Asia Research Institute, NUS

16/10/2026

To commemorate ARI's 25th anniversary, we commissioned Roots branding and design consultancy () to create something special for guests at Wednesday's Distinguished Lecture.

Roots created three beautiful contemporary designs inspired by Asia’s rich artistic traditions:

🔹 Peranakan tiles — decorative ceramic tiles embraced and adapted by Peranakan communities in the Straits Settlements.

🔸 Rangoli — an ancient South Asian tradition of decorative floor art.

🔹 Batik Parang — a historic Indonesian batik motif originating in Java’s royal courts.

Three distinctive designs, each celebrating the region’s cultural heritage and reimagined as something beautiful to keep.

A huge thank you to Jonathan and Stella at Roots for bringing such creativity and care to this project, and for giving our guests a little piece of ARI’s 25th anniversary to take home!

11/10/2026

For Singaporeans, Asia’s environmental challenges are increasingly close to home. From extreme heat and prolonged dry spells to transboundary haze from fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan blanketing the city, the region’s environmental vulnerabilities are impossible to ignore.

As Asia bears the brunt of climate change, could it also hold the key to a more positive climate future?

This Wednesday, 14 October, join us at the ACM (Asian Civilisations Museum) for a timely lecture by Prof Sunil Amrith (Yale University) exploring the possibilities for Asia’s climate futures. Drawing on the region’s intellectual, political and environmental histories, Prof Amrith will examine how Asia’s own traditions of thought and practical responses to climate challenges can help shape a more resilient future for the region and beyond.

📅 Wednesday, 14 October 2026
🕓 3.30pm–7.30pm (Lecture begins at 4.10pm)
📍 Ngee Ann Auditorium, Asian Civilisations Museum, 1 Empress Place, Singapore

🔗 Register here: https://ari.nus.edu.sg/events/20261014-sunil-amrith/

Admission is free.

09/10/2026

How do Indonesians around the world navigate their identities, transnational networks and sense of belonging? How do political developments, religious participation and migration experiences shape the evolving Indonesian diaspora?

Join us for the international workshop 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢: 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨.

📅 22–23 October 2026
📍 National University of Singapore @ Kent Ridge Crescent, AS8 04-04
🎟️ Free admission

Bringing together scholars from across academic disciplines, the workshop explores the Indonesian diaspora as a "shifting diaspora", examining the dynamic and evolving nature of diasporic communities, transnational connections and multifaceted belonging among Indonesians worldwide.

Workshop convenors:
Dr Erica M. Larson and Dr Amorisa Wiratri, Asia Research Institute, NUS and Dr Bittiandra Chand Somaiah, NUS College, National University of Singapore.

From diasporic identity and religious participation to transnational networks, digital media and home-making practices, presentations will examine how Indonesians negotiate identities and belonging across diverse political, social, economic and religious contexts.

The workshop will explore the role of religious networks and communities in forging diasporic connections, while generating new insights and identifying key directions for future research.

Admission is free. Register your interest to join us!

🔗 Register and view programme and abstracts by clicking the link below.

This workshop brings together scholars from across academic disciplines to examine the transnational networks and multifaceted belonging shaping the Indonesian diaspora, which is distributed globally and encompasses individuals from highly diverse ethnic, religious, and professional backgrounds. In....

05/10/2026

Producing the Postcolonial Coast: Industry, Environment and Politics in South Asia c. 1940–1990 | Aditya Ramesh

Located in Southeast India, the Coromandel coastline is one of the world’s longest contiguous coasts. Thermal power plants, ports, petrochemical industries, fertilizer factories and cement manufacturing plants all began to spring up along the long coastline.

This project and paper suggests that South Asia’s Green Revolution was underpinned by a Blue Revolution along its lengthy coastline.

📅 03 Nov 2026
⏰ 16:00–17:30 (SGT)
📍 Hybrid (Online via Zoom & AS8 04-04)

Admission is free. Please register your interest.

CHAIRPERSON Dr Stefan Huebner, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore ABSTRACT Located in Southeast India, the Coromandel coastline is one of the world’s longest contiguous coasts. While the British colonizers considered the Indian coastline and particularly fishers as unproduct...

01/10/2026

A new special issue of 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, “Royal Agency in Contemporary City Building in Southeast Asia,” showcases scholarship on the urban agency of contemporary monarchies in cities across Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, and Cambodia. The special issue is guest edited by Jane M Jacobs and Ofita Purwani.

The contributions emerged from the workshop 'Monarchy in Southeast Asia and Their Impact on Urban Development', hosted by Asia Research Institute, NUS with support from the Urban Studies Foundation.

The workshop was convened by former ARI Fellows Ofita Purwani and Dan Zhang, together with Jane M Jacobs of Yale-NUS College, Singapore.

Monarchies in Southeast Asia are neither residual nor archaic institutions. This editorial introduction to the special issue argues that royal entities in the r...

30/09/2026

Indonesia is considering allowing dual citizenship for a limited group of highly skilled Indonesians living abroad, including scientists, engineers, doctors and AI researchers.

Dual citizenship remains relatively uncommon in Asia. So why do countries such as Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore restrict it, while the Philippines and Cambodia allow it?

Prof Elaine Ho, research leader of ARI's Migration and Mobilities cluster spoke to the BBC World Service about why Asian countries mostly take a different approach to Western countries about citizenship.

28/09/2026

The divergent outcomes of "Gen Z" protests in Bangladesh and Nepal can be understood through differences in how political institutions and patterns of party competition structure the translation of protest into political power, writes Arijit Mazumdar, Professor of Political Science at the University of St. Thomas.

New, in ARIscope.

The divergent outcomes of "Gen Z" protests in Bangladesh and Nepal can be understood through differences in how political institutions and patterns of party competition structure the translation of protest into political power.

25/09/2026

What does it take to build a research institute that connects communities, uplifts societies and fosters partnerships across borders?

For 25 years, the Asia Research Institute, NUS has been mentoring the next generation of scholars and sitting down with local communities to understand how they’re adapting to a changing world – all in pursuit of one idea: that research on Asia is best done from within Asia.

As ARI marks this milestone, Director Prof Vineeta Sinha and Deputy Director Assoc Prof Maitrii Aung-Thwin reflect on what the Institute has built – a network of scholars, interdisciplinary research addressing Asia’s most pressing challenges, and partnerships stretching from Kazakhstan to Saudi Arabia to South Korea – as well as their plans for the future.

Read more at: news.nus.edu.sg/celebrating-ari-25-years-research-and-impact/.

18/09/2026

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
Prof Sunil Amrith | Yale University at the Ngee Ann Auditorium, ACM (Asian Civilisations Museum) | 14 October 2026

Could some of the ideas we need for a more sustainable and resilient global future already be found in Asia?

As the world confronts profound geopolitical and environmental change, Prof Sunil Amrith of Yale University turns to Asian traditions of political and environmental thought to explore the deeper roots of what we now call 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩.

If you're in Singapore, join us for ARI's 25th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture, followed by a panel discussion bringing together perspectives from academia, environmental law and sustainable waste management.

𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
Assoc Prof Jiat-Hwee Chang | Asia Research Institute, NUS
Assoc Prof Jolene Lin | Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law - APCEL
Ms Ida Ayu Sri Suya Patni | Co-Founder & Commissioner, Griya Luhu
Prof Vineeta Sinha | Director, Asia Research Institute, NUS (Moderator)

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲
15:30 | Registration & Poster Exhibition
16:00 | Welcome & Introductory Remarks
16:10 | Public Lecture
17:00 | Panel Discussion
17:30 | Q&A
18:00 | Reception

The event forms part of the ARI 25th Anniversary Event Series, marking 25 years of research and conversations connecting Singapore, Asia and the wider world.

Registration is free, visit the link below.

ABSTRACT For 25 years, ARI has shaped global conversations from a perspective anchored in Asia. At a moment of epochal geopolitical disruption, this lecture turns to inter-Asian ideas about what is now called planetary health. It shows how that term has rich antecedents in Asian traditions of politi...

15/09/2026

Where does the city end and the rural begin? How have ideas from Southeast Asia reshaped how we understand urbanization?

Join us for the international workshop 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢.

📅 24–25 September 2026
📍 Hybrid: National University of Singapore, AS8 04-04 & Zoom
🎟️ Free admission

From 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘵𝘢 to 𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘰𝘵𝘢, the workshop explores concepts that challenge conventional divisions between urban and rural, and how ideas from Southeast Asia have travelled around the world.

Convened by Dr Bosman Batubara and Prof Tim Bunnell, Asia Research Institute, NUS, Prof Nicholas Phelps and Dr Andrea Arratia-Solar, The University of Melbourne, and Prof Stephen Cairns, Monash University, Indonesia.

Admission is free. Register to join us online or in person!

This workshop is organised by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and the Monash University, Indonesia. Southeast Asia (SEA) has been, and remains, fertile ground for research that unsettles any neat dichotomy of city...