SSEASR: A HISTORY
Religion is a term which encompasses almost every part of our life. Whether it is ourculture, language & literature, history or civilisation, social behaviour orunderstanding of humanity, religion shapes us. It is much truer in our region of South
andSoutheast
Asia
where
theword “religion” goesbeyondandfarther than its general meaning. It becomes Dharma or Dhamma, Ways of Life,
Essence of Humanity. The common inherent traits shared by our various civilisationsin the past three millennia make our region a role model of co-existence where theexternal elements get adjusted, accepted and honoured. Therefore, the SSEASR
promotes the academic study of such a rich scenario through the intra regional andinternational collaboration of all scholars normally resident in South and Southeast
Asia whose research has a bearing on the subject. It would cover subjects such as (andnot confined only to) history, linguistics, political science, geography, anthropology,sociology, economics, literature, cultural studies, law, folklore, etc. Cross-culturalstudies would also be promoted to encourage better understanding among scholars.
The SSEASR stands to bring out the genius of the local regional scholarship which
generally gets deep buried in huge international academics. It is for creating a networkof scholars in the region, and for that purpose, it shall cooperate with related agencies
in the region of South and Southeast Asia to develop healthy academic atmospheres.
In recent times, Asian scholars have started to work “within” Asia; such trends would
be further promoted by the SSEASR among young Asian scholars who need exposure
to the standard of research being conducted at various competent academic
institutions in the world. Thus, the SSEASR offers native scholars, writers and artists
a perfect platform to stand at par with the international fraternity.
The objective of the SSEASR is pursued by the usual means of scholarly activities suchas the arrangement of conferences, symposia or colloquia, the encouragement ofscholarly publications, the exchange of information through electronic or other means,and such other activities as the Association or its elected officers shall from time totime determine. The SSEASR would also disseminate such scholarship by thepublication of a journal, books and a Newsletter. The SSEASR also plans to promote a
regular academic exchange and study tour to its countries for the benefit of themembers. Such tours can be specifically organised for the SSEASR members toenhance the knowledge of the culture and religion of the region. Also, the members
would get a 20% rebate in the bi-annual SSEASR Conference delegate fee andpublications. Membership benefits are further posted on the website. National
representatives at various countries are engaged in pursuing the goal of the SSEASR.
They can be contacted to learn mode of payments for the membership fee and its
academic benefits. The related research articles are solicited from the academicians
which would be published in the annual SSEASR Journal. The Association is legally
registered at New Delhi, India where the SSEASR Secretariat is based. All details canbe found from time to time at its official website www.sseasr.org
In 2000, the Executive Committee of the International Association for the History ofReligions (popularly known as IAHR) which functions as an association of theConseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines(CIPSH) under the auspices of the UNESCO, approved a long term plan to establish
an academic body of scholars on religious studies in the region of South and SoutheastAsia. Initially established in 1900, the IAHR had under its umbrella thirty-fournational and four regional Associations. Following the passage of the unanimous
resolution passed by its General Assembly at Durban, South Africa (August2000), theIAHR established a Working Group under the chairmanship of Dr Amarjiva Lochan,
India to explore such possibility of establishing a permanent academic body
headquartered in New Delhi, India. During 2000-2004, under close guidance of thesenior IAHR officers such as Prof Michael Pye, Prof Armin W. Geertz, Prof Peter Antes,
and Prof Rosalind I. J. Hackett, the Working Group with its representatives in almost
every country of South and Southeast Asia put a joint and sincere effort to hold theinaugural conference (January 27-30, 2005) attended by 342 persons from 42countries. The General Assembly on January 30, 2005 passed a draft Constitution
under the supervision of the IAHR Representatives. Thus, the SSEASR (South andSoutheast Asian Association for the Study of Religion) was born on that day at 15:18:21
Indian Standard Time.
Following the recommendation of the Executive Committee and its International
Committee on March 30, 2005, the IAHR General Assembly at Tokyo, Japan approved
the formation of the SSEASR and it was made an affiliate body of the IAHR as its fifth
regional association. An amendment was moved in the annual General Assembly atBangkok in December 2005 by which the word “Culture” has been added into the nameof the Association, (South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Culture
and Religion). However, the initials remain the same (SSEASR). In 2007, the first
SSEASR Office bearers were elected in the General Assembly of the Bangkok
Conference.