New Southeast Asian Archive
Advisory Board

The UC Irvine Libraries' Southeast Asian Archive is the most significant research collection in the United States that focuses on the refugees and immigrants from the former Indochina—Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos—since the Vietnam War ended in 1975. The new 2010-12 Southeast Asian Archive Advisory Board is made up of passionate advocates who represent a variety of perspectives and backgrounds.

Strong ties to Southeast Asian American communities have been key to building the Archive's collections. In order to assist the Archive in outreach to these communities, the UC Irvine Libraries depends on the Southeast Asian Archive Advisory Board.

"I am honored to have the opportunity to help build and foster a strong archive," said 2010-12 Chair Leakhena Nou. "The SEA Archive is a unique and rich collection devoted to chronicling and archiving the experiences, histories, and cultures of Southeast Asian Americans in the United States. Diverse and multidisciplinary, it is an invaluable community and scholarly resource."

Founded in 1993, the Southeast Asian Archive Advisory Board continues to advocate for the Archive and its mission. The 2010-12 Board will actively serve the Archive in three key ways:

  1. Organize or attend events in their communities to raise awareness of the Archive.
  2. Assist with fundraising to increase the Archive's financial resources for preserving and providing access to its unique collections.
  3. Identify organizations and individuals who might donate significant documentation about Southeast Asian Americans.

As Southeast Asian American communities continue to grow and thrive in the United States, the Archive will continue to develop its collections to reflect this evolution and to support research about the Southeast Asian American experience.

Board members for 2010-2012 include chair Leakhena Nou (professor at Cal State Long Beach); vice-chair Mariam Beevi Lam (professor at UC Riverside); Jeffrey Brody (professor at Cal State Fullerton); Daniel Do-Khanh (lawyer); Peter Moua (UCI staff); Peter Nguyen (U.S. Census); Prumsodun Ok (performance artist); Nhu-Ngoc Ong (editor of the Vien Dong Daily News); Prany Sananikone (UCI staff); Cathy J. Schlund-Vials (professor at University of Connecticut); Linda Sok (UC San Diego student and staff at Cambodian Family); Ma Vang (UC San Diego student and first recipient of the Anne Frank Visiting Researcher Grant); and Linda Vo (professor at UC Irvine). We deeply appreciate their commitment and service to the Archive.

For more information about the Southeast Asian Archive, please see http://seaa.lib.uci.edu. The Southeast Asian Archive's collections are available in the Southeast Asian Archive Reading Room (Langson Library room 360 ) and in Special Collections & Archives (Langson Library room 525). For further information please contact Christina Woo, the Southeast Asian Archive Librarian at 824.4974 or cjwoo@uci.edu.

For further information about supporting the Archive, please contact Julie Sully, Interim Director of Development at (949) 824-4658 or jsully@uci.edu.