Introduction | Our Team | Field Schools
Spring 2023
Preparation: LuceSEA Transitions Field School 1 & 2
Mentors organized a 6-week bootcamp on research methods and context at the end of Spring semester to prepare students for field school.
Summer 2023
LuceSEA Transitions Field School 1 & 2 – Khon Kaen, Thailand & South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Summer 2023 was the first iteration of two joint field schools. The first, in Khon Kaen, Thailand, in collaboration with Khon Kaen University; and the second, in South Sulawesi, in collaboration with Hasanuddin University. Learn more here.
Summer 2023
Workshop on Collaborative Research and Learning, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Students and mentors gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia, post-field school, together with experts from across the Southeast Asian region and Taiwan. Participants reflected on their field school learnings, and situated their experiences within collaborative research and learning in the region more broadly. Learn more here.
Fall 2023 & Spring 2024
LuceSEA Transitions Field School Webinars
Students and mentors reflected on their experiences and learnings in a series of webinars that spanned AY 2023-2024. Learn more here.
Spring & Fall 2024, Spring 2025
UNHAS and KKU Visiting Scholars/Fellows at UHM
UHM hosted 6 visiting scholars from Hasanuddin University and Khon Kaen University for four months each. Their exchange, which aimed at fostering cross-cultural learning, included participation in the Hawai’i English Language Program (HELP), refining scientific writing skills, and active involvement with the East-West Center and UHCSEAS communities. Learn more here and here.
Spring 2025
Preparation: LuceSEA Transitions Field School 3 & 4
Dr. Micah Fisher offered PACE 318: Environmental Governance and Peacebuilding as a preparatory course for field school students. The course focused on theories of environmental governance and qualitative research methods. Final projects culminated in oral histories and environmental biographies of people and place on O’ahu and Maui.
In collaboration with Dr. Fisher, Dr. Yong and GA Ci Yan Sara Loh, field school undergraduate participants received a Global Tyler Fellowship and and ERC funding from UROP to fund their research in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Learn more here.
Summer 2025
LuceSEA Transitions Field School 3 – Chiang Mai, Thailand
The Chiang Mai iteration of this field school brought together students, researchers, practitioners, and community members to explore sustainable agriculture, landscape change, and Indigenous knowledge in two Karen villages in upland Chiang Mai. Read our partner organization RCSD, Chiang Mai University’s report here, and our own CSEAS writeup here.
Summer 2025
LuceSEA Transitions Field School 4 – South Sulawesi, Indonesia
This 4th iteration of LuceSEA Transitions field school, and the 2nd in Sulawesi saw students learning how to conduct collaborative research in multicultural, interdisciplinary and multigenerational groups, while learning about environmental transitions in rural Southeast Asia from the ground up. Read our students’ reflections here.
Summer 2025
Field School Publication
In summer, graduate student participants from LuceSEA Transitions Field School 1 & 2 also published a paper entitled ‘Collaboration as Method’, which reflects on their time in the field together, learning collaboration. Learn more here.
Fall 2025
Environmental Biographies Exhibition and Webinar
This exhibition, developed from PACE 316: Environmental Governance and Peacebuilding course (Spring 2025), and built upon through the field schools in Chiang Mai and South Sulawesi, features student research that explores environmental transitions, livelihoods, and resistance in rural Southeast Asia. Learn more about the environmental biographies exhibition in Hamilton Library and the webinar on Political Ecology in Practice.
Spring 2026
Preparation for LuceSEA Transitions Field School 5
We are currently organizing a monthly session to introduce LuceSEA Transitions Field School 5 participants to the key theoretical frameworks, context and research methods in preparation for summer in the field.
Spring 2026
Field School Publication
In early Spring 2026, Field School 1 & 2 organizers Dr. Ming Li Yong, Dr. Micah Fisher, Dr. Krisna Suryanata and Olivia Meyer published a paper on Joint field school: towards cultivating parity in research partnerships. Learn more here.
Summer 2026
LuceSEA Transitions Field School 5 – South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Watch this space for more info!