First International Conference on Lao Studies (ICLS)

Welcome to the Official Web Site of the

First International Conference on Lao Studies

Overall Theme: Promote & Develop Lao Studies

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Northern Illinois University is pleased to announce the First International Conference on Lao Studies (ICLS) to be held on Friday-Sunday, May 20-22, 2005 in DeKalb, Illinois, USA. The main objective of this conference is to provide an international forum for scholars to present and discuss various aspects of Lao studies.

Rationale

The Lao PDR today has a population of more than five million people, comprising an amazing complex of ethnolinguistic groups. Moreover, the number of people in the Lao "diaspora" numbers as many as twenty-five million. In recent years there has been an increased interest in Laos and its peoples as subjects of serious discussion by scholars and the interested public alike. Indeed, there has been a flowering of scholarly publications on topics pertaining to Laos in the last several decades and a growing interest cultivated by the international media with its global reach. The First Lao History Symposium, held in the Spring of 2003 at the University of California-Berkeley, heralded the burgeoning of a growing interest in Lao studies among a new generation of scholars. This conference will build on that momentum.

The 2005 conference will feature papers on any topic concerning Lao Studies. Topics include all ethnolinguistic groups of Laos, the Isan Lao and other ethnic Lao groups in Thailand, cross-border ethnic groups in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Burma, and Cambodia (e.g., Akha, Hmong, Khmu, Mien, Lao Phuan, Tai Lue, Tai Dam), and overseas Laotians.

For more information, please contact:

Center for Southeast Asian Studies Outreach Coordinator Julia Lamb: jlamb@niu.edu
Professor Catherine Raymond: craymond@niu.edu
Professor John Hartmann: jhartman@niu.edu
Vinya Sysamouth: laolanxang@yahoo.com

or other organizers

Contact Address:

Center for Southeast Asian Studies
412 Adams Hall
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115 USA
Phone: 1-815-753-1771
FAX: 1-815-753-1776
E-mail: cseas@niu.edu
Center's Webpage: www.niu.edu/cseas

Lao Studies I Webpage: www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/LaoStudies

Click here to learn Lao, Hmong, and Khmer at SEASSI 2005

Please make a Tsunami Relief & Recovery Effort

donation to one of the following organizations:

American Red Cross
Save the Children
United Way
UNICEF

Vinya Sysamouth laolanxang@yahoo.com