A Year of Growth, Resilience, and Lasting Bonds: Reflections from the Acting Director
As I reflect on this past year serving as Acting Director of the CSEAS, I’m struck by how much we’ve accomplished together during what has been one of the most challenging periods in CSEAS’s history. We faced the loss of federal Title VI and FLAS funding. We lost our office administrator. The political and financial landscape shifted beneath our feet. And yet—we not only survived, we grew.
What We Built Together
Despite these challenges, this year has been marked by forward momentum:
· We launched new MOUs with partner universities across Southeast Asia
· We brought two Fulbright Scholars to campus—Dr. Bao-Son Trinh from Vietnam and Dr. Juliana Emeih Wahed from Malaysia—enriching our curriculum and building bridges between CSEAS and the broader NIU community
· We have developed new courses and programming
· We hosted alumni, visitors, and partners from Malaysia, Indonesia, and throughout the region, maintaining our visibility and connections even without federal support
· We secured $25,000 in travel support from RIPS, ensuring our students can continue to engage with Southeast Asia
· We protected our current FLAS students, honoring NIU’s commitments and maintaining trust with our partners
Every single one of these achievements happened because of you—the CSEAS Council, our students, our staff, our partners across campus and across Southeast Asia.
A Transition, Not a Goodbye
I want to share some news with you. I am transitioning from Acting Director of CSEAS to Director of the Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy (IESE). But here’s what I need you to understand: you have not lost me.
This transition opens up extraordinary opportunities for collaboration between CSEAS and IESE. Southeast Asia faces some of the most pressing environmental and sustainability challenges in the world—from the impacts of mass tourism to rare earth mining contamination in the Mekong River basin, from microplastics in Malaysian watersheds to climate change effects on Vietnam’s agricultural systems. The natural partnership between environmental studies and Southeast Asian studies has never been more important or more timely.
I will continue to grow the links between STEM, environmental research, and CSEAS. The partnerships we’ve built, the MOUs we’ve established, the research collaborations we’ve launched—these will continue and deepen. My work in Southeast Asia isn’t ending; it’s expanding into new dimensions that will strengthen both centers.
What I’ve Learned From You
I came into this role with experience building an interdisciplinary institute from scratch, but I have learned more this past year than in many years prior. I’ve seen tremendous growth in my own management approach and developed new ideas about how to build sustainable programs even when external funding disappears.
More importantly, I’ve learned from each of you about areas of campus I didn’t know well. I’ve gained deeper understanding of the humanities and social sciences, of language instruction, of area studies pedagogy, of the delicate work of building international partnerships grounded in genuine reciprocity rather than extraction. I’ve built true, lasting bonds with faculty and staff across NIU—bonds based on shared commitment to Southeast Asia and to our students.
You have all made me a better person, a better academic, and a better leader.
Southeast Asia Is In My Blood Now
When I first went to Myanmar with Judy Ledgerwood, something fundamental shifted in me. Mandalay is now part of my soul. Over the years of building research partnerships across Southeast Asia—in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar—this region has become inseparable from who I am as a scholar and as a person.
So, while it is very tough to leave this role, I am not leaving Southeast Asia. I am not leaving CSEAS. I will be here for the long haul. Southeast Asia is in my blood and soul now, and that doesn’t change because my title changes.
Looking Forward
CSEAS is at a critical juncture. The loss of federal funding could have diminished us, but instead it has catalyzed innovation. We’re thinking more creatively about revenue generation, about curriculum diversification, about partnership models, about how to make CSEAS indispensable to NIU and to our Southeast Asian partners.
Trude Jacobsen-Gidaszewski, the next director, will inherit a center that is resilient, innovative, and deeply connected across campus and around the world. She will have the support of an extraordinary Council, committed students, and a network of partners who believe in this work.
And they will have me as a colleague and collaborator, working at the intersection of environmental science and Southeast Asian studies, bringing IESE and CSEAS together in ways that serve both centers’ missions.
With Gratitude
Thank you for this year. Thank you for trusting me during uncertain times. Thank you for teaching me, challenging me, and working alongside me to ensure CSEAS not only survived but thrived.
The bonds we’ve built are lasting. The work we’ve started together will continue. And Southeast Asia’s place at NIU—in our research, our teaching, our partnerships, our community—is stronger than ever.
I’m not saying goodbye. I’m saying see you in the next chapter.
With deep gratitude and continued commitment,
Melissa Lenczewski
Outgoing Acting Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Incoming Director, Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy
