Visiting Scholars for the 2008-2009 Academic Year

Visiting Aung San Suu Kyi Endowed Chair in Asian Studies:

Dr. Robert E. Bedeski will be the Visiting Aung San Suu Kyi Endowed Chair in Asian Democracy for 2008-2009.  Professor Bedeski earned his M.A. in Asian Studies and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and is Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Victoria. He has lived and traveled throughout East Asia and is the author of numerous books and journal articles.

Professor Bedeski is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Additionally, Bedeski is Program Professor Emeritus in Human Security and Peace in the Asia-Pacific Region at the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI). He serves also as an Honorary Professor at the University of British Columbia, Institute for Asian Research and is an editorial adviser to the Mongolian Journal of International Affairs.

Currently, Professor Bedeski is writing a book entitled The Mongolian State: Empire, Semi-Colony, and Modern Democracy.  In fall 2008, Dr. Bedeski taught POLS 399, Human Security & Democracy in Asia (MW 4 to 5:15 pm).

Visiting Fellows in Asian Democracy:

Prof. Zhen Qian is an Associate Professor at the International Institute for Strategic Studies at the Central Party School in Beijing, China.  Prof. Qian earned an M.A. in Law and International Politics from China’s Central Party School and an M.A. in Law from Leeds University, UK.  While at the Center, Prof. Qian will be researching participatory democracy in contemporary China.  Prof. Qian’s research will focus on comparative aspects of China’s democratic reforms including reforms in cities and rural areas, the political implications of advances in communication technology, and public participation in environmental policy-making.

Prof. Naveed Sheikh is a Lecturer in International Relations at the School of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy at Keele University in the UK.  Prof. Sheikh earned his M.A. in International Relations from the University of Durham, UK and enrolled in a Ph.D. program in International Relations at the University of Cambridge, UK.  While at the Center, Prof. Sheikh will be researching a book on Islam and political reforms in Pakistan.  His work will include an analysis of the impact of Islam on the formation of the Pakistani state, reform movements throughout Pakistan’s history, major political parties, sectarian organizations, and jihadist groups, and an analysis of Pakistan in the post-9/11 world.

Dr. Kheang Un is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Assistant Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University.  Dr. Un earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science and Southeast Asian Studies from Northern Illinois University.  While at the Center for Asian Democracy, Dr. Un will be finishing his book, State, Society and Democratic Consolidation: The Case of Cambodia.  The book will analyze why the democratic government in Cambodia failed to consolidate in the fourteen-year period following the UN Peace Keeping Mission in 1991 that resulted in a constitutional, multi-party governmental structure.