Chantal Croteau
ccroteau@umich.edu
Anthropology & CSEAS
My research examines Buddhist-Muslim relations in southern Thailand and focuses on the myriad forms of relatedness and belonging produced through everyday actions and practices of care.
Hilary Izatt
hizatt@umich.edu
Political Science, Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies
I focus on the study of electoral politics, voter behavior and electoral manipulation in authoritarian and competitive authoritarian regimes, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. I am particularly interested in studying how autocrats design electoral institutions to tilt playing fields, including through the strategic use of gerrymandering and malapportionment.
Erin McCauliffe
erinlymc@umich.edu
Sociology
Erin is a sociologist of race, ethnicity, nationality, and immigration using qualitative and comparative-historical methods. She researches processes of citizenship verification among rural populations in Myanmar's Shan State (eastern borderlands) as well as among migrant communities in Northern Thailand. Her current project looks at the ways in which interpretations of citizenship laws, family laws, and resident/foreigner registration laws contribute to ongoing statelessness in Myanmar, particularly for orphans and children born to single mothers. I study Burmese and have previously studied Thai as well.
Paige Newhouse
panew@umich.edu
History
I research Vietnamese migration to Germany. I am specifically interested in how Vietnamese migrants shaped German immigration debates from the 1970s to the late-1990s, and their role in a new, post-Cold War understanding of migration. I currently study Vietnamese and am at the upper-intermediate level.
Megan Ryan
memary@umich.edu
Political Science, Southeast Asia, Myanmar
I study religious nationalist mobilization, specifically how state-Sangha relations interact with technological change to affect Buddhist activism in Myanmar. I also have a regional focus on Southeast Asia.
Matt Schissler
mjschiss@umich.edu
Anthropology
Anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar and inter-religious life. I am studying Burmese.
Emma Willoughby
elwillou@umich.edu
Public Health
I am a PhD student in the School of Public Health concentrating in Health Policy and political science. I’m interested in regulation of food markets and retailers, and how this affects food access in Vietnam. I am currently studying Vietnamese.
Conner Vanderbeek
csv@umich.edu
Ethnomusicology, South Asian Studies
I served as the GSI for the gamelan for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years, and I am the instructor for the 2020-21 academic year. I was also the composer in residence for the gamelan and had an original piece performed on the winter 2018 concert.
Htet Thiha Zaw
htzaw@umich.edu
Political Science, Economics, History
My research interests lie in historical political economy, education, and formal theory. Substantively, I am interested in understanding human capital investment in non-democratic states during periods of political instability and conflict, and answering related questions in the context of colonial states in Southeast Asia, particularly British Burma.
