Umass Lowell: Myanmar Students

08/11/2026

Dear friends in Burma/Myanmar Studies:

Recently, the two co-chairs of the Burma Studies Group, Htet Minlwin and Dr. Ma Thida, have completed their respective terms. We are deeply grateful to both of them for their service and contributions to the BSG! We are now reopening the call for nominations for TWO BSG Co-Chairs. The term is three years, and you may either self-nominate or nominate another candidate. Please include the name, title, affiliation, and a brief 200-word narrative about the candidate.

The deadline for nominations has been extended to August 31, 2026.

The Nomination Form can be found here: https://forms.gle/nUE6oxeyVz63dYaZ9

You must be a current member of the BSG to be on the Executive Board and you should plan to attend the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting. To pay the membership dues, please visit https://members.asianstudies.org/sponsored-group-payments... and select "Burma Studies Group."

The BSG members will vote via electronic ballot between September 1-15, 2026.

Any questions, please feel free to contact us (me: [email protected]; Moo Moo: [email protected]).

We look forward to receiving your nominations and welcoming our new co-chairs!
Best wishes,
Beiyin and Moo Moo

08/11/2026

Burma Studies Group Travel Award for the AAS-in-Asia Conference 2026 [Deadline Extended]

The Burma Studies Group (BSG) is delighted to announce Travel Awards to support graduate students attending the AAS-in-Asia Conference 2026, which will take place in Lahore, Pakistan, September 25-27, 2026.

The award is intended to assist with travel expenses for the conference and is open to graduate students conducting research in the field of Burma studies. Preference will be given to applicants of Burmese/Myanmar nationality/origin and its diaspora, broadly constructed.

The deadline for applications has been extended to August 16, 2026. Awardees will be announced by August 31, 2026.
Any questions, please feel free to contact us (me: [email protected]; Moo Moo: [email protected]).

08/11/2026

Due to the ongoing leadership transition, we are a bit behind the schedule, but please share widely!!

Call for Proposals: Burma Studies Group Designated Panel
Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference 2027
Submission deadline: Aug 20, 2026

On behalf of the Burma Studies Group (BSG) of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), we are now seeking proposals for a BSG Designated Panel for the AAS Annual Conference to be held March 18-21 in Boston, MA. The BSG can designate one panel for guaranteed acceptance on the conference program.
Colleagues in Burma/Myanmar Studies are invited to submit proposals for complete panels, consisting of a panel abstract, three or four paper abstracts, author information, chair, and (if applicable) a discussant.

Proposals will be ranked according to overall scholarly excellence and the degree to which they make a meaningful intellectual contribution to Burma Studies. Otherwise, equally ranked panels will be distinguished by the degree to which they reflect BSG’s diverse membership in terms of discipline, institution, career stage, gender, regional focus, nationality, race, and ethnicity. BSG will provide up to $500 to help defray conference-related costs for presenters in the Designated Panel (to be divided among panelists). Early-career scholars will also be eligible to apply for funding through the BSG Conference Travel Award.

Proposals must be submitted by Aug 20, 2026, through this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfB-7rr2Yvx9GSst_uYBBDgd23SJrBogAMuJvsIgw_QCKgR-A/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=105718353689237103426

The Committee will review proposals. By August 24, the highest-ranked panel’s details will be communicated to SEAC/AAS to ensure the panel’s selection. You must also submit the proposal through the AAS portal in addition to this submission. The Chairs will notify those whose panels were not selected for designation. Proposals that are not selected may be subsequently submitted for regular review by the AAS program committee.

For questions, please feel free to contact Naw Moo Moo Paw (Secretary, [email protected]) and Beiyin Deng (Treasurer, [email protected]).

Regards,
Burma Studies Group Executive Committee

Please review the Call for Proposals before applying. Deadline: Aug 20, 2026 Note and ensure compliance with the AAS Call for Proposals and submission rules. The panel must also be submitted through the AAS portal for inclusion onto the program.

06/29/2026

Congratulations our club member Luno his beautiful and inspiring story.

Title - Education Ph.D. Student Wins Fellowship to Support Research on Schools He Founded in Myanmar
Lugyi No Started Community Schools Amid Civil War

In April 2021, two months after the military coup in Myanmar, Lugyi No went home to Pekon Township to celebrate Burmese New Year with his family. But the area was soon under attack by the army.

06/15/2026

We’re proud to share this podcast featuring our club member, Naw Moo Moo Paw, a PhD candidate at UMass Lowell. In this insightful conversation, she discusses her research on the human impact of conflict and disability in Myanmar, drawing from both academic scholarship and lived experience.

To hear the full interview 👇👇

Naw Moo Moo Paw was still a child in her Karen village near Bago when war became part of the landscape.

Landmines. Checkpoints. Injured neighbors. Families living with fear. Her father’s injury. The deaths and disabilities that shaped village life. “I have seen a lot of people injured or die because of the war and intense conflict,” she says. “This is very normal for me.”

That childhood has become the foundation of her academic work. Now a PhD candidate in Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Naw Moo Moo Paw studies disability caused by political violence, focusing on landmine survivors, injured resistance members, soldiers, civilians, and communities along the Myanmar border.

Her research carries a depth few outside scholars could access. As an ethnic Karen scholar, she enters these spaces through trust built across family, community, and history. She interviews survivors, lives alongside them, cooks with them, eats with them, and listens for hours as they speak about fear, stigma, survival, and the long aftermath of injury.

Her findings resist easy moral categories. Civilians may be warned that an area is dangerous, but still have to farm, travel, and feed their families. Mines captured from military bases may be reused by resistance groups. Propaganda can shift blame from one side to another. Survivors often cannot identify who laid the mine that changed their life.

Yet many do not speak first of blame. They speak of poverty, karma, duty, fear, and having no real choice.

Naw Moo Moo Paw asks us to look beyond the explosion itself, toward the injured body, the isolated survivor, the border camp, the lost livelihood, and the community that can either deepen harm or help someone recover.

Her guiding principle is simple, and difficult: civilians, resistance members, and soldiers must be treated equally as human beings.

“I’m not 100% an academic, a scholar. I must stay a human.”

Listen to Episode 553, “When the War Comes Home,” from Insight Myanmar Podcast:
https://insightmyanmar.org/complete-shows/2026/6/8/episode-553-when-the-war-comes-home

To hear the full interview, learn more about our work and impact:
https://linktr.ee/insightmyanmar

06/10/2026

Big Congratulations to Mrs. Moo Moo Paw Taing, one of our club members.

She became now a member of the IPFD Board

IPFD announcement as follow;

Naw Moo Moo Paw Taing — known as Moo Moo — brings this perspective to the Institute of Peace and Federal Democracy.

Moo Moo is a Karen scholar, educator, and community advocate whose work focuses on political violence, disability, civil war, and transitional justice in Myanmar.

Originally from the conflict-affected Bago Region, she combines lived experience with academic research to examine the human consequences of armed conflict, displacement, and war-related injuries.

Her work brings together experience in international advocacy, academic research, Karen identity, and a deep commitment to all communities in Burma affected by conflict.

Moo Moo earned her master’s degree in Japan and is currently pursuing a PhD in Global Studies in the United States. Her research focuses on the post-injury experiences of resistance fighters and civilians affected by Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, with particular attention to resilience, identity, political commitment, and social support systems among conflict-affected communities.

In addition to her academic work, Moo Moo is actively engaged in community leadership and advocacy. She has worked extensively with immigrant and refugee communities in Lowell and is committed to expanding educational opportunities for young people from conflict-affected backgrounds, including mentoring girls and displaced students.

She also collaborates with technical and policy teams connected to resistance and ethnic community organisations, contributing to work on disability inclusion, post-war recovery, and community resilience.

Her long-term vision is to build platforms that preserve and promote Myanmar’s diverse ethnic cultures while empowering displaced and marginalized communities through education, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship.

Moo Moo’s leadership reflects an important part of IPFD’s mission: Myanmar’s future must be built with dignity, inclusion, education, recovery, and care for those most affected by conflict.

IPFD is honoured to have her experience, research, and commitment helping guide this work.

Follow Institute of Peace and Federal Democracy - IPFD for updates as we introduce the people helping carry this mission forward.

05/30/2026

The last session of the year of 2025-2026 Ph.D./Post-Ph.D. workshop presentations was successfully completed today.

We would like to thank the presenter, Kyaw Hsan Hlaing from Cornell University for his intetesting and insightful presentation and timely research topic.

Special thanks to Club Advisor Professor Ardeth, the other professors from various universities, and other senior scholars for their valuable feedback and comments.

UMass Lowell Myanmar Student Club

05/28/2026

Congratulations to Ko Lu Gyi No, a member of the UMass Lowell Myanmar Student Club, on successfully passing his dissertation proposal defense. He has now officially become a Ph.D. candidate in Education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

05/12/2026

🤩🤩 Big Congratulations Ko Lu Gyi No, our club member, received National Academic Education (NAE) Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, 2026.

05/08/2026

Celebrating an incredible achievement! 🎉👏
Congratulations to Professor Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung and heartfelt thanks to all donors and supporters who made this possible. The Thawnghmung Endowment for Global Security received the most unique individual donors among University Programs during this year’s Days of Giving campaign and earned a $5,000 JJW Family Foundation Challenge award.🤩🥳
Your generosity, leadership, and support are making a lasting impact on education, research, and global security. Together, we are building a stronger future! 💚❤️🩵