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Sac Newsletter 2026, South Asia Center

Newsletters from the South Asia Center

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Ethics Under Siege: The Conflict In Tigray Through The Lens Of Just War Theory, Daniela Widya Purba

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

This research article explains the ethical principles of the conflict in Tigray based on the Just War Theory. By using the descriptive qualitative methodology, this research article draws data from secondary sources which includes; academic journals, news reports, as well as international legal instruments to analyze the moral trajectory of the conflict. This research begins with jus ad bellum, to assess Ethiopia’s government justification in declaring conflict within Tigray. While the government fulfilled the criteria of just cause and legitimate authority, the question stands on the ambiguous political intentions and the failure to enact peaceful alternatives before resulting in waging …

Presidential Visits As Foreign Policy Instruments: U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy In Trump’S Second Term, Atar Thaung Htet

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Through an analysis of President Donald Trump's October 2025 travel to Asia, this study investigates the consequences of U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy under his second-term diplomacy. The paper examines three significant diplomatic encounters—the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, bilateral meetings in Japan, and the APEC Summit in South Korea—using a qualitative case study methodology based on role theory and foreign policy analysis. The results show that alliance-centered security cooperation, strategic balancing toward China, and selective economic engagement were U.S. Indo-Pacific goals. Through extremely transactional and bilateralized relations, presidential diplomacy allowed the United States to fulfill a number of foreign policy responsibilities, such …

Bahasa Politik Dalam Wacana Pidato Presiden Prabowo Subianto, Frista Nanda Pratiwi

Multikultura

This article examines political language in the speech discourse of President Prabowo Subianto. The data analyzed consist of transcripts of political speeches delivered between October 20, 2024 and November 29, 2024. The data were obtained from the official website setkab.go.id. The purpose of this article is to explain Prabowo Subianto’s use of language in his speeches within their social and political contexts. Using a qualitative descriptive method, the author presents the findings by referring to Norman Fairclough’s (2013) Critical Discourse Analysis theory, which comprises three levels of analysis. The results show that President Prabowo’s use of political language is influenced …

Representasi Kehidupan Sosial Remaja Queer Di Belanda Dalam Film Out (2024), Ajie Kelana, Barbara Elisabeth Lucia Pesulima

Multikultura

Belanda dikenal relatif terbuka terhadap homoseksualitas, kondisi yang tercermin dalam film Out (2024) karya Dennis Alink tentang dua remaja queer, Ajani dan Tom, yang menjalani kehidupan baru di Amsterdam. Penelitian ini mengkaji representasi kehidupan sosial remaja queer dalam film tersebut dan relevansinya dengan realitas sosial remaja queer di Belanda, menggunakan teori representasi Stuart Hall dengan pendekatan konstruksionis serta konsep congruence Carl Rogers, melalui metode deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa film merepresentasikan kehidupan sosial remaja queer sebagai proses adaptasi yang dipengaruhi ruang sosial: keluarga sebagai ruang penerimaan tanpa syarat namun idealis dibanding realitas Belanda, desa sebagai ruang yang membatasi …

Transformasi Jeong Dalam Budaya Korea: Representasi Keluarga Pilihan Dalam Film Korea Love In The Big City, Widad Marshallova Nursandi, Fadhila Hasby

Multikultura

Jeong is an important cultural value in South Korean society that has traditionally been associated with family relationships, emotional closeness, and a sense of togetherness. Social changes in contemporary Korean society have created space for jeong to develop beyond biological family ties. This study aims to analyze the transformation of the meaning of jeong through the representation of chosen family in the film Love in the Big City (LitBC), which is represented as a form of negotiation with dominant family norms. This research employs a qualitative approach using cultural text analysis based on Stuart Hall's theory of representation. The data …

Reproduksi Pola Keibuan Tokoh Zhenya Dalam Film Нелюбовь (Nelyubov) ‘Tanpa Cinta’ (2017) Karya Andrey Zvyagintsev, Ratu Diva Majirelle, Thera Widyastuti

Multikultura

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Нелюбовь (Nelyubov) or Loveless (2017) portrays the absence of affection in a family through divorce, child neglect, and emotional disconnection. This study analyzes the reproduction of Zhenya’s mothering pattern through Nancy Chodorow’s feminist psychoanalysis. Zhenya is read in three positions: a daughter lacking maternal affection, a wife in a fractured marriage, and a mother emotionally distant from Alyosha. Using qualitative content analysis, this study examines scenes, dialogues, expressions, gestures, character relations, and visual elements. The findings show that Zhenya’s mothering pattern is reproduced through childhood affective deprivation, an unsupportive marriage, social expectations of motherhood, and maternal …

Gaya Bangunan Gedung A Rumah Piatu Muslimin Senen, Jakarta Pusat, Bunga Tri Junisha, Isman Pratama Nasution

Multikultura

Muslimin Orphanage is one of the cultural heritage buildings in Central Jakarta with a long historical background and an enduring social function from the colonial period to the present day. This study examines Building A, the main structure within the Muslimin Orphanage complex, with the aim of identifying its architectural style based on its surviving physical characteristics and observable architectural elements. Employing a descriptive-analytical method with a building archaeology approach, the research draws on field observations, photographic documentation, literature review, and archival research. The analysis focuses on the building's massing, spatial layout, façade, roof, ceiling, columns, walls, floors, doors, windows, …

Representasi Maskulinitas Dalam Iklan Rekrutmen Militer Rusia “Ты Же Мужик” : Kajian Semiotik, Ananda Putri Aprillia, Mina Elfira

Multikultura

This study analyzes the representation of masculinity in Russian military recruitment advertisements featuring the slogan “Ты же мужик” ("You are a real man"), aimed at Russian men to enlist in the military during the Russia-Ukraine war. Using a qualitative research approach and mise-en-scène analysis, this research unpacks the representation of masculinity in Russian military recruitment ads through Roland Barthes’s (1964) semiotic theory, alongside the concept of hegemonic masculinity by R. W. Connell and James W. Messerschmidt (2005), and Sylvia Walby’s (1990) concept of patriarchy. The findings reveal an emphasis on re-traditionalized masculinity, constructed and conveyed through …

Metafora Dengan Unsur Alam Dalam 5 Lirik Lagu Soundtrack Moana 2 Versi Belanda, Husna Nafisa, Triaswarin Sutanarihesti

Multikultura

Animated films convey stories through visuals, music, and song lyrics, all of which play an essential role in constructing meaning and evoking emotion. The Dutch-language soundtrack of Moana 2 employs nature-related metaphors to depict the characters' journeys, inner conflicts, and the relationship between humans and nature. This study aims to identify the types of metaphors, based on Rozemarijn van Leeuwen’s (2002) classification, found in the song lyrics “Terug,” “Verder Gaan,” “Wordt het nog beter dan dit?,” “Hoor ik daar een chee hoo?,” and “Ga Los,” which were obtained from the official Genius website. This study adopts a descriptive qualitative method. …

Penggunaan Onomatope Dalam Buku Cerita Anak Berbahasa Mandarin Dan Bahasa Indonesia: Analisis Kontrastif, Ruixi Zou, Usmi Usmi, Uti Aryanti

Multikultura

This article examines the comparison of onomatopoeia in Mandarin Chinese and Indonesian in children's literature. The study aims to identify, classify, and compare onomatopoeic forms found in the Mandarin children's story Bǎo Húlú De Mìmì (The Secret of the Magic Gourd) and the Indonesian children's story collection Sehari Satu Dongeng. This research employs a descriptive qualitative approach and a contrastive analysis method. The data were collected through close reading and note-taking techniques, and were analyzed using referential and comparative methods. The classification is based on the source of the represented sounds, namely human sounds, animal sounds, natural phenomena, and …

Women’S Experience In Digital Literature As A Form Of Resistance Against Patriarchy, Tazkia Maula Azzari, Mina Elfira

International Review of Humanities Studies

This paper aims to shed light on an emerging type of digital literature on X that acts as a medium for women to express their struggle and feelings in a patriarchal society. This new form of digital literature is novel for it has been popularized on X in the past few years, therefore there is much to explore regarding this field. In particular, this paper will look into how this new form of literature is being used by women to express their resistance against patriarchy on the digital sphere. The qualitative method with a feminist approach was used in this …

Jainism And Catholicism – Dialoguing Spiritually, Bryan Lobo

Journal of Global Catholicism

The inter-spiritual dialogue between Jainism and Catholicism lends itself towards discovering similarities and dissimilarities between the two spiritualities. Recognizing this discovery, this paper, without claiming to be exhaustive as regards the spiritual themes, discusses the chosen themes to facilitate greater reflection and potential to re-discover elements that can help the growth of understanding and practicing the preferred spirituality.

Hindu Poetry And The Project Of An Inter-Spiritual Catholic Theology, Francis X. Clooney

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article engages the work of the Indian south Indian Tamil-language Vaiṣṇava poet saints known as the Alvārs. The article specifically focuses the First HundredHoly Linked verses of Poykai Ālvār to argue for inter-spiritual learning between Catholics and Hindus. The article concludes with personal reflections on this encounter within the context of the global Catholic Church

Toward Professionalization: Insights From Sign Language Interpreters In Vietnam, Anh P. Doan

Journal of Interpretation

This study examines how sign language interpreters in Vietnam perceive the professionalization of their field and the strategies they propose for establishing it as a recognized profession. Despite growing demand for communication access, sign language interpreting in Vietnam remains an emerging field with limited institutional infrastructure and no formal interpreter education programs. Data were collected through an online qualitative survey of 28 hearing interpreters working in sign language interpreting across Vietnam. Responses were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify key themes in interpreters’ experiences and perspectives. Findings show that many interpreters enter the field through informal pathways such as community …

Talk To Me: Exploring The Sociocultural Ecology Of Home Language And Literacy Practices Of Families In India, Surbhi Puri

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Existing research highlights the role of home language and literacy environments (HLLE) in shaping early language and literacy development, yet few studies have examined the practices of multilingual families in India. While home environments offer rich learning opportunities, broader sociocultural and policy contexts influence how families support literacy and language development. Families’ insights into home language use, literacy routines, and cultural practices remain underexplored in early childhood education research.

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the HLLE of preschool-aged children in India and examine how families support early language and literacy development within multilingual home …

Kicau Kericau: The Chirps And Warbles Of A Bird-Human Story, Airien Ludin

Masters Theses

This thesis tells the tale of bird-human relationships and what it means to live alongside one another, subverting the hierarchical view of humans as above birds inherited from colonial history. It asks how the practice of illustration can function as a site of Two-Eyed Seeing, where scientific and local knowledge are held together as an entangled narrative. It also examines how mendongeng (storytelling), as I have experienced it within Indonesian culture and everyday contexts, can help us understand birds as a companion species with their own agency.

This project takes two forms: first, a picture book titled Sun Bird …

Jadughar: The House Of Magic, Dhruvi A. Shah

Masters Theses

Jadughar or the House of Magic is what people call a 'museum' in parts of South Asia. The practice of museum making, at its origin, is the act of collecting, preserving, interpreting and representing a culture’s tangible and intangible heritage to make it accessible to diverse audiences. Since the early 19th century such practices have been performed at various kala bhandars (art centers) in India, without the need of a formal or institutional organisation. The British introduced the model of a ‘museum’ in South Asia, with the aim of not only preserving ethnographic collections, but also showcasing their power and …

Inherited By “Merit”: What Caste Carries Across The Indian American Diaspora, Aarushi V. Jaiswal

English Undergraduate Distinction Projects

This project traces the rhetorical formation termed “meritocratic nationalism,” a political vocabulary that makes national belonging conditional on moralized merit, converting structural advantage into the language of individual character. Meritocratic nationalism is traced across three political figures whose rhetoric represents successive moments in a single ideological trajectory. Reading Narendra Modi’s 2014 and 2018 Independence Day addresses and his 2014 Madison Square Garden speech to the Indian American diaspora as the formation’s originating texts, this project argues that Modi’s recurring moral tetrad of conduct, values, traditions, and ability translated the structurally concentrated advantages of India’s upper-caste professional class into a universalist …

Between Cultures: An Expressive Arts Community Engagement Project On Identity, Belonging, And Cultural Transition Among International Students, Shilpa Ivaturi

Expressive Therapies Theses

International students navigating cultural transition often experience disruptions not only in social adjustment but also in their sense of identity, belonging, and meaning-making. Grounded in expressive arts therapy, cross-cultural psychology, and mythopoetic frameworks of transformation, this thesis explores how creative processes can support international students in reflecting on and integrating their evolving identities during periods of cultural transition. A four-hour trauma-informed expressive arts workshop, structured around the Hero’s Journey arc of departure, initiation, and return, was facilitated across two sessions at a university in the northeastern United States. Seven international students from diverse cultural backgrounds engaged in multimodal practices including …