The University of Konstanz (Germany) is looking for a (political/legal) anthropologist, and is particularly interested in someone working on Myanmar or SE Asia. See our Announcements and Calendar page for more information about the position.

We know you’ve been waiting for this all week! It’s well worth the wait: we have Jasnea Sarma on road building projects in the India-Myanmar borderlands; Zeyar Lynn with three poems (in both Burmese and English) in the aftermath of the coup; and Ian Brown on how British colonial officials dealt with the failure of “Rule of Law” in Burma. See here: https://burmastudiesgroup.wordpress.com/recent-publications-2/ and if you are paywalled, please feel free to DM us for PDFs.

A reminder about the mentorship initiative that BSG launched a few weeks ago: https://burmastudiesgroup.wordpress.com/collaborations-and-resources/. We already have 40 scholars signed up, and we currently have seven mentors who do not yet have mentees – so if you know of any young scholars in Burma studies who would like support with an application or something academy-related, let them know of this opportunity!

Tired of feeling like you’re missing out on those good good Burma studies events? You no longer have to fret. We are keeping a calendar of events so you can make your plan: https://burmastudiesgroup.wordpress.com/announcements/

If you have an event coming up, let us know and we’ll put it on!

Is it Tuesday already? That means Burma Studies Publication Time! This week we have two bangers, one on soldier defections (by Helen Kyed and Ah Lynn) and the second on daily survival as seen through the Burmese concept of nalehmu (by Jayde Roberts and Izzy Rhoads). Want to learn more? See here

“MYANMAR ONE YEAR POST-COUP: Implications & Responses to the Political and Humanitarian Crises“

for registration and program: https://events.humanitix.com/one-year-post-coup-implications-and-responses-to-myanmar-s-political-and-humanitarian-crises

Tuesday again! BSG publications announcements time. This week we have a new analysis of the sit-tat by David Steinberg; a new edited volume on ethnic and religious diversity in Myanmar; and Khin Thazin on the CDM. Check out our publications page for the whole run down: https://burmastudiesgroup.wordpress.com/recent-publications-2/

With application season approaching, scholars from Burma can benefit from support and assistance in crafting successful applications. Different applications for different programs require significantly different narratives (undergraduate and Masters want a life story / future trajectory, whereas a PhD only wants a description of the academic project, etc). We have designed a simple form to link up applicants with mentors. Please sign up at this link:

This initiative fits into BSG’s broader effort to design collaborations and provide resources for underserved scholars, with a focus on making Burma studies knowledge production more collaborative and less extractive than it has been in the past. We have a Collaborations and Resources page on our website devoted to this project, with other projects in development.

The Sarah M. Bekker Prize for 2020 has been awarded to:

Laur Kiik (Anthropology, University of Oxford) for the paper “Geopolitical Analysis or Conspiracy Theory? Hearing Chinese, Burmese, and Kachin Speculations on the Myitsone Dam Controversy.” 

The next Bekker Prize will be granted in 2023, with a call for submissions earlier that year.

As an additional note, a new paper prize has been approved to be granted to grad students / post docs in years when the Bekker is not given. There will be a call for submission for the inaugural John Okell paper prize around the March 2022 Association of Asian Studies conference.