I completed my PhD in anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in the Spring of 2010. My doctoral research focused on the archaeology of highland agricultural systems in Southeast Asia, specifically on the Ifugao agricultural terraces (northern Philippines). My PhD research findings established the recent inception of the Ifugao rice terraces, arguing against the long history model proposed at the beginning of the 20th century by pioneer anthropologists. Rather, the rice terraces are seen as responses to the arrival of the Spanish in the northern Philippine highlands. This work has espoused the idea that the artificial contrasts that we see between highland and lowland populations in the Philippines are products of colonialism and history, rather than differences in ecological adaptation.
In addition, my graduate work also looked at landscape archaeology, indigenous agro-forestry, and defining Ifugao social organization. My dissertation research was funded by an NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant and Henry Luce Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Fellowship.
My research focuses on the relationships between Southeast Asian agricultural complexes, self-organization, and the landscape. My investigations among the Ifugao of the northern Philippines integrates ethnography, ethnohistory, spatial analysis (through Geographic Information Systems), and archaeology. I am also engaged with the local community, through the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement (SITMo – a local grassroots NGO whose main objective is to preserve the rice terraces and help document Ifugao intangible heritage) in developing conservation plans for their upland rice terraces. My long-term research goals include documenting Southeast East Asian agricultural systems and contribute to intensification debates utilizing Southeast Asian production systems as case studies. Recent findings of my research in the highland Philippines has redirected the goals of the IAP which now include indigenous responses to European colonialism.
My research continues to engage archaeological issues that focus on colonialism, culture contact, and Indigenous empowerment. Although the bulk of this research has emphasized the unique responses of the Ifugao, I have recently expanded my investigations of Iberian colonialism in Asia by theorizing how Filipinos responded and coopted the colonial aims. This work contributes to a better understanding of the Early Modern Period (EMP) (1400-1820) in Southeast Asia (SEA), a region that played a major role in the rise of European mercantilism in the 17th century. Ironically, this time period in SEA is poorly understood.
The direction of my current research converges in the Early Modern Period (EMP) Southeast Asia (SEA), which was characterized by major climatic fluctuations that had immense impacts on political patterns in the region. The period also saw European expansionism and subsequent resource extraction that shaped, and continues to shape, present-day environmental and social dynamics in SEA. Although these historical events are known, there is a dearth of work that synthesizes and integrates investigations focused on the EMP.
Fieldwork
I continue to conduct fieldwork in Ifugao, Philippines, as part of the Ifugao Archaeological Project. Recently, I have launched a new project, the Bicol Archaeological Project, which aims to compare lowland responses to colonialism with those that we have documented in Ifugao. In addition, we are also launching the Taiwan Indigenous History and Landscape Project, a collaborative research program that involves the Tayal (a Taiwanese indigenous group), the National Chengchi University, the National Taiwan University, and UCLA.
I am particularly gratified with our community collaboration, as the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement has spearheaded the call for the involvement of and participation of stakeholders in the site excavations. In the past two field seasons, visits by local students and interested members of the community provided on-site lessons on local history and provoked a deeper understanding of their heritage. Public education on the processes of archaeology and participatory analysis of resulting discoveries serve to involve the local community as active partners and not merely as objects of the research. Free access to the project site also considerably helps in dispelling the notion that archaeologists are secretly treasure hunters searching for “Yamashita’s Gold,” among other troves.
In addition, my graduate work also looked at landscape archaeology, indigenous agro-forestry, and defining Ifugao social organization. My dissertation research was funded by an NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant and Henry Luce Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Fellowship.
My research focuses on the relationships between Southeast Asian agricultural complexes, self-organization, and the landscape. My investigations among the Ifugao of the northern Philippines integrates ethnography, ethnohistory, spatial analysis (through Geographic Information Systems), and archaeology. I am also engaged with the local community, through the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement (SITMo – a local grassroots NGO whose main objective is to preserve the rice terraces and help document Ifugao intangible heritage) in developing conservation plans for their upland rice terraces. My long-term research goals include documenting Southeast East Asian agricultural systems and contribute to intensification debates utilizing Southeast Asian production systems as case studies. Recent findings of my research in the highland Philippines has redirected the goals of the IAP which now include indigenous responses to European colonialism.
My research continues to engage archaeological issues that focus on colonialism, culture contact, and Indigenous empowerment. Although the bulk of this research has emphasized the unique responses of the Ifugao, I have recently expanded my investigations of Iberian colonialism in Asia by theorizing how Filipinos responded and coopted the colonial aims. This work contributes to a better understanding of the Early Modern Period (EMP) (1400-1820) in Southeast Asia (SEA), a region that played a major role in the rise of European mercantilism in the 17th century. Ironically, this time period in SEA is poorly understood.
The direction of my current research converges in the Early Modern Period (EMP) Southeast Asia (SEA), which was characterized by major climatic fluctuations that had immense impacts on political patterns in the region. The period also saw European expansionism and subsequent resource extraction that shaped, and continues to shape, present-day environmental and social dynamics in SEA. Although these historical events are known, there is a dearth of work that synthesizes and integrates investigations focused on the EMP.
Fieldwork
I continue to conduct fieldwork in Ifugao, Philippines, as part of the Ifugao Archaeological Project. Recently, I have launched a new project, the Bicol Archaeological Project, which aims to compare lowland responses to colonialism with those that we have documented in Ifugao. In addition, we are also launching the Taiwan Indigenous History and Landscape Project, a collaborative research program that involves the Tayal (a Taiwanese indigenous group), the National Chengchi University, the National Taiwan University, and UCLA.
I am particularly gratified with our community collaboration, as the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement has spearheaded the call for the involvement of and participation of stakeholders in the site excavations. In the past two field seasons, visits by local students and interested members of the community provided on-site lessons on local history and provoked a deeper understanding of their heritage. Public education on the processes of archaeology and participatory analysis of resulting discoveries serve to involve the local community as active partners and not merely as objects of the research. Free access to the project site also considerably helps in dispelling the notion that archaeologists are secretly treasure hunters searching for “Yamashita’s Gold,” among other troves.
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