ASEAN STUDIES

Lesson 1: Introduction to ASEAN Studies

I. Introduction
ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES (ASEAN).
 refers to research and education on the Historical, Cultural, Social, Economic, Geographical,
and Political characteristics of the different state and ethnic groups of countries in Southeast
Asia who are members of ASEAN.
THE DISCIPLINE OF ASEAN STUDIES:
 development, acquisition, and sharing of knowledge about the countries and people of
ASEAN and the ways they relate to each other and to the world.
ASEAN STUDIES
 multidisciplinary academic field
 incorporating anthropology, religious studies, linguistics, history, politics and governance, and
international relations.
 undertaken in Southeast Asia itself is comparatively young.
THERE IS A NEED TO QUALIFY TWO CATEGORIES OF ASEAN STUDIES IN THE REGION.
 First, there is ASEAN Studies offered as a discipline at the various tertiary institutions and
universities in the region.
 Second category is the numerous centers, institutions and departments specifically
established with the particular objective of promoting research of the region, whether as a
whole or directed at the different parts often along national-political lines.
In terms of ASEAN Studies as a tertiary course catering to undergraduate and graduate studies its roots
could be traced to the establishment of the Institute of Asian Studies in 1955 at the University of the
Philippines.
Following reorganization and a name-change to the Asian Center in 1968, degrees were being offered
where some students specialized in Philippine Studies.
In 1961, although abortive, there were proposals for a School of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of
Malaya, then in Singapore.
However, it was only in 1976 that the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, initiated a degree program in
Southeast Asian Studies.
Relating to purpose-built institutions and centers, the 1960s witnessed the establishment in 1968 of the
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) at Singapore with its main focus dedicated to the study of
Southeast Asia. Other centers and institutions in the region that have Southeast Asia as their main or one of
their research agenda include Institute Alam dan Tamadun Melayu (ATMA, Institute of the Malay World and
Civilization), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia; Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Universiti
Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia; Center for Khmer Studies (CKS), Cambodia; and SEAMEO-CHAT (Southeast
Asian Ministers of Education Organization Centre for History and Tradition), Myanmar.
ASEAN CITIZENSHIP
According to the ASEAN Foundation, across all ASEAN nations, over 75% of students agreed with the
statement, “I feel that I am a citizen of ASEAN.” These statements were strongest in Laos, Cambodia, and
Vietnam, and weakest in Singapore and Myanmar. Nearly 90% of students felt that membership in ASEAN is
beneficial to their countries. Nearly 70% felt that the membership beneficial personally to ASEAN was them
personally.
 I. Brief History of the Creation of ASEAN Studies in Southeast Asia Before and During the Second World
War
 "Southeast Asia" was first used in connection with the present region by American priest and
educator Howard Malcom in 1837.
 The strategic importance of numerous locales in Southeast Asia such as the Dutch East
Indianite Philippines during the Second World War attracted increased attention from the West.
 New found attention led to the establishment of Mountbatten's South-East Asia Command
(SEAC) in1943, and the publication of the first map of Southeast Asia by the National
Geographic society in 1944.
Postwar
 Events such as the 1949 Revolution in China and fear about the spread of communism re-centered much of
the monetary focus on to China and the Soviet Union.
In East Asia
 The Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University was founded in 1963, and The Japan Society
for Southeast Asian History was founded in 1966.
On 8 August 1967 the ―Bangkok Declaration ‖ gave birth to ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, an organization that would unite five countries in a joint effort to promote economic co-operation and the
welfare of their peoples.
In effect this historical event represented the culmination of the decolonization process that had started after
World War II.

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