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From 1 April to 19 May, the Department of History and Sociology at the University of Konstanz hosted two researchers from Myanmar’s leading universities. Professor Than Pale from Yangon University and Professor Lwin Lwin Mon from Yadanabon University (Mandalay) spent six weeks in Konstanz as guests of anthropologists Professor Judith Beyer and Dr Felix Girke. Their stay was made possible through financial support provided by the University of Konstanz’s International Office as well as Dr Girke’s project on “Heritage-Regimes and Rhetoric in Myanmar”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

During their visit, the two researchers primarily worked on updating their curriculum for BA and MA study programmes in social/cultural anthropology. In addition, they engaged in guided reading and attended several courses in medical anthropology, visual anthropology, the anthropology of activism and the sociology of gender. They also participated in the social/cultural anthropology colloquium for the duration of their stay and discussed the potential future collaboration between Konstanz and their home universities in Myanmar, including the possibility of a student exchange programme, with the head of the International Office, Dr Johannes Dingler.

Furthermore, Professors Than Pale and Lwin Lwin Mon visited the historical and ethnographic collections housed in the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart, where they met with the curator of its permanent South and Southeast Asia exhibition, Dr Georg Noack, who himself is an expert on Myanmar. In Switzerland, they visited the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich (UZH) and met with Georg Winterberger, Executive Director of the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies (ISEK). The two Professors will give talks about the results of their stay in Konstanz to their respective departments once they return to Myanmar.

In addition to the individual research projects being carried out by Felix Girke and Judith Beyer, two doctoral students in Beyer’s working group are initiating their own research within the framework of her DFG-funded project “Activist Becomings”, a joint research initiative with Professor Thomas Kirsch, who will in turn supervise two doctoral students working on South Africa. The two doctoral students specialising on Myanmar will carry out long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Yangon and will be able to rely on institutional support from the local universities.

Facts:

• Professor Than Pale from Yangon University and Professor Lwin Lwin Mon from Yadanabon University (Mandalay) visit the University of Konstanz
• Six week visit in Konstanz as guests of anthropologists Professor Judith Beyer and Dr Felix Girke
• Potential future collaboration between the University of Konstanz and the Yangon and Yadanabon Universities in Myanmar
• Two doctoral students from Konstanz will carry out research in Myanmar within the framework of the project “Activist Becomings”, a joint research initiative between Professor Judith Beyer and Professor Thomas Kirsch.