A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa expert in Cambodian anthropology and archaeology has earned a Fulbright fellowship to use her decades of research to provide academic and research assistance for the Southeast Asian nation.
Department of Anthropology Professor and Center for Southeast Asian Studies Director Miriam Stark will spend two weeks from late April to mid May 2024 at the Royal University of Phnom Penh to complete an academic capacity-building and program evaluation project for the faculty of social sciences and humanities. Stark will provide professional development workshops for early career faculty who are on track for a PhD, as well as review the Khmer studies (Cambodian studies) MA and PhD programs and curriculum that are offered at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Her project builds on previous collaborations with the university, and meets the Fulbright mission to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions and communities both in the U.S. and overseas.
“My goal is to help give back to Cambodia,” Stark said. “I’ve had the honor of working in Cambodia since 1996 as one of a small handful of U.S.-based faculty who perform research in Cambodia. I have worked since 1996 with Royal University of Fine Arts, and am supporting the Royal University of Phnom Penh as part of my directorship of the UH Mānoa Center for Southeast Asian Studies, which is a Federal Title VI National Resource Center.”
Stark joined UH Mānoa in 1995 as a Southeast Asian archaeologist. She specializes in Southeast Asian archaeology, particularly Cambodia’s deep history, to explore questions surrounding the emergence of cities, the role of religion in state formation, and points of fragility and resilience in long-term histories.
She has garnered numerous teaching awards and professional accolades, including service on national professional boards, a 2011 Fulbright award to Taiwan and an appointment by President Joe Biden to serve in one of the three archaeologist positions on the 11-member U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee in the U.S. Department of State.
Stark will join more than 400 U.S. citizens who share expertise with host institutions abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program each year. Recipients of these awards are selected based on her academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field, and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
The Department of Anthropology is housed in the College of Social Sciences and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies is housed in the College of Arts, Languages & Letters.
