http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJgKSnYy880
Showing posts with label Ohio University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ohio University. Show all posts
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Ohio University Prepares for Varied Khmer Forum
Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Washington, DC Tuesday, 26 April 2011
“The Khmer Studies Forum is very import because it allows the opportunity to study Cambodia specifically, to talk about Cambodian history, Cambodian culture..."
Ohio University holds its 3rd annual Khmer Studies Forum later this week, offering a rare opportunity for scholars of Khmer issues to share their work.
For two days starting from April 29, researchers, experts and enthusiasts will gather in Athens, Ohio, to share their thoughts and findings.
Christine Su, organizer of the forum, said the event combines academic and intellectual pursuit with community and cultural interests.
“The Khmer Studies Forum is very import because it allows the opportunity to study Cambodia specifically, to talk about Cambodian history, Cambodian culture, Cambodian contemporary issues, and also allows for our faculties and the community, who may not know very much about Cambodia, to learn from the students and from the presenters,” she said.
Su said the forum will cover a wide range of topics, including linguistics, ancient Khmer scripts, genocide survivors, film, media in Cambodia, border crossings, forced deportation, forced relocation, development and politics.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
First Khmer Studies Forum Held in the US
From left: Im Sothearith, Chalisa Magpanthong, and So Farina, speakers at the Khmer Study Forum, at Ohio University. By Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Ohio
05 June 2009
Information about the Cambodian Studies Forum is available at
oucambodianforum.blogspot.com
oucambodianforum.blogspot.com
The first annual Khmer Studies Forum, on Saturday May 30, 2009, was organized by the Southeast Asian Studies Program of Ohio University. This forum was held as the result of a discussion between Deth Sok Udom, a Cambodian graduate student of the program, and Anthony Medrano, its assistant director.
The aim was to give an opportunity to students and scholars to present and discuss research findings. Eleven speakers presented papers on 11 topics, such as “Problems and Prospects for Cambodia's Endangered Cultural Heritage” and “Exploring Trade and Exchange Networks in Iron Age Cambodia.”
Attendants were exposed to international perspectives on Cambodia. They discussed the neglect of Indochina by the US following the Vietnam War, including Cambodia, for example.
Jared Cahners, a doctoral student at the anthropology department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the speakers at the forum, said the meeting was a “wonderful” opportunity for people who study Cambodia to get together.
“People are studying so many different aspects of Cambodian, Khmer culture, people came from many disciplines to do it,” he said.
Alison Carter, a doctoral candidate in anthropology department, said she was excited to participate.
“I learned a lot,” she said. “There are a lot of things I didn’t really know very much about, because Cambodia is so rich and diverse. There’re so many things, so many opportunities to study. So, I am really excited to learn about those things. For me, I’m really excited to talk about my research with people who are interested in Cambodia, because usually I talk about my research with people who are just interested in archeology. So, they might not know much about the history of Cambodia, or even where Cambodia is.”
Deth Sok Udom, graduate student of Ohio University’s Southeast Asian Studies Program and one of the forum organizers, said there are many Cambodian graduate students and scholars in the United States, but they do not have a chance to get together officially.
This forum created an opportunity for Cambodian and foreign scholars on Cambodia to meet.
“This first year, we had 11 topics,” he said. “Some people talked about history, some talked about archeology, some talked about women’s rights, some talked about anthropology, politics and media studies. Therefore, it gave us more understanding besides what we studied.”
Anthony Medrano, assistant director of Southeast Asian Studies, Ohio University and one of the forum organizers, said the university’s role as a “national resource center” made it the perfect place to have the forum.
“The target audience is going to be students and other scholars, regardless of the level that they are at, scholars who work on Cambodia, or Cambodians, or Cambodian society, so that could mean people who look at Cambodians in America, people who look at colonial history in Cambodia, people who look at Angkor history, people who look at contemporary politics, who look at administrative reform,” he said. “So the target audience is anybody who has an interest in Cambodia that we want to sort of bring together. So, it can be kind of venue that is open and free and available for them to share their research and findings.”
Lay Putheara, a graduate student at the Institute of International Training, in Vermont, and one of the participants in this forum, said this type of forum should be held every year.
“It is useful because Cambodians have an opportunity to tell international scholars about what they know, what they studied, or know through experience in Cambodia,” he said. “At the same time, international scholars who have studied Cambodia have an opportunity to present to us their perspectives, their knowledge, their experiences about Cambodia.”
In the United States, only nine universities are considered national resource centers on Southeast Asia: Cornell, Ohio, Wisconsin-Madison, Berkley, UCLA, Washington, Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Hawaii.
The second-annual Cambodian Studies Forum will be held on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at Ohio University. Information about the Cambodian Studies Forum is available at oucambodianforum.blogspot.com.
The aim was to give an opportunity to students and scholars to present and discuss research findings. Eleven speakers presented papers on 11 topics, such as “Problems and Prospects for Cambodia's Endangered Cultural Heritage” and “Exploring Trade and Exchange Networks in Iron Age Cambodia.”
Attendants were exposed to international perspectives on Cambodia. They discussed the neglect of Indochina by the US following the Vietnam War, including Cambodia, for example.
Jared Cahners, a doctoral student at the anthropology department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the speakers at the forum, said the meeting was a “wonderful” opportunity for people who study Cambodia to get together.
“People are studying so many different aspects of Cambodian, Khmer culture, people came from many disciplines to do it,” he said.
Alison Carter, a doctoral candidate in anthropology department, said she was excited to participate.
“I learned a lot,” she said. “There are a lot of things I didn’t really know very much about, because Cambodia is so rich and diverse. There’re so many things, so many opportunities to study. So, I am really excited to learn about those things. For me, I’m really excited to talk about my research with people who are interested in Cambodia, because usually I talk about my research with people who are just interested in archeology. So, they might not know much about the history of Cambodia, or even where Cambodia is.”
Deth Sok Udom, graduate student of Ohio University’s Southeast Asian Studies Program and one of the forum organizers, said there are many Cambodian graduate students and scholars in the United States, but they do not have a chance to get together officially.
This forum created an opportunity for Cambodian and foreign scholars on Cambodia to meet.
“This first year, we had 11 topics,” he said. “Some people talked about history, some talked about archeology, some talked about women’s rights, some talked about anthropology, politics and media studies. Therefore, it gave us more understanding besides what we studied.”
Anthony Medrano, assistant director of Southeast Asian Studies, Ohio University and one of the forum organizers, said the university’s role as a “national resource center” made it the perfect place to have the forum.
“The target audience is going to be students and other scholars, regardless of the level that they are at, scholars who work on Cambodia, or Cambodians, or Cambodian society, so that could mean people who look at Cambodians in America, people who look at colonial history in Cambodia, people who look at Angkor history, people who look at contemporary politics, who look at administrative reform,” he said. “So the target audience is anybody who has an interest in Cambodia that we want to sort of bring together. So, it can be kind of venue that is open and free and available for them to share their research and findings.”
Lay Putheara, a graduate student at the Institute of International Training, in Vermont, and one of the participants in this forum, said this type of forum should be held every year.
“It is useful because Cambodians have an opportunity to tell international scholars about what they know, what they studied, or know through experience in Cambodia,” he said. “At the same time, international scholars who have studied Cambodia have an opportunity to present to us their perspectives, their knowledge, their experiences about Cambodia.”
In the United States, only nine universities are considered national resource centers on Southeast Asia: Cornell, Ohio, Wisconsin-Madison, Berkley, UCLA, Washington, Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Hawaii.
The second-annual Cambodian Studies Forum will be held on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at Ohio University. Information about the Cambodian Studies Forum is available at oucambodianforum.blogspot.com.
Friday, May 18, 2007
OU Int'l Week speaker recalls Cambodia's killing fields
2007-05-17
By Meghan Montgomery
Athens NEWS Campus Reporter
Ohio University, USA
By Meghan Montgomery
Athens NEWS Campus Reporter
Ohio University, USA
The keynote speaker for Ohio University's 2007 International Week recounted his survival from one of history's worst genocides Tuesday night at Baker Center.
"I never gave up, and I promised in my heart over time that I would never stop talking when I survived," said Dith Pran, whose story was told in the award-winning film, "The Killing Fields." "This story needed to be told, so you can save lives for the future generations, because this could happen again and again."
Dith Pran survived the Cambodian genocide committed by the Communist Khmer Rouge regime, explained a representative from OU's Cambodian Student Association during Pran's introduction.
In the late 1970s, Pran covered the Cambodian civil war for The New York Times, but was not permitted to leave the country when other foreign correspondents evacuated. According to the Cambodian student representative, Pran endured four years of torture and starvation in labor camps, while the Khmer Rouge killed nearly a quarter of the population, including 50 of Pran's relatives.
Now, as the founder of the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, Pran speaks about the Cambodian holocaust to promote awareness and prevent future genocides. "I'm not a hero, I am a messenger," said Pran.
In the beginning of his speech, Pran explained how the Communist regime was allowed to take power partly because of negative American public opinion after the Vietnam War. "People ignored Cambodia because American voters at the time said 'don't go back to Southeast Asia...enough is enough,'" said Pran. "I know why America did not look back, because they said 'we lost so many people already.' That's why during the time no one paid attention."
Pran said that when the Khmer Rouge came to power, they thought communism was the best way to change the world. "Communism to them meant you work together, you sleep together, you eat together, and you are supposed to be one person," said Pran. "But this is not how it works, because they have another rule... a jungle rule that we suffer."
Pran said that when the Khmer Rouge took the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, in 1975, he made the mistake of staying behind. "That's why we lost so many people, because we never believed the Khmer Rouge would do such horrible things to people, such as killing children and killing priests," said Pran.
According to Pran, when the Communist regime came to power, their first initiative was to rebuild Phnom Penh and empty the city by moving the urban population to the countryside. He said the Khmer Rouge destroyed everything because they believed in starting from zero.
"They wanted to kill all of the generation who knew anything 'American,' and who felt what lies in the city is better than the countryside," said Pran. "They wanted to get rid of the city people and promote the country people, because they believed they could turn the people in the countryside into robots who would not question and who would just do what they want."
Pran said that although the Khmer Rouge wanted to supposedly rebuild the country, they killed the engineer who could build irrigation; they killed the doctor who could save lives; and they stopped educating the children who were supposed to be the future generation. Pran said they didn't have hospitals because the Khmer Rouge closed them, so they made untrained teenagers their nurses and doctors. "They killed by allowing people to starve to death, by killing doctors, and by confiscating medicine," recalled Pran.
In order to survive, Pran said he would eat crickets, or anything he could. "Cambodians don't eat wolf, but when you have no choice and you are sent to a jungle with plenty of wolf... you learn how to make a trap," he said.
Pran stated the importance of keeping hope in order to survive the genocide. "Losing hope happened to many people. Some people gave up hope, but I never gave up hope," said Pran. "I believed that the evil never could stay forever, but I pretended to be stupid. That's how I survived; you have to know how to play games with the enemy in order to survive."
At the end of his speech, Pran affirmed the importance of speaking out in situations like these, in order to minimize the killings. "We cannot stop it completely, but we must learn how to do something instead of saying we can't do it," he said.
Pran's story and message is depicted in "The Killing Fields" and in his book, "Children of the Killing Fields." He testified before the House of Representatives about the Cambodian genocide, and today receives recognition for his struggle and his mission.
Tuesday night, Thomas Hodson, director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at OU, awarded Pran the school's Carr Van Anda Award for his contributions to journalism.
"I suffered tremendously, but I have people here who care, and who won't let this happen again. I hope together we can make a change," said Pran.
"I never gave up, and I promised in my heart over time that I would never stop talking when I survived," said Dith Pran, whose story was told in the award-winning film, "The Killing Fields." "This story needed to be told, so you can save lives for the future generations, because this could happen again and again."
Dith Pran survived the Cambodian genocide committed by the Communist Khmer Rouge regime, explained a representative from OU's Cambodian Student Association during Pran's introduction.
In the late 1970s, Pran covered the Cambodian civil war for The New York Times, but was not permitted to leave the country when other foreign correspondents evacuated. According to the Cambodian student representative, Pran endured four years of torture and starvation in labor camps, while the Khmer Rouge killed nearly a quarter of the population, including 50 of Pran's relatives.
Now, as the founder of the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, Pran speaks about the Cambodian holocaust to promote awareness and prevent future genocides. "I'm not a hero, I am a messenger," said Pran.
In the beginning of his speech, Pran explained how the Communist regime was allowed to take power partly because of negative American public opinion after the Vietnam War. "People ignored Cambodia because American voters at the time said 'don't go back to Southeast Asia...enough is enough,'" said Pran. "I know why America did not look back, because they said 'we lost so many people already.' That's why during the time no one paid attention."
Pran said that when the Khmer Rouge came to power, they thought communism was the best way to change the world. "Communism to them meant you work together, you sleep together, you eat together, and you are supposed to be one person," said Pran. "But this is not how it works, because they have another rule... a jungle rule that we suffer."
Pran said that when the Khmer Rouge took the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, in 1975, he made the mistake of staying behind. "That's why we lost so many people, because we never believed the Khmer Rouge would do such horrible things to people, such as killing children and killing priests," said Pran.
According to Pran, when the Communist regime came to power, their first initiative was to rebuild Phnom Penh and empty the city by moving the urban population to the countryside. He said the Khmer Rouge destroyed everything because they believed in starting from zero.
"They wanted to kill all of the generation who knew anything 'American,' and who felt what lies in the city is better than the countryside," said Pran. "They wanted to get rid of the city people and promote the country people, because they believed they could turn the people in the countryside into robots who would not question and who would just do what they want."
Pran said that although the Khmer Rouge wanted to supposedly rebuild the country, they killed the engineer who could build irrigation; they killed the doctor who could save lives; and they stopped educating the children who were supposed to be the future generation. Pran said they didn't have hospitals because the Khmer Rouge closed them, so they made untrained teenagers their nurses and doctors. "They killed by allowing people to starve to death, by killing doctors, and by confiscating medicine," recalled Pran.
In order to survive, Pran said he would eat crickets, or anything he could. "Cambodians don't eat wolf, but when you have no choice and you are sent to a jungle with plenty of wolf... you learn how to make a trap," he said.
Pran stated the importance of keeping hope in order to survive the genocide. "Losing hope happened to many people. Some people gave up hope, but I never gave up hope," said Pran. "I believed that the evil never could stay forever, but I pretended to be stupid. That's how I survived; you have to know how to play games with the enemy in order to survive."
At the end of his speech, Pran affirmed the importance of speaking out in situations like these, in order to minimize the killings. "We cannot stop it completely, but we must learn how to do something instead of saying we can't do it," he said.
Pran's story and message is depicted in "The Killing Fields" and in his book, "Children of the Killing Fields." He testified before the House of Representatives about the Cambodian genocide, and today receives recognition for his struggle and his mission.
Tuesday night, Thomas Hodson, director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at OU, awarded Pran the school's Carr Van Anda Award for his contributions to journalism.
"I suffered tremendously, but I have people here who care, and who won't let this happen again. I hope together we can make a change," said Pran.
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