By Brian Doce, PhD Candidate, Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University
Last 21-22 May 2024, the UK-based Association for Southeast Asian Studies (ASEAS), in partnership with the Faculty of Law of Universitas Brawijaya, held its first International PhD Workshop in Malang, Indoneisa for doctoral students working on a research project about the Southeast Asia (SEA) region.
Hailing from different universities in SEA, Australia and Europe, the workshop catered to PhD students working in various topics ranging from politics, economics, international relations, media, gender studies, history, humanities, and other applied social sciences.
As a PhD student already in Year 3, I am now already at the stage looking for platforms and opportunities to showcase my project and received valuable feedback from other experts in the field. My PhD project is about the political economy of halal certification regulation. Through the case of the Philippines, I am currently building an alternative framework to explain the convergence of Islam and neoliberalism and to provide an alternative explanation behind the variegated modes of regulating Islamic economies across the globe.
Honestly, when I received the notification of acceptance that I qualified for the ASEAS workshop, I almost declined the invitation since I was also waiting for the result of my submission to another conference in London. As a student from a developing country reliant on university funding to attend academic events, I need to strategize and maximize my remaining resources. Hence, I could not attend both.
“Brian, I know that visiting London over Indonesia is your priority, but I believe the workshop in Malang will provide you greater benefits as a novice academic,” jokingly remarked by my supervisor when I consulted her. Heeding her advice, I realized as I write this blog post that I made the correct decision.
As job opportunities in the academic job market is getting bleaker by the day, the workshop organizers also deemed necessary to teach other necessary life skills to PhD students especially in networking, packaging their profile and works, and to gain advantage in the field by publishing in journals.
In fact, I believe that one of the remarkable features of our workshop cohort is we embodied a new generation of PhD students. First, pushed by increasing competition for PhD scholarships and anxieties about the academic job market, many of the participants have already published at least one journal article before starting their doctoral studies. Second, a number of participants are not solely involved in academia but also currently involved and affiliated with their industry of choice.
One participant shared her involvement in rehabilitation sciences and palliative care which inspired her to look for indigenous, Filipino concepts to decolonize her current field.
Another participant utilized his experience working in the business beat of Philippine media as he is now working on the regulation of environmental reporting of mining companies in the Philippines.
I, myself, belong to this group. Prior to my doctoral studies, I experienced working in a trade and cultural relations office of the Philippines in Taiwan. At present, I am also involved in a firm that specialises in strategic communications and public affairs.
While academia and industry have different ways of working, the increasing number of PhD students especially in the social sciences and area studies with involvement in the industry is both an opportunity to enrich their respective areas of enquiries but also to rethink and be excited (!) for the possible future (s) of Southeast Asian Studies. In addition, regardless of whether a PhD student decides to become a full-time academic or also engage in other ventures, the first ASEAS international PhD workshop enabled us to realize a core lesson: a sound research covering the formulation of proper research questions and methodology is a pre-requisite whether we aim to transform our discipline or to provide concrete solutions to the contemporary issues and challenges existing in the Southeast Asian region.
BIONOTE:
Brian U. Doce is a PhD Candidate from the Indo-Pacific Research Centre of Murdoch University. He is also a Visiting Doctoral Fellow of the School of Social Sciences, Law and Governance of the University of Asia & the Pacific (UA&P) and Southeast Asia Research Center and Hub of De La Salle University (DLSU-SEARCH). He also serves as the Public Policy and Research Manager of Universalis, Inc.
ASEAS 