The Center for Lao Studies (San Francisco) and Southeast Asia Publications at Northern Illinois University are pleased to announce the publication of Contemporary Lao Studies: Research on Development, Language and Culture, and Traditional Medicine, edited by Carol J. Compton, John F. Hartmann, and Vinya Sysamouth.

ISBN: 978-1-891134-39-1 | Printed in the USA | Paperback
Price: USD $28.00 + shipping CLICK HERE TO ORDER ONLINE WITH A CREDIT CARD or Click here for ORDER FORM

Available September 2009 | 6in x 9in | 339 pp. (English)

CONTENTS
Containing selected research papers presented at the First International Conference on Lao Studies held at Northern Illinois University in 2005, this book provides those interested in Lao studies with the work of scholars and practitioners who focus on important topics for contemporary Laos.  With more than 330 pages, the book includes a preface, an introduction, maps, tables, and illustrations.

Preface       
Carol J. Compton, John F. Hartmann, and Vinya Sysamouth

Introduction: The Themes of Contemporary Lao Studies | Carol J. Compton    
 
Part One: Development

Papers on gender and land rights, reproductive health, rural credit, irrigation, and internal resettlement.

• Gender, Land Rights, and Culture in Laos: A Study in Vientiane, Districts, Villages, and Households | Loes Schenk-Sandbergen  
• Reproductive Health: The Key to Development Opportunities for Women in Rural Laos | Kathryn Sweet    
• Rural Financial Development: Credit Access and Credit Constraints of Farm Households in Rural Villages in Laos | Phinseng Channgakham  
• A Sustainable Irrigation Project in Lao PDR: Effective Water Management in Pump Irrigation Projects along the Mekong River and its Tributaries | Fongsamuth Phengphaengsy and Naritaka Kubo
• Aiding or Abetting? Internal Resettlement and International Aid Agencies in the Lao PDR | Bruce Shoemaker and Ian G. Baird
  

Part Two: Language and Culture
Papers on Lao language and linguistics, computerization of Tham script, and Buddhist monastic education.   

• Lao Numeral Classifiers in Comparison to Central Thai | Somsonge Burusphat
• Use of the Lao Copula /mE#En/ as a Focus Marker | Karen A. Bart-Sisamout    
  
• Phonetics and Phonology of Lao Tones | Marlys A. Macken    
  
• Questioning Orientalist Power: Buddhist Monastic Education in Colonial Laos | Justin Thomas McDaniel   
  
• Towards a Computerization of the Lao Tham System of Writing | Grégory Kourilsky and Vincent Berment     

Part Three: Traditional Medicine

Papers on aspects of an ongoing study of the medicinal plants of Laos, including their use by traditional healers, as well as a review of historical records on indigenous plants used for medicinal, religious, and commercial purposes.   

• Historical Medicinal, Religious, and Commercial Plant Use in Laos from Accounts of European Exploration | Kristine L. Callis     
• The Influence of Cultural Tradition and Geographic Location on the Level of Medicinal Plant Knowledge Held by Various Cultural Groups in Laos | Amey Libman, Bounhong Southavong, Kongmany Sydara, Somsanith Bouamanivong, Charlotte Gyllenhaal, Mary Riley, and Djaja D. Soejarto      
• The Lao Traditional Medicine Mapping Project (Lao TMMP) | Mary C. Riley,Bounhong Southavong, Gregg R. Dietzman, Marian R. Kadushin, Kongmany Sydara, Amey Libman, Somsanith Bouamanivong, Charlotte Gyllenhaal, and Djaja Djendoel Soejarto     
• Studies on Medicinal Plants of Laos-A Collaborative Program between the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the Traditional Medicine Research Center (TMRC), Lao PDR: Accomplishments 1998-2005 | Djaja D. Soejarto, Bounhong Southavong, Kongmany Sydara, Somsanith Bouamanivong, Mary C. Riley, Amey Libman, Marian R. Kadushin, and Charlotte Gyllenhaal    

 
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MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON LAO STUDIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface           ix

Introduction
Karen L. Adams and Thomas John Hudak        xiii

Part One:  Language, Literacy and Information Access

Access to Information in the Lao P.D.R.
Gregory Green                            3

New Literacy Practices among the Prai
Frederick J. Diller                      21

Intergenerational Language Loss in a Heritage Speaker of Lao:  A Look at Lexical Loss and L2 Borrowing

Eric Brown                          41

A Comparison of Shape-Based Numeral Classifiers in Tai-Kadai Languages
Somsonge Burusphat                      73

The Structure of Punch Lines in Lao Joke Texts
Varisa Kamalanavin                      97

Part Two:  Preservation and Reinterpretation of Material
and Visual Texts

Buddhist Banners of Northern Laos: Regional Interpretations and Change
Rebecca Hall        129

Traditional Craft or International Business? Vientiane Textile Companies and Their Workers
Carol Ireson-Doolittle and Geraldine Moreno-Black    147

Where Did the Oy of Baan Choumphouy Get Their Pot-Making from?
Leedom Lefferts and Louise Allison Cort            165

Digital Archiving and Computer Projection in Temple Murals Conservation: Restoring Phralak-Phralam (the “Lao Ramayana”) to Vat Oub Mong
Alan Potkin, Catherine Raymond and Karen Brown    183
 
Part Three:  Discourses of History

Continuity and Changes of Buddhism from “Old” State to “New” State of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Saengmany Ratsabout                    209

The Escape from Phonkheng Prison: Revolutionary Historiography in the Lao P.D.R.
Oliver Tappe                        237

Part Four:  Dynamics of Cultivation, Economics and Sustainable Practices

Understanding Lao Farmers’ Insecticide Use on Eggplants in Fresno County, California
S. Steve Arounsack and Minghua Zhang            257
 
The Search for Anti-Malarial Plants in Lao Palm-Leaf Manuscripts
Bethany G. Elkington, Bounhong Southavong, Kongmany Sydara, Somsanith Bouamanivong, Onevilay Souliya, Mouachanh Xayveu, Manoluck Vanthanouvong, Mary Riley, Bountham Panyachit, Bounleuth Thammachak, D. Doel Soejarto        277

The Nam Theun 2 Dam of Laos: Benefits and Limits of Its National Competitive Advantage
Michael D. Theno                    289

Part Five:  Issues of Gender and Ethnicity: Marginalization and Adaptation

Feminism in Laos

Kinnalone Kittiphanh                    309