The Centre's work report for 2025
Overview
In 2025, the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies continued its mission to contribute to and promote research, teaching, and public engagement on Asia. The year was marked by staff changes and new appointments, a strong programme of public lectures and workshops, active participation in university-wide and external research networks, and a broad range of research outputs and outreach activities. Education remained a core pillar of the Centre’s work, with a popular MA programme, diverse BA courses, a PhD programme, and a lively student environment shaped by international exchange, internships, and community-building activities. Across research, teaching, and public communication, the Centre maintained a clear commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship, international collaboration, and engagement beyond the university.
Staff changes and developments
The Centre has appointed two new lecturers, Dr. Tabita Rosendal and Dr. Jinyan Zeng, who will be undertaking research and teaching responsibilities from January to June 2026. Dr. Karin Zackari departed the Centre to assume the position of Associate Senior Lecturer at the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University. In August, Dr. Astrid Norén Nilsson commenced a sabbatical and will conduct research at INALCO in Paris through December 2026. In August 2025, Dr. Stefan Brehm succeeded Dr. Astrid Norén Nilsson as Director of Studies for the MA programme. Professor Marina Svensson concluded her tenure as the Centre’s Director on 30 September and was succeeded by Dr. Stefan Brehm; additionally, her role as Director of the PhD programme was assumed by Dr. Nicholas Loubere. Professor Aynne Kokas has been appointed as Guest Professor for a two-year term, beginning in spring 2026, with funding from the Einar Hansens Allhemsstiftelse.
Public lectures, events and workshops/conferences
In 2025, the Centre continued to organise a variety of public events where research could meet wider audiences. The Global China Summer School “China in Circuits of Global Extractivism” was held over four days in mid-June to discuss China’s bottom-up economic engagement abroad. The Centre also hosted a public session on South Korea’s political turbulence and democratic outlook in early February, bringing Korean Studies scholars together for analysis and discussion. In May, established scholars and doctoral students explored Myanmar-related issues during a four-day workshop within the EU-funded project EUVIP. The Graduate School in Asian Studies organised a workshop on “Ethics and Fieldwork in Authoritarian Societies” in February and a workshop on visual methods in March, and its annual retreat in Skanör over three days in June with three international keynotes and 12 PhD students from different Swedish universities. With funding from Riksbanken, two workshops on Chinese Youth in a Divided World were held in August in Lund and in October in Shanghai.
The public outreach programme in 2025 consisted of 31 events, including lectures, film screenings, an alumni event, a book launch and a PhD defence. Topics spanned a wide range of issues relating to East and Southeast Asia, including political history and contemporary politics (e.g., martial law in South Korea; geopolitics of e-commerce in China; geopolitical dimensions of RMB internationalisation), social and cultural dynamics (e.g., family and wealth among only daughters; class and solidarity in Korea; demographics in Japan), security and conflict (ethnic insurgency in Southeast Asia; fear and militarism in Okinawa), legal and economic frameworks (rule of law in Asia; spectre of state capitalism), and human rights (transnational repression and advocacy). The year also included an alumni event reflecting on Asian Studies careers, as well as interdisciplinary engagements connecting memory, development, and structural change in the Asian region.
Networking and participation at other events in Lund
Centre staff participate in a variety of different networks, such as the Human Rights Profile Area at Lund University, the Swedish South Asian Studies Network (SASNET), the Critical Animal Studies Network, the Extractivism Research Network, and the Open Access network. The Centre also collaborates with the Association of Foreign Affairs in Lund and, during the year, co-organised a public talk with Filip Nobel entitled Chinese Media Consumption: From Censorship to Influencers
Visiting researchers at the Centre
In 2025 the Centre hosted two visiting PhD students within the Graduate School in Asian Studies. In 2025, the Centre strengthened its visiting-scholar environment through two initiatives: a call for Visiting PhD Research Fellows and the launch of the Nordic–Lund Emerging Scholars Teaching Program in Korean Studies (NEST) for early-career visiting scholars starting from 2026. After two years at the Centre, Dr. Martin Lavička’s Marie Curie postdoctoral stay at the Centre ended, and he returned to the Department of Asian Studies at Palacký University Olomouc.
Research projects, outputs and grants
Scholars published eleven journal articles, two book chapters, two edited volumes and eight pieces in various media outlets. The Centre’s publication and dissemination profile included peer-reviewed research as well as public scholarship in outlets such as The Conversation (for example, on Japan–South Korea positioning under renewed tariff pressure, South Korea’s adoption scandal, US-China geopolitical rivalry in the Panama Canal, and China’s “durian diplomacy”). In 2025, the Centre also published the first doctoral thesis coming out of the PhD programme in East and South-East Asian Studies and started a new book series. Finally, the Centre published its strategy for 2025-2027, setting out priorities for the coming period. The EU-funded EUVIP project ended in December 2025; it had employed three researchers during the year and organised a workshop, and several of its members attended different events in Olomouc, Helsinki, Tallinn, Brussels and Vienna during the year.
Conference participation and participation in university committees, professional associations, and other contributions to the academic community
Several staff members serve as editors or as board members of different journals. Prof. Marina Svensson serves as the Lund University and Swedish representative on the board of the Nordic Centre at Fudan University; a consortium of 19 Nordic universities. Dr. Nicholas Loubere is the co-editor of the Made in China Journal, and Dr. Tabita Rosendal serves as a substitute board member for Sweden on the NACS board.
Staff took part in several conferences, including the International Conference on Politics of Child Adoption in the 20th Century, held at Magdeburg University (January 8-10), the Nordic Association for Chinese Studies (NACS) Biannual Conference in Copenhagen (June 12-14), the Voicing Gender in China Conference at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris (June 17-18), the International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, United States (March 2-5), and the Association for Southeast Asian Studies (ASEAS) Annual Conference (September 15-17).
Education
The fall semester marked the start of the academic year with the arrival of thirty-one new students to the MA programme in Asian Studies. Alongside the MA programme, the Centre offered six BA-level courses during the year, covering social and economic developments in Japan, Korea, China, and South-East Asia, as well as social movements across East and South-East Asia. Together, these courses reflected the Centre’s broad regional and thematic engagement in both teaching and research-led education. Additionally, the Centre offered two BA-level commissioned education courses funded by USAID for students-at-risk from Myanmar, in a consortium led by the Centre with partners University of Toronto, University of Montana, and Northern Illinois University.
Student life at the Centre was further enriched through a range of academic and social activities. Several student fika gatherings were organised during the year, alongside an alumni event and the Centre’s annual MA graduation ceremony, all of which contributed to strengthening the sense of academic community. Internationalisation also remained a central component of the programme: in total, 12 MA students spent a semester abroad, and several others participated in fieldwork courses organised in collaboration with Waseda University, Thammasat University, and Fudan University.
During the fall semester, the Centre also benefited from the active involvement of five former MA students, Pawel Ostern, Maria Kristin Trumsi, Daniela de Almeida Nogueira Agostinho, Shan Hei Anna Ting, and Pierre-Antoine Duc, who returned as interns as part of the internship course. Their contributions ranged from organising an alumni event and a workshop on Myanmar to supporting cultural events during Kulturnatten, as well as working on the Centre’s social media presence.
The first PhD defence at the Centre took place in June, and Tabita Rosendal successfully defended her thesis. During the fall one PhD student, Chontida Auikool, had her “spikning” with the defence scheduled for January 2026. Another PhD student, Gina Song Lopez, held her final seminar with a defence scheduled for March 2026. The Centre decided to use its surplus capital to announce one PhD position in 2026.
Visibility
Throughout the year, the Centre shared its work and activities through regular newsletters and an active presence on Facebook and Instagram. The Centre also remained visible in wider academic debates, not least through Nicholas Loubere’s role as co-editor of Made in China Journal. Its tenth volume focused on the theme of “being young in China", bringing together research on youth, politics, and social change. Dr.Nicholas Loubere, Julia Olsson, Dr. Karin Zackari, and Dr. Paul O’Shea published a new issue of Asia in Focus, the third since they took over editorship from NIAS in 2023.
The Centre released the eleventh issue of Asia in Focus during the year. This issue highlighted the work of early-career researchers and included articles on topics such as anti-cult measures at Japanese universities, the A4 Revolution initiated by Chinese international students, and the juku industry in Japan.
The Centre also reached broader audiences through the Nordic Asia Podcast series. Doctoral students Ning Ao and Julia Olsson hosted four episodes, and Dr Tabita Rosendal joined Dr Martin Lavička in a podcast conversation on the rule of law in China.
The 2025 commissioned education project at the Centre was recently profiled in Nature magazine alongside other programmes for students and scholars-at-risk from Ukraine and Sudan.
Centre staff frequently shared research with the public, contributing articles, interviews, and participating in events. Dr. Astrid Norén Nilsson discussed Cambodia-Thailand issues and Swedish arms sales to Thailand in major media. Dr. Tabita Rosendal covered China-U.S. rivalry in the Panama Canal and co-authored a piece on China’s “durian diplomacy” in Southeast Asia. Dr. Youngeun Koo provided insights as an adoption expert for The Washington Post and CNA. Dr. Jinyan Zeng appeared in Lingua Sinica at the China Media Projekt discussing feminism.
Staff contributed as guest lecturers and speakers at universities, government agencies, and external organisations. Dr. Tabita Rosendal participated in panels and workshops on Czech-China relations and China's global influence. Dr. Paul O’Shea and Dr. Rosendal attended the European Economic Security Challenges workshop in Brussels. Dr. Youngeun Koo delivered talks on adoption policy and history in South Korea and Gothenburg. Dr. Jinyan Zeng spoke on Queer Asia and feminist theory at Stockholm and Lund Universities, and also presented on academic freedom in Lüneburg, Germany. Dr. Paul O’Shea discussed Japan-Europe relations during dissemination events in Finland and Estonia.
Budget
The financial result for 2025 for the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies is estimated to amount to a surplus of approximately 3.1 million SEK. The accumulated surplus at the end of the year is estimated to be around 6.5 million SEK. This surplus provides the Centre with financial scope and is planned to be used to finance an additional PhD position as well as a range of public events and activities in connection with the 30th anniversary.