Asia Research Institute, NUS

03/09/2026

Join us!

Applications are now open for the following positions:

Postdoctoral/Research Fellows – Food Politics and Society Cluster
📅 Apply by 9 October 2026
🔗 https://ari.nus.edu.sg/opportunities/postdoctoral-research-fellows-fps/

Postdoctoral/Research Fellows – Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Cluster
📅 Apply by 9 October 2026
🔗 https://ari.nus.edu.sg/opportunities/postdoctoral-research-fellows-sts/

Postdoctoral/Research Fellows – Religion & Globalisation Cluster
📅 Apply by 9 October 2026
🔗 https://ari.nus.edu.sg/opportunities/postdoctoral-research-fellows-religion-globalisation/

Postdoctoral/Research Fellowship – Migration & Mobilities Cluster
📅 Apply by 30 September 2026
🔗 https://ari.nus.edu.sg/opportunities/postdoctoral-research-fellowships-migration-mobilities/

Postdoctoral/Research Fellowship – Asian Urbanisms Cluster
📅 Apply by 30 September 2026
🔗 https://ari.nus.edu.sg/opportunities/postdoctoral-research-fellowships-asian-urbanisms/

Postdoctoral/Research Fellow – MCCY
📅 Apply by 30 September 2026
🔗 https://ari.nus.edu.sg/opportunities/postdoctoral-research-fellow-mccy/

Explore these opportunities and join ARI’s interdisciplinary research community at the National University of Singapore.

https://youtu.be/EnerCDa4tKw?si=l81hFUiwSlgGyCfK

Now well into its third decade, the Asia Research Institute (ARI) i...

01/09/2026

What explains the differences in religion and its public role across Asia? And how does secularism shape the relationship between religion, politics and populism?

A new research project, “Modalities of Religious Populism in Asia: How Secularism Shapes Religion and Politics,” explores these questions across diverse Asian societies.

Read more in a new ARIscope article by Francis Lim.

31/08/2026

How can sacred sounds transform the body, the self and the places we inhabit? What gives mantras, music and ritual sound their power?

Join us for the international workshop 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘌𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘺: 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴, 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢.

📅 2–4 September 2026
📍 Hybrid: National University of Singapore @ Kent Ridge Crescent, AS8 04-04 & on Zoom
🎟️ Free admission

Bringing together perspectives from immersive ethnography, sound studies, sensory anthropology, embodied research and historical methods, the workshop explores the power of sound in relation to music, body, place and ritual across global southern Asia.

Workshop convenors include:

Prof Carola Lorea, Dr Mukul Menon, Dr Devyani Bhosale, Ms Edda Schwarzkopf, Dr Yaoreipam Makang, Dr Tom Peterson, Dr Ish*ta Mahajan, from the University of Tübingen & Prof Kenneth Dean, Asia Research Institute, NUS

From mantras, zikr, kirtan and bhajan to ritual healing and competing religious soundscapes, presentations and multimodal contributions will examine how efficacious sounds shape bodies and selves, mediate healing and spiritual transformation, and contribute to placemaking and communal belonging.

The workshop is funded by the ERC Synergy Project MANTRAMS – Mantras in Religion, Media and Society in Global Southern Asia (ID 101118934).

Admission is free. Register your interest to join us online or in person!

This workshop is funded by the ERC Synergy Project MANTRAMS – Mantras in Religion, Media and Society in Global Southern Asia (ID 101118934). This workshop brings perspectives derived from immersive ethnography, sound studies, sensory anthropology, embodied research practice and historical methods ...

27/08/2026

How do we study Asia in this time of global uncertainty? Is Asia a region, a network, or a method?

Join us for the first roundtable of the 𝘈𝘙𝘐 25𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴: “Asia: Borders and (Dis)Orders.”

📅 9 September 2026 | 🕓 4:00–5:30 PM (SGT)
📍 Hybrid: National University of Singapore @ Kent Ridge Crescent & on Zoom
🎟️ Free admission

Chaired by Prof Kishore Mahbubani, the roundtable brings together:

• Asst Prof Faizah Zakaria, National University of Singapore
• Asst Prof Sahana Ghosh, National University of Singapore
• Assoc Prof Sumit Mandal, Asia Research Institute, NUS
• Prof Tansen Sen, NYU Shanghai & NYU
• Assoc Prof Taomo Zhou, National University of Singapore
• Dr Kesava Chandra Varigonda, Asia Research Institute, NUS

From borders and migration to religion, heritage, geopolitics and globalisation, this interdisciplinary conversation examines the forces shaping Asia and the wider world.

Join us for the first event in the 𝘈𝘙𝘐 25𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. Register your interest today!

CHAIRPERSON Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore PROGRAMME 16:00 WELCOME REMARKS Prof Vineeta Sinha | National University of Singapore 16:05 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Prof Kishore Mahbubani | National University of Singapore (Moderator) 16:10 ROUNDTABLE DISCUS...

24/08/2026

24/08/2026

A new article by researchers in ARI's Migration and Mobilities Cluster contributes to research on circular migration and migrant work by showing that circular reuse and recycling in households are not just about environmental behaviour—they are also shaped by migrant workers’ working conditions and wider inequalities between countries.

Yeoh, B. S. A., Tan, Q. H., & Rahadini, I. A. (2026). From “Caring for the home” to “Caring for the environment”: Migrant Domestic Workers and Circular Household Waste Management in Singapore. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2026.2708864

https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2026.2708864

This article advances a relational feminist approach to better understand the roles that migrant domestic workers play in their everyday handling of household waste in Singapore. Despite emerging s...

21/08/2026

𝗔𝗥𝗜 𝟮𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘

𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 by Sunil Amrith, Yale School of the Environment | 14 Oct 2026

For 25 years, ARI has shaped global conversations from a perspective anchored in Asia. At a moment of epochal geopolitical disruption, this lecture turns to inter-Asian ideas about what is now called planetary health. It shows how that term has rich antecedents in Asian traditions of political and environmental thought, and suggests that the seeds of a more sustainable and resilient global order are most likely to be found in Asia. The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion.

Admission is free. If you're in Singapore, do join us!

𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 14 October 2026
𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: 3:30–7:30pm
𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲: Ngee Ann Auditorium, ACM (Asian Civilisations Museum)
1 Empress Place, Singapore 179555

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿:
https://ari.nus.edu.sg/events/20261014-sunil-amrith

18/08/2026

𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 | Towards a Critical Anthropology of Chineseness: Refracting and Multiplying Chinese Alterity in Chile

What does “Chineseness” mean in Chile, where being “Chilean Chinese” remains largely unintelligible to most Chileans?

Join us on 15 September for a seminar by Carol Chan, Associate Professor at Universidad Diego Portales who will draw on ethnographic research to explore how Chileans of Chinese descent identify with “Chineseness” and how it is shaped by racial value, power and stigma.

📅 15 September 2026 (Tuesday)
🕞 3:30–5:00 PM (SGT)
📍 Hybrid: Zoom & AS8 04-04, National University of Singapore

Admission is free. Register to attend in person or online:

CHAIRPERSON Prof Elaine Ho, Asia Research Institute, and Department of Geography, National University of Singapore ABSTRACT Despite the long history of Chinese migration to Chile from the 19th century, the term “Chilean Chinese” is largely unintelligible to most Chileans in suggesting a socially...

17/08/2026

We are excited to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with 현대차 정몽구 재단 Hyundai Chung Mong Koo Foundation and the foundation's CMK School of ASEAN Studies (CMK ASEAN School), as part of a multilateral agreement among ten universities, research institutes, and international organisations in five Asian countries.

The agreement marks a shared commitment to empower next-generation leaders and to advance cooperation among education institutions across Korea and the ASEAN region.

Hyundai Chung Mong Koo Foundation has built a global cooperation network with 10 universities, research institutes, and international organizations in five Asian countries, including the National Univ..

14/08/2026

We’re pleased to announce that the new website for Capitals of the Future is now live:

👉 https://capitalsofthefuture.org/

The project seeks to understand the interaction between imaginations of the future, discourses of urban planning and pathways of urban development.

We’re grateful to have received support through the Ministry of Education, Singapore Academic Research Fund Tier 2 (MOE-T2EP40222-0001), which has made this research possible.

Project team

PI & Co-PI: Daniel Goh PS & Tim Bunnell
Collaborators: Lee Kah-Wee, Nick Smith, Bosman Batubara & Galuh Indraprahasta
ARI Team: Priza Marendraputra & How Zhan Jie

Visit the website to find out more about the project, our research, the team and our work across Southeast Asia.

https://capitalsofthefuture.org/

Imagining Future Cities: Singapore, Putrajaya, and Nusantara as Gateways to Urban Innovation