UPCOMING EVENTS 2012
Siem Reap Giant Puppet Project
CKS will again host the spectacular Giant Puppet Project this month. The project is a local community children’s art initiative that aims to provide a creative outlet for disadvantaged children in Siem Reap. Last year Siem Reap came to a virtual standstill as the giant puppets paraded through the streets in fun-packed, light filled evening of celebration. This year there are more children than ever taking part in the initiative to create the enormous puppets right here on the lawn at Wat Damnak.
There will be at least 15 teams taking part in the event which will raise awareness about issues such as road safety, endangered species, hygiene, local cultural awareness and environmental awareness. Over 500 disadvantaged children took part in the workshops last year, which aim to foster independence and confidence, while building a sense of community spirit and cohesion.
Junior Fellows Summer Residents Program 2012
This fellowship program, which brings together five undergraduates from France, five from the US and five from Cambodia, is in its eighth year. Its aim is to establish contact with Cambodia– its language, culture and history. The program provides a unique experience for students to live and study alongside others from different backgrounds and cultures while learning about the history and society of today’s Cambodia. Students are based at CKS’s campus in Siem Reap, which is situated in the beautiful grounds of Wat Damnak, one of the town’s largest historic Buddhist pagodas, only minutes away from the famous Angkor Temples, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
For more information on the program please CLICK HERE
Khmer Language and Culture Study Program 2012 (UPDATE)
CKS is again calling for applications for the Khmer Language and Culture Study Program, organized in collaboration with the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa’s Advanced Study in Khmer program (ASK). This will be the third year the Center has run its intensive eight-week-long beginners program. Last year, eight participants, mainly graduate students from a variety of universities across the United States, engaged in Khmer language skills acquisition during morning sessions, followed by cultural activities in the afternoon, where they put their newfound skills to the test. In addition to field visits to local organizations, markets and museums, participants spent one week in homestays in Kampong Chhnang province. Staying with host families gave them invaluable insights into what life is really like in a typical, rural Cambodian setting. Such a combination of challenging classroom language study, coupled with engagement and interaction with local Cambodians stands the participants in good stead, as they prepare to conduct in-country academic research.
The deadline for applications is April 6, 2012. For further information CLICK HERE
Siem Reap Conference 2012: History of Religion
Religious Studies in Cambodia: Understanding the Old and Tracing the New.
Siem Reap June 9-10, 2012
This years conference will bring together international specialists, colleagues and students from all the disciplines, who share a common interest in Cambodian and Southeast Asian religions, from prehistory to the modern period. The aim of this conference is to take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of religion in order to render the richness of pre-modern Southeast Asian religions, and in particular, Khmer religion. By comparing pre-modern Southeast Asian civilisations, what can be understood of the common or characteristic choices of Indian religious features they each made? Consequently, what can be concluded about the local systems of beliefs followed at the time? For further information CLICK HERE
