The Department of Asian Studies at the Palacký University Faculty of Arts has launched the Myanmar Studies Center. The Center was established thanks to the support of the prestigious European Union framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe. The Center will offer, among other things, public lectures and academic courses on various topics related to the region.
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (also known as Burma), one of the countries of Southeast Asia, is the main research and educational interest of the new Myanmar Studies Center (MSC@UP, Třída Svobody 26), established in order to support interdisciplinary research and education in the field, and is unique in the context of both the Czech Republic and Central Europe.
“So far, this region has not received much professional attention. We are committed to filling this gap by supporting interdisciplinary research and education focused on Myanmar. We will offer diverse perspectives and approaches to stimulate a deeper understanding of this vibrant nation. At the same time, we want to spread awareness about Myanmar’s rich cultural heritage, the dynamics of its social development, and its political environment,” said Kristina Kironská, its director.
The Myanmar Studies Center’s activities will include public lectures and academic courses in which experts and students will address topics such as human rights in Asia and politics in the Indo-Pacific region. Its website, www.msc.upol.cz, will feature blog posts by students from Myanmar who will be coming to Olomouc for a semester-long stay under the Erasmus+ programme.
“In June, there will also be a summer school for PhD students and advanced master students on Navigating Geostrategic Dynamics in the IndoPacific: Focus on Southeast Asia and Myanmar. This will be followed by the Interdisciplinary Conference on Myanmar 2024 with the theme Myanmar’s International Role: More Than a Buffer State, which is expected to bring to Olomouc distinguished experts from all over the world,” added Kironská.
The establishment of the Myanmar Studies Center was made possible thanks to the support of Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation, awarded to the EUVIP project “The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region” (HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03-01). More about the EUVIP project can be found here.
