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Asian Studies: Southeast Asia

This guide is meant to provide a general starting point for students seeking to deepen their understanding of Asian studies.

Regional Information

Southeast Asia is North of Australia, South of East Asia, West of the Pacific Ocean, and East of the Bay of Bengal. It includes several island and archipelago nations that stretch the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, making it the only Asia region located on both sides of the equator. The region played an important role in global trade during the spice trade, which started before European exploration. 

Recommended Resources

  • Southeast Asia Digital Library - A collection of digital resources including manuscripts, photographs, and archival collections, hosted by Northern Illinois University (NIU) Libraries. 
  • Library of Congress Asian Reading Room - Includes links to online resources, research guides, and digitized collections. 
  • Southeast Asian Images and Texts - Includes primary and secondary research and teaching materials, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. 
  • Southeast Asia Visions - A collection of European travelogues in pre-modern Southeast Asia, hosted by Cornell University Library. 
  • Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu - This database supplies English-language translations of Classical Chinese annals concerning Southeast Asia during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
  • JSTOR - This general database provides full-text access to over 1,300 journals and magazines in a variety of content areas. The searching options are limited, but students like the "clean and simple" interfaces
  • East View - Collection of chronicles that took place throughout Southeast Asia during the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

The following is a list of online newspapers from Southeast Asia. Note: not all of the sources are in English but can be read using translation search engine extensions. 

Regional Map