Webinar: Making Sense of the Myanmar and Thai Elections
Webinar recording available via YouTube (below)
Date: Monday, February 23, 2026
Time: 05:00PM - 06:30PM EST
Speakers:
Joel Sawat Selway (Ph.D. 2009, University of Michigan) is a Thai-British associate professor of political science at Brigham Young University. He has published extensively on Thai politics, including a Cambridge University Press book Coalitions of the Wellbeing (2015) analyzing the politics of the 30-baht scheme, an edited volume with University of Michigan Press Regional Movements and Identity Demands in Developing Democracies (2024), plus over 30 journal articles and book chapters on subjects ranging from the politics of health in Thailand, Thai elections and electoral reform, ethnic inequality in Thailand, Thaksin and populism, regionalism in Lanna, Thai nationalism, and Buddhism and politics. He has recently completed two book manuscripts: a solo-authored work on regionalism in Thailand and a co-authored volume on Thai nationalism (with Jacob Ricks, Singapore Management University). He is the co-founder and managing editor of ThaiDataPoints, an academic blog on Thai politics dedicated to the application of transparent methodological and theoretical analysis of current events in Thailand.
Dr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing is the Chairman of the Myanmar Scholars Network and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore. He has been actively involved in community peace-building initiatives across various regions of Myanmar and possesses extensive experience in conducting research on Myanmar politics.
Moderator:
Meredith Weiss is a professor of Political Science, focusing on the comparative politics of Southeast Asia, at the University at Albany, SUNY. She is also the director of the SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium.
Watch a recording of the webinar below!
Webinar: Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)
For access to the recording of this webinar, please email SEAC.
Learn how to engage your students and international partners inside and outside of the classroom through COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), SUNY's flagship approach to virtual exchange. In this introductory webinar, UAlbany's COIL coordinators Annette Richie and Sharon Hope share the what, how, why, so what, and what next of incorporating COIL into classes.
Rather than a study abroad substitute, COIL is innovative pedagogy based on transformative project-based learning on global teams. Key transferable skills include authentic disciplinary/inter-disciplinary problem-solving, digital literacy for career readiness, and intercultural reflection.
Dr. Annette Richie serves as Director of Global Learning: Engagement and Excellence at the University at Albany. Annette spearheads UAlbany’s inclusive global learning initiatives: COIL, Global Distinction, International Studies, and Peace Corps Prep. Annette is a “third culture kid” who lived in 5 countries before turning 10 and went on to research and teach in medical anthropology, archaeology, and colonial Mexican ethnohistory for two decades before finding her way to a global career and curricular mapping in the Center for International Education and Global Strategy. Annette holds a doctorate in Anthropology from the University at Albany, a master's of science in Archaeology from the University of Toronto, and a bachelor's in Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Sharon Hope has been at the University of Albany for 6 years. She is an Instructional Designer in CATLOE (the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Learning, and Online Education) and teaches in the First Year Experience Program and the University's Sociology Department. In addition to serving as a coordinator in the COIL program, she also supports the use of Open Educational Resources at the University. Sharon has over 20 years of higher education experience in teaching and administrative positions. Before joining the University at Albany, she served as a Program Chair and Director of Online Learning for 11 years at a private institution in Albany, New York. Sharon holds a doctorate in Education, a master's in Educational Psychology, and a bachelor's in Business Management. Her research interests include student engagement and retention and faculty development.
Webinar: Why Has the State Administration Council Failed to Gain Control of Myanmar?
Event Date: 25 October 2023
Webinar: Field Research Ethics
Watch a video recording of the webinar below.
Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Time: 8:00 - 9:30 PM (EST)
Description:
Conducting research in the “field”—whether around the corner or across oceans—may be an especially analytically valuable and personally rewarding part of the academic experience. And yet, field-research practices, from immersive ethnography to more delimited observation or interviews, pose unique ethical challenges. This panel examines best practices for conducting research involving “human subjects” (that is, other people) ethically and well. While many of us first encounter these guidelines in the form of Institutional Review Board (IRB) or human-subjects committee “hoops” through which to jump, at the heart of those regulations are critically important principles. How do we respect the agency of our interlocutors—how do we ensure we do not merely objectify our research subjects? How do we account for our own position within the research process, from personal security to reflexivity regarding the effects of our own presence in the field? What concerns might people in our field sites, whether government officials or ordinary citizens—and especially those in vulnerable positions or with precarious social, political/legal, or economic status—have regarding our research process or outputs? Taking these considerations into account: what do those assessing our research (for instance, for IRB clearance or a research visa) need to know in order to evaluate our plans, and what criteria will they apply?
Panelists:
Terrell Rabb (Interim Director, Office of Regulatory and Research Compliance, University at Albany, SUNY)
Robert Cribb (Emeritus Professor of Asian History, Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University)
Nawawi (Director of Research Center for Population, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia)
Tyrell Haberkorn (Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Moderator:
Meredith Weiss (Professor, Department of Political Science, University at Albany, SUNY)