'Myanmar's transition over the last decade has created new opportunities, new challenges and uncertainties,' said Professor Rüdiger Korff, Director of Wissenschaftsforum Myanmar, who organised the conference. 'Rapid transformation at the political, economic, social, religious and cultural levels always has consequences and has a strong impact on people's private lives.'
How does the country's transformation affect the people of Myanmar? How does their everyday life change, how do they adapt and use these new opportunities or deal with the challenges? How do habits change? Does daily life really change as much as it is seen in public, or are there structures that remain unchanged? These are some of the core questions discussed at the conference.
The transition over the last decade also marks a change in research on Myanmar, which has only recently become possible at all. One important aspect that has paved the way for this was the 2014 agreement between the universities of Passau and Yangon; for Yangon, this was the second co-operation agreement with a foreign partner university. The conference will explore the complex processes underway in Myanmar, both specific sub-areas and the overall process, in order to initiate new research approaches and questions.
Wissenschaftsforum Myanmar (WiMya) was established in 2012 and is an informal network of researchers from German-speaking countries – mainly Austria, Switzerland and Germany – who meet annually. The aim is to promote synergies in research and academic co-operation.
The network was put on a more institutional footing by the founding of Myanmar Institut e.V. in December 2016. The institute promotes transdisciplinary research and exchange by putting experts from a wide variety of academic fields in touch with each other.
The conference will be held in English. Attendance is free of charge; however, prior registration is required – please send an e-mail to mandy.fox@uni-passau.de to register for the conference.