Considering Southeast Asia as an Open Region

Area studies is the endeavor to deepen our understanding of specific regions where others live. Ideally, understanding others begins with learning their language, then studying their dietary habits, culture, customs, and political, social, and economic systems. Building on that, it is necessary to cultivate the imagination to comprehend their ways of thinking. Needless to say, understanding others cannot be achieved overnight; it requires taking the time to patiently engage with others (and with oneself). While realizing the ideal of mastering area studies takes time, I hope to provide students with opportunities, however small, to understand others through my classes.

The course I teach is Contemporary Southeast Asian Studies. The Southeast Asian region comprises eleven nation-states. However, Southeast Asia is not a closed entity of these eleven countries; it is an open region with close relationships with other regions, nations, and peoples. Some people live their lives without a conscious sense of belonging to a nation-state. With its long and dramatic history of human migration, Southeast Asia is full of a complex charm that defies simple understanding. In my lectures, I attempt to foster a multifaceted understanding of Southeast Asia as a spatial region, a temporal region, and a tangible reality. Through this approach, I aim to create an opportunity to reflect on the trajectory and future of Southeast Asia as an open region.

In my special research seminar, which is conducted in a small-group format, we explore ways of understanding others with students by examining literature on the Southeast Asian region. We focus primarily on English-language texts, and the class is conducted in English. By critically reading and unraveling the bodies of knowledge on history, politics, society, and culture written in English, students can form their own questions and develop their understanding of Southeast Asia. Thinking in English is also an exercise in liberating oneself from a Japanese(-language)-centric understanding. English is a tool that paves the way for mutual understanding with others and helps to relativize one's own perspective. I believe that studying Southeast Asia through the medium of English is an endeavor that holds such potential.