December 26, 2014
AIA Public Lecture & Joint AIA and SCS Opening Night Reception (ONR)
Dr. Miriam Stark, Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, will present the Public Lecture “Imagining Angkor: Politics, Myths, and Archaeology.” “Angkor’s first great king, Jayavarman II, established Cambodia’ Angkorian state on the banks of the Tonle Sap in 802 CE and built his first capital, Mahendraparvata, on the slope of the nearby Kulen mountains. What followed were six centuries of political competition, warfare, and imperial rule by Angkor’s kings. Like rulers of other ancient states, Khmer kings built vast stone monuments to honor their predecessors and gods that still stand today. A century of scholarly research on the Khmer empire’s achievements has shed light on the scale and nature of premodern Southeast Asia’s most influential polity; it has also shaped political agenda in unanticipated ways. We will visit these accounts and myths, and explore how archaeological research offers another strategy for imagining Angkor: its rise, its splendor, and its collapse and regeneration across two millennia.”
The Lecture will be held on Thursday, January 8 in the Rhythms Ballroom located on the second floor of the Sheraton from 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. and will immediately be followed by the Opening Night Reception in the Armstrong Ballroom located on the eight floor of the Sheraton from 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. We invite you to join over several hundred of your colleagues to network and socialize while enjoying cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres. There is no cost to attend the public lecture; however, the ONR does require the purchase of a ticket: $30 USD for attendees, $24 USD for students. Tickets may be purchased at the door or during AM registration.
