Ann Arbor, Mich. (August 1, 2022) – The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at the University of Michigan announces the appointment of Mike McGovern, professor of anthropology, as its interim director starting August 1, 2022.
CSEAS is thankful for Professor Laura Rozek’s dedicated leadership and tenure as CSEAS director and congratulates her on her new posting and future endeavors at Georgetown University.
It has been my honor to serve as the Center for Southeast Asian Studies director for the last three years. I have always found the CSEAS community to be vibrant, energetic, and welcoming, and as Director witnessed firsthand these qualities during the stresses and uncertainties of the worldwide pandemic. It is with mixed emotions that I depart the University of Michigan for Georgetown University, where I will lead the Cancer Epidemiology Program at Lombardi Cancer Center. This will allow me to further my work in the socio-cultural and biologic factors that influence cancer incidence in Southeast Asia, work that has been wonderfully facilitated over the years by my involvement with CSEAS.
I am thrilled that Mike McGovern has agreed to serve as interim director of CSEAS for the next year. Please see the attached announcement for specifics, but personally, I have worked with Mike on the CSEAS Executive Committee for the last two years and know that he is an exceptional scholar of Southeast Asia and a great colleague. I look forward to remaining a center affiliate and reading of the activities and successes in the future, said Professor Rozek.
I’m delighted to be working with the CSEAS’s staff, librarian, students and faculty, said McGovern. We have some of the best Southeast Asia resources in the world, from our gamelan orchestra to our library holdings and leading faculty experts working across the region. It’s an honor to continue Laura’s work for the center.
Prior to his appointment as CSEAS interim director, Professor McGovern was on the center’s Executive Committee from 2019 - 2022. He has also served as the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Anthropology. Professor McGovern received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, his MS in social anthropology from Oxford University, and his PhD in culture, history, and theory from Emory University.
Professor McGovern’s recent work focuses on everyday agrarian life and the politics of cultural separatism in Shan State, Myanmar.
