UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies

UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies is proud to bring the "Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines" to the Fowler Museum. The exhibition speaks to an important issue in Philippine heritage, who has the authority to define history. It reflects that shift by centering Indigenous knowledge, lived experience, and cultural practice as fundamental to understanding the past and present. On Bruin Giving Day, CSEAS invites you to make a gift so that we can continue bringing community voices and histories to the forefront. GIVE TO UCLA CSEAS: giving.ucla.edu/southeast


Read more: https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/time-trowel-communities-power-define-history/

[Time Trowel] The power to define history is shifting back to communities The Philippines entered the American imagination through a framework that made hierarchy appear natural. Anthropology has played a role in shaping and sustaining that framework. That history calls for a reckoning within the discipline.

Bruin Giving Day is officially here! CSEAS invites you to make a gift to allow us to continue meaningful programs that make an impact for UCLA students!💙💛 Make your gift today: giving.ucla.edu/southeast

Piphal Heng (Yale University) returns to UCLA for a talk "Reconceptualizing Angkor: Compassion, Infrastructure, and Statecraft" on April 28 from 4-5:30pm in Deutsche Room, Fowler Museum at UCLA as part of Fowler Talks. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fowler-talk-reconceptualizing-angkor-tickets-1985594217756?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Join us in person (seats are limited) or on Zoom on April 28 at 2pm for the screening of "Fighting for Family" followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Lan Nguyen. Register here: https://www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/event/17682.

Deadline Extended!

GETSEA is still accepting applications for proposals for our next round of GETSEA Mini Courses. Check out the website for more details - https://get-sea.org/mini-courses/

Proposal Deadline: May 10th

To kick off a series of public programs for the new exhibition Mountain Spirits at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, CSEAS invites you to join our panel discussion "Decolonizing Philippine History, Rethinking Ifugao and Indigeneity" on April 15 from 6-8pm in Lenart Auditorium in Fowler Museum.
REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fowler-talk-decolonizing-philippine-history-and-ifugao-indigeneity-tickets-1985551112828?aff=oddtdtcreator

CSEAS Director Stephen Acabado will speak in conversation with Justin Dunnavant (UCLA) "Who Gets to Have History: Reconciling Southeast Asian Temporal Frameworks" TOMORROW April 14 at 11am Pacific Time in Fowler Building A222.

https://www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/event/17596

Richard Tran will give a webinar on his latest book "Q***r Vietnam: A History of Gender Transgression, 1920-1945" (Stanford University Press, 2025) on April 13 at 6pm Pacific Time. Register here: https://www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/event/17658.

We invite you to join us on April 10 at 4pm to celebrate the repatriation of remaining limestone burial jars held in Los Angeles to the National Museum of the Philippines. https://www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/event/17595

Only a few more days before the opening celebration of "Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines," at the Fowler Museum on April 11, 2026. Special thanks to our caterer Titas of Manila and sponsors for the opening reception: San Miguel, Red Horse, Jollibee and Island Pacific Seafood Market.
Get your tickets now:

Opening Celebration: Mountain Spirits | Fowler Museum at UCLA IN PERSON

CSEAS invites you to the opening celebration of "Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines," at the Fowler Museum at UCLA on April 11, 2026 at 6pm. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/opening-celebration-mountain-spirits-tickets-1982905626106?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Opening Celebration: Mountain Spirits Celebrate the opening of Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines.