Phd Program in Multicultural Studies, Mahidol University

📚 Meet the Author!

Join us for a discussion on "The Right to be Counted: The Urban Poor and The Politics of Resettlement in Delhi" with Asst. Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Routray from The Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

📅 Date: Friday, 9 January 2026
🕐 Time: 1:00 - 3:00 PM
📍 Venue: Executive Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, RILCA, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus

All are welcome!

🔗Learn more about the book: https://www.sup.org/books/asian-studies/right-be-counted

Abstract:

The Right to be Counted: The Urban Poor and the Politics of Resettlement in Delhi examines how Delhi's urban poor, in an effort to gain visibility from the local state, incrementally stake their claims to a house and citizenship entitlements in the city. The book illustrates how the quest for documenting the numerical presence and visibility of the poor is linked to tactics and countertactics, including the mediated politics of the intermediaries, documentary and inscriptive struggles to prove existence and authenticity, legal battles to contest state categorization and classification, and numerous cultural idioms and resistance strategies. Analyzing social, political, and economic relationships alike, this book traces the ways the poor work to gain a foothold in Delhi. Along with analyzing the fraught process of calculative governmentality and an array of political idioms, the book also offers a bottom-up perspective on how the politics of the poor intersects with spatial arrangements, social cleavages, and activists in the city.


Bio:

Dr. Sanjeev Routray is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He completed his PhD in sociology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Routray is a sociologist-anthropologist, critical urbanist, and migration specialist with a focus on South Asia and beyond. His areas of expertise include urban poverty, political and legal mobilizations, transregional migration, and caste and labor market negotiations. He is the author of The Right to be Counted: The Urban Poor and The Politics of Resettlement in Delhi (2022, Stanford University Press), and his articles have appeared in leading journals, including International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Urban Studies, and City: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory, and Action. Dr. Routray has received fellowships from the Urban Studies Foundation (UK), the Foundation for Urban and Regional Studies (UK), the Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius Foundation (Germany), the International Development Research Centre (Canada), and the Hari Sharma Foundation for his research and writing.

🎉Big congratulations to Wen Gu and Xinxin Wang on successfully completing their PhD thesis examinations!

Wen Gu's research on "Tibetan Women Filmmakers 2012-2022: Film Production Networks and Filmmaking Practices" and Xinxin Wang's research on "Ethnic Identity Construction in State Schools of Hui Students in Jining," mark important milestones in their academic journeys. 🎓✨

📌New Publication: please check out the recent article by Wen gu, our PhD candidate.

"Desta Kyi and the Question of Collective Emotional Labour: Who Sustains Visibility in Chinese Film Festival"

The article is available at:

Desta Kyi and the Question of Collective Emotional Labour: Who Sustains Visibility in Chinese Film Festival This paper examines Tibetan female filmmaker Desta Kyi’s navigation of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festivals to show how emotional and affective labour function as essential strategies for marginalized filmmakers to secure visibility within Han-centric, male-dominated Chinese film ...

For those who are interested!

Please check further information at this link:
https://ari.nus.edu.sg/events/21st-singapore-graduate-forum/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOU5xtleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5Q2pKT3dsVDdaZm5OVXVpc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqUowvqzgVHraW_Afaonch2S5ecBgMEOtr7JMyPdNbpWj3pCzrHJRAqRmwub_aem_zOfHczvBFGJGrRJqGxhKFw

CFA | 21st Singapore Graduate Forum on Southeast Asian Studies » Asia Research Institute, NUS CALL FOR APPLICATIONS DEADLINE: 5 JANUARY 2026 This forum is organised by the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, with funding support from the Henry Luce Foundation, USA. The Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore (NUS) invites applications from curre...

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🙏❤️ขอให้ทุกคนผ่านพ้นวิกฤตินี้ไปได้อย่างปลอดภัย

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🎉Congratulations to Asst. Prof. Dr. Ken Calang, our new graduate, and Asst. Prof. Princess Mara Estanislao, our PhD candidate, for winning top awards at the 4th International and 7th National Gender and Development (GAD) Research Congress, held from November 19–21, 2025, at Central Luzon State University.

📣 Call for Papers: LGBTQ+ Economics and Allies in Asia-Pacific (LEAP) Summit 2026
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We’re excited to invite submissions for the LGBTQ+ Economics and Allies in Asia-Pacific (LEAP) Summit—a regional platform advancing LGBTQ+ equity in workplaces, markets, and society.
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📝 Submit a full paper or 1,000-word abstract
⏰ Deadline: 17 December 2025
✈️ Travel scholarships available for presenters outside Australia
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📩 Submit: [email protected]

ℹ️ More info: https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/conferences/2026-leap-summit/_recache -for-papers

📢Publication Awards - Apply Now! 📚

The Ph.D. Program in Multicultural Studies at RILCA, Mahidol University, is offering TWO cash awards of 10,000 baht each to students who published as first author in an academic journal or edited volume in 2025.

To apply, please submit your publication to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sirijit Sunanta at [email protected]

📅Apply now until December 31, 2025
🎯Result annouced: February 15, 2026

Check your eligibility and find further information at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yr_neu8uHViHIDitbifUM2wD2nnYrp8p/view?usp=sharing

📣Thesis examination:
Wen Gu, Ph.D. Candidate in Multicultural Studies Program

"Tibetan Women Filmmakers 2012-2022: Film Production Networks and Filmmaking Practices"

ABSTRACT
This thesis investigates the careers of Tibetan women filmmakers active between 2012 and 2022, tracing the early stages of screenwriting and project development, the formation of their creative identities, their collaborative filmmaking practices, and their participation in film festival networks. It focuses on three Tibetan women directors—Desta Kyi from the Amdo region, KangDrun and Tenzinsedon from the Ü-Tsang region. The study contextualizes their positions as ethnic women working within the male-dominated Chinese film industry and examines how authorial identities are shaped under conditions of disparity of educational and infrastructural development, film festival visibility, and gendered labor in contemporary China. It further explores their working cultures, collaborative relationships on film sets, and interactions within film festival environments. The research aims to shed light on their lives, careers, filmmaking practices, and the networks of support that sustain them.

Methodologically, the thesis employs a combined approach of semi-autobiographical ethnography and semi-structured interviews. The semi-autobiographical dimension draws on my reflective experiences of spending time with the directors, engaging in informal conversations, and observing their working processes and everyday lives. Each case study investigates the dynamics of Tibetan tribal culture and gender relations on film sets, and how these dynamics shape filmmaking practices, as well as the filmmakers’connections with the Chinese film industry and the various forms of support and limitation they encounter. Through the lenses of feminist production studies, emotional and affective labors, the thesis highlights women’s authorship, multiple forms of labors, and the collaborative filmmaking practices that define their creative processes.

📅Date: 28 November 2025
⏰Time: 3:00 PM -5:00 PM
📍Venue: Nat Coference Room, 1st Floor, RILCA, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus

*The event is open to the public.

Thanks everyone for sharing the good time over delicious food and drinks at the Multicultural Evening last Thursday. Special thanks to our wonderful Somtam, dumpling and tea masters, and the magical fortune teller too. Our sincere thanks also go to all the extra hands who helped preparing the event, rolling the dumplings, and taking the photo/video clips to capture the moment. 🎉

เมื่อ “วิจัย” ไม่อยู่กับที่ — จาก Gender สู่ Migration | Connect Research Ep.1 ชวนคุย ชวนรู้จัก “รศ. ดร.ศิริจิต สุนันต๊ะ” นักวิจัยที่มีเส้นทางการทำงานจาก Women and Genderสู่โลกของ Migration Studies ที่เต็มไป.....