos (www.nuol.edu.la), Lao PDR also attended
the meeting as observers.

Each potential host was given ten minutes to present their
case for selecting their institution by following a set of
questions and procedures mandated in the ICLS Guidelines
(www.laostudies.org/ICLSguidelines.pdf).  The BMB then chose
the institution considered best able to organize the
conference for 2010. This year, two institutions put in bids,
the University of Freiburg, Germany
(www.uni-freiburg.de/index_en.php) and Khon Kaen University
(http://www2.kku.ac.th/eng), Thailand.  Khon Kaen University
won the votes of the BMB and will become the next host in 2010.

Parallel Sessions and Keynote Speaker

In order to accommodate a high number of presentations, the
conference organizing committee arranged four parallel
(concurrent) sessions. Presenters had twenty minutes to
present and five minutes for questions and discussions. There
were breaks with refreshments throughout the sessions,
including a longer lunch break in the afternoon. The full
conference schedule can be viewed at
www.laostudies.org/ICLS_schedules.pub (large file 7.8MB).

The first full day sessions started at 8:30 a.m. and ended at
4:00 p.m.; it included panels on: 1) Gender and Social
Exclusion; 2) Research and Its Challenges: Shifting Landscapes
in Lao Information Geographies; 3) Comparative Linguistics; 4)
Dynamics of Border Communities: Economic and Social Contexts;
5) HBV: The Untold Story of an Asian Epidemic; 6) Cultural
Preservation through New Year Celebrations; 7) Textiles; and
8) Cultivation Practices.

The second day (Saturday May 5, 2007) full sessions began at
9:00 a.m. and ended at 4:00 p.m..  The sessions included: 1)
Issues in Traditional and Contemporary Buddhism; 2)
Morphological Processes and Pragmatics; 3) Contested Roles of
Language and Culture; 4) Health and Pharmaceuticals; 5)
Discourse and Its Social Role; 6) Legacies of War I: Making
History Loud and Clear: The Power of Oral History in Teaching
and Collaboratives; 7) Legacies of War II: Models for
Transnational Cooperation: Lao and the US, Working for
Reconciliation and Peace; and 8) Emerging Economics.

The third day (Sunday May 6, 2007) consisted of a half-day
sessions, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. These sessions included: 1)
Southern Border Mosaic; 2) Lao-Americans: Acculturation and
Attainment; 3) Sustainability Issues; and 4) Good-bye
Vientiane: Untold Stories of Filipinos in Laos, A Braided
Narrative.

The conference‘s keynote speaker was Dr. Vatthana Pholsena, a
research fellow from the French National Center for Scientific
Research (CNRS)-Institut d‘Asie Orientale, Lyon, France.  Dr.
Vatthana‘s talk, "The Other Side of the Lao Revolution," took
place on Friday May 4, 2007 at 4:30PM.  Her keynote speech was
followed by a reception at 5:30PM.  Dr. Vatthana is the author
of numerous books, including Laos: From Buffer State to
Crossroads? (2007 with Ruth Banomyong), and Post-war Laos: The
Politics of Culture, History, and Identity (2006). Both books
are available at Amazon.com. A summary of the talk is
available at www.laostudies.org/Vatthana.pdf

Receptions and Closing Ceremony

On Friday May 4, 2007 at 6:45 p.m. the Center for Lao Studies,
the Laotian American National Alliance (www.lana-usa.org), and
the Lao Heritage Foundation (www.laoheritagefoundation.org)
together welcomed guests to Louam Mit: Lao Reception/Dinner
Performances, and Fun at the Twin Palms Hotel, across from the
ASU campus. The Lao-American Association of Arizona and the
local Lao community members provided authentic Lao food, and
the Kinnaly Dance Troupe of Seattle, Washington
(www.kinnalydance.com) performed traditional Lao dances to
live music.

On Saturday, May 5, 2007 between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., the Royal
Lao Classical Dancers of Nashville, Tennessee performed dances
from the Lao royal court and scenes of the Lao version of the
Ramayana or the Phalak Phalam.  A reception was held
afterwards in their honor.  According to the reception
pamphlet, "the Royal Lao Classical Dancers was founded in 1997
by Mr. and Mrs. Khamdy and Bangthong Chindavanh, formerly
dancers of he Royal Lao Dance Troupe in Luang Prabang, Laos
before 1975. They and other dancers and musicians were
resettled as a group in Nashville in 1980, bringing with them
the costumes and instruments to continue their tradition." 
More information on the Royal Lao Classical Dancers can be
found at their website: www.rlcd.org. 

The closing ceremony took place on Saturday evening, between
the Royal Lao Classical dances.  Tiao Somsanith Nithakhong
(www.princesomsanith.com) made a gold thread-embroidered flag
of the Lao Studies conference logo, the two-headed naga, and
offered it to the organizing committee members. The flag was
passed on to Khon Kaen University, the host of the next Lao
Studies conference in 2010. The flag will be transferred to
successive conference hosts in the future.  Dr. Yaowalak
Apichatvullop, who is both the Dean of the Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences and the Director of the Center
for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region at Khon Kaen
University, gave an acceptance speech and showed a video about
Khon Kaen University.  The Center for Lao Studies and Khon
Kaen University will work closely together to organize the
next conference.  A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between
the Center for Lao Studies and Khon Kaen University was signed
on the last day of the conference.

A final reception was held on Sunday May 6, 2007 at 4:00 p.m.
at Mr. Ly Silavong‘s house in Chandler, Arizona and was hosted
by the Lao-American Association of Arizona. Conference
participants who attended the evening gathering were able to
enjoy delicious Lao food, wonderful music, friendly
discussions and a warm reception.  Mr. John Sisouvanh, the
head of the Lao-American Association, and other guests
reflected on the outcome of the conference.

Film Festival

The film festival organized by the Center for Lao Studies and
the Center for Asian Research was held on Friday, May 4, 2007
from 8:05 to 10:45 p.m.; it was hosted by Dr. S. Steve
Arounsack (http://arounsack.com). The Film Festival included
the feature film, Nerakhoun: Betrayal, (work in progress) by
Thavisouk Phrasavath and Ellen Kuras.  Other films included
Laos: Roads to the Future produced by Truth Talking Project,
Palm Leaf Project, produced by Peter Ohlendorf, Pierre-Pierrot
produced by Nith Lacroix, Bombiesproduced by Lumiere
Productions, and The Life and Times of a Teenage Gambler
produced by Joseph Mills and Kae Saephan.  For a full abstract
of each film, please visit www.laostudies.org/ICLSfilmfest.pdf

Feedback

If you would like to offer the organizing committee your
feedback and suggestions, please send them via email to:
ICLSfeedback at laostudies.org.   If you wish to remain
anonymous, you may send your comments directly to:

Center for Lao Studies
1201 San Bruno Ave., Suite 1
San Francisco, CA 94110 USA

Additional Information, Photographs & Videos

For additional information on the conference, please visit
www.laostudies.org. Photographs of the conference will be
available at the Center‘s website soon.  Other photos of the
conference can be found at:

Bakka Magazine:
www.bakkamagazine.com/site/articles/second_international_conference_on_lao_studies
Royal Lao Classical Dancers:
http://www.rlcd.org/gallery2/v/icls07/
Legacies of War:
http://www.legaciesofwar.org/news-room/news-releases/193
Lao Heritage Foundation:
http://www.laoheritagefoundation.org/events07.jsp
Voice of America: http://www.voanews.com/lao/2007-05-17-voa3.cfm
Boon Vong: www.b-vong.com (click on May 2007 and then ICLS)

The Future of Lao Studies Conferences

The International Conference on Lao Studies will be held every
three years. The next conference will be held in the heart of
the Isan region of Thailand, Khon Kaen, where the majority of
the local people are ethnically Lao.  It is hoped that in the
future, the Lao Studies conference will be held in Laos and
that the conference will continue to promote and develop the
field of Lao studies in many years to come.
 _____________________________________________

The Center for Lao Studies would like to thank our sponsors
and supporters at the Gold and Silver levels of the conference
and the publishing of the Lao Primer booklet.  They included:
Into Champon & Assoc., A Law Corporation; Mr. Touk Ken, Center
for Hmong Studies; Laotian American Society; Legacies of War,
Ms. Bounheng Inversin, and Dha and Touk Sinatha. We would also
like to thank Northern Illinois Center University Center for
Southeast Asian Studies for providing a travel grant for Dr.
Bualy.

Thank you for subscribing to the Center for Lao Studies
updates. If you would like to include any announcement in our
future Lao Studies News & Notes, please email us at
CLSupdates at laostudies.org.

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu