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In Focus o The Center for Khmer Studies No. 2, 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 IN THIS ISSUE Welcome to CKS 3 Feature Articles 12-15 LOIS DE MENIL Human-Ecology of the Tonle Sap Lake PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD DR. ALAN KOLATA, ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Director’s Note 4 DR. ANNE CUNNINGHAM PHILIPPE PEYCAM Members & Benefactors 6 Translation in Cambodia: re-starting from scratch? OLIVIER BERNIER, VICE-CHAIRMAN DR. MICHEL ANTELME, INALCO The CKS Library 7 Fellowship Programs 16-19 Events 8-11 Bio-archaeology in Southeast Asia CKS/Toyota Junior Fellowship Program New Trends in Khmer Studies A Research Training Program for Young Cambodians Training a new generation of Sanskritists in Cambodia Summer 2004 Junior Resident Fellowships ‘Hol’, the art of Cambodian textile Graduate Study Orientation Workshop Study trips of Foreign Universities CKS Senior Research Fellowship Program Khmer studies online A new office in Phnom Penh Institutional Consortium 20 Phnom Penh & Siem Reap - Cambodia Mission Statement The Center for Khmer Studies' mission is to promote research, teaching and public service in the social sciences, arts and humanities, as they relate to Cambodia. Specific goals of CKS are: z to facilitate research and international scholarly exchange through programs that increase understanding of Cambodia and its region z to help strengthen Cambodia's cultural and academic struc- tures and to integrate Cambodian scholars in their regional and international community z to promote a vigorous Cambodian civil society CKS is a non-governmental organization supported by a con- sortium of international institutions, foundations, scholars © Christophe Loviny and individuals. CKS is registered in Cambodia, and incorpo- rated in the U.S. Center for Khmer Studies CKS is the sole member institution of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) in Southeast Asia. Its Head Office: programs are administered from its headquarters in Siem PO Box 9380 Reap and Phnom Penh. It also maintains an administrative Wat Damnak, Siem Reap, Cambodia office in New York City and a support office in Paris, Les Amis Tel: (855) 063 964 385 du Centre d’Etudes Khmères. Fax: (855) 063 963 035 Phnom Penh Office: 8 Street 600, Tuol Kork Board of Directors Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel: (855) 023 991 937 Dr. Lois de Menil, Chairman Olivier Bernier, Vice-Chairman Email: [email protected] Dean Berry, Esq., Secretary and General Counsel Website: www.khmerstudies.org Gaye Fugate, Treasurer Dr. Michel Rethy Antelme Anne H. Bass CKS Staff Prof. Kamaleswar Bhattacharya Prof. Kieth Rethy Chhem Dr. Philippe Peycam Director Selma Ertegun Jacques Hennessy François Tainturier Deputy Director Prof. Yoneo Ishii Lesley Perlman Senior Administrator Steven Pesner NOP Sovanna Financial Manager Dr. Thonewat Pou Christiane Lalonde Communications Director Prof. Son Soubert OUM Daraneth Librarian Dr. Benny Widyono Dr. Michel Rethy Antelme Editor, Siksacackr Journal DOUNG Sopheap Siem Reap Office Manager INSTITUTIONAL CONSORTIUM REPRESENTATIVES KHENG Pytou Kethya Phnom Penh Office Manager Prof. Thak Chaloemtiarana, Cornell University Alejandro de Montalban New York Office Coordinator Prof. Bion Griffin, University of Hawaii Prof. John Miksic, National University of Singapore Prof. Alan Kolata, University of Chicago Dr. Philippe Peycam, ex-officio, Director Cover photo: Bonnie Burnham, Chairman Emeritus Scene from the original fresco on CKS’s Library wall 2 IN FOCUS Welcome to the Center for Khmer Studies A FEW WEEKS AGO, AT A FRENCH UNIVERSITY, I attended a talk on international university to these young teachers, to give them a Post-Colonial Cambodia by a prominent international histori- taste of the classroom and the interaction between teachers and an. In the question period, he was asked by an earnest young students in other places. Franco-Cambodian student what he considered the major issues in Cambodian civil society to be now? He lost no time in In the summer of 2004, we The 2004 junior fellows replying that the two major issues were poverty and education, welcomed our first group of and that those two problems interwoven were the root of all the Junior Fellows at the Center. others. Education is indeed the key both to overcoming the With support from the many dead-ends of poverty and to the building of a strong and Henry Luce, the Florence democratic civil society. Gould and the Toyota Foundations, we gather for At the Center for Khmer Studies, we have been addressing the 12 weeks 15 undergraduates weakness of Cambodian higher education as a cornerstone of from France, Cambodia and our core mission to serve as a crossroads and place of welcome the US in a residential pro- to scholars. Our goal is to contribute over time to rebuilding gram of initiation to Khmer Cambodian higher education. From our small campus inside a Studies. Students study the historical Buddhist pagoda in the center of Siem Reap-Angkor, Khmer language, pursue a we administer a program that, in the last four years, has wel- research project on their comed over 600 young Cambodian students, training them in own, and attend daily Cambodian language (Khmer) courses as the techniques and methodology of scholarship in areas as well as seminars on a variety of topics. But above all, they inter- diverse as archeology, anthropology, and vernacular architec- face with one another. We hope in this way both to reinvigorate ture, as well as cultural resource management. the field of Khmer Studies and to establish contacts between the Cambodian students and their young French and American The Khmer Rouge regime deliberately destroyed both universi- counterparts. ties and libraries, and killed teachers who had not already escaped across the border. That void, of course, continues to fil- This is only a small taste of what we do at CKS, other examples ter down into all levels of the educational system. Poignantly, of which you will find in these pages. CKS is growing. We are very few Cambodian teachers know their own country's histo- now members of both the prestigious Council of American ry or culture__there are no history books, no textbooks. Even Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), and of the UNESCO- until now, there has been no formal education possible beyond sponsored International Coordinating Committee for Angkor, a weak B.A. degree, which does not qualify graduates for fur- the governing body for the site of Angkor. At the same time, our ther professional training in neighboring countries. CKS's train- program grows in diversity. ing programs put young Cambodian students and recent grad- uates into projects administered by international scholars, who The opportunities for CKS to be of service in Cambodia are act as mentors. Participants learn first-hand how to do field enormous. Our small staff works terribly hard administering a research, to write up their findings and to present their papers remarkable and steadily expanding program. We are so busy at our workshop/conferences of international scholars. The next that we scarcely ever have the time to look back and to take step is to place them in graduate programs nearby, honing their pleasure in our accomplishments, because there is always more English skills, helping them with the application process and to challenge us ahead. We cannot support our program without finding the funding. Our first students will begin M.A. studies your help, large and small. We are immensely grateful to the in Thailand in Fall 2004. many travelers and friends, who have contributed to the life of the Center. Our gates are always open__both to those who come Emboldened by our success over the last 4 years, CKS is now for a purpose and to those who wander in. You are welcome to preparing an ambitious new program, supported by the come and be with us-and to catch a bit of the spirit of dedica- Rockefeller Foundation, in which our target is to strengthen the tion that animates our ambitious mission. Welcome to CKS! skills of Junior Faculty at the Phnom Penh universities, through weekly training seminars. It is our deep hope that we will then Lois de Menil, Ph.D. find the resources to offer a brief first-hand experience of an President and Chairman of the Board IN FOCUS 3 Director’s Note AS A PART OF OUR MISSION, CKS initiates activi- Both Tan Sodany (24) and Seng Sary (26) bene- ties aimed at promoting the study of Cambodia fited from our in-country training programs. The CKS Conference Hall by Cambodians. These programs take several They will start their MA in October. In addition in Siem Reap forms__fellowships, services (library, publishing, to their courses, CKS has asked the host univer- © Christophe Loviny conferences), and directed research and training sity to provide them with personalized English projects. This year, we initiated a new program, and methodology support throughout the in closer partnership with Cambodian universi- whole 18-month period. We consider this out- ties, with support from the Rockefeller come as a real breakthrough. One of our fund- Foundation. We are also helping facilitate the raising goals for next year is to be able to award development of a large-scale interdisciplinary two additional MA fellowships. research project on the Tonle Sap, by the University of Chicago. This achievement represents the ultimate stage of a multi-faceted in-country training effort In 2003-04, CKS launched four fellowship pro- developed by CKS in the last three years. In grams, ranging from French and American January 2004, the Cultural Resources undergraduate students, to Cambodian college Management course, supported by the grads hoping to pursue international-standard Sainsbury Charitable Trust, came to a conclu- graduate studies abroad, to doctoral and post- sion. Parallel to it, CKS ran its first Junior doctoral researchers from the United States and Fellowship Program (JFP), with support by the France.