FASS Staff Profile

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHNSON, IRVING CHAN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES

Appointment:
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Office:
AS8-06-32
Email:
seajic@nus.edu.sg
Tel:
98785874
Fax:
65-67776608
Homepage:
http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/seajic/
Tabs

Brief Introduction

I am a social anthropologist having graduated from Harvard University in 2004. I had completed my undergraduate education at the then Southeast Asian Studies Programme (SEASP)(prior to it becoming a Department) in 1996. My years at the SEASP were amazing and it culminated with me writing an Honour's Thesis on the Kelantanese Thai Nuuraa - a love magician extraordinaire and his cultural identity in Malaysia. My interest in Kelantan's Thai community saw me through graduate school where I focused on anthropological concerns with borders, encountering and multiple histories in the forging of Thai ethnicity in Malaysia. When not teaching or doing research, I enjoy painting traditional Thai murals and doing Balinese masked dance. 


Teaching Areas

I teach a number of classes each year focussing primarliy on art and anthropology. I also teach my specialist class on Thai traditional art (SE3224) and on traditional dance in Southeast Asia (SE2224) and Balinese theater (SE3230).


Current Research

My first book, The Buddha on Mecca's Verandah was published in 2012. I continue my research on the cultural identity and fascinating history of Kelantan's Thai population. My most recent stirrings have been on looking at Thai artists in the state and how they learn and interpret their art. This is a new way of thinking about art and anthropology. I am particularly interested in researching how anthropologists who are also artists conceptualize their work. This stems from my own dual social identity as academic but also temple painter. Linked to this is my interest on thinking about cultural pedadogy in Bali. How do Balinese 'teach' dance and how does this shape the way their imagine their cultural worlds. Fascinating stuff. my most recent (2019) project is a study of masks in Bali through focussing on the narratives Balinese tell of their masks. 


Research Interests

My research interest can be listed as follows: 1. anthropology 2. art 3. marginality 4. mobility and borderlands 5. Buddhism 6. Thailand, Malaysia, Bali

Publications

BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS AUTHORED

  • The Buddha on Mecca's Verandah, University of Washington Press, 2012.

Last Modified: 2019-10-09         Total Visits: 7761