Bio

Anthony Reid was founding Director of the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, having previously been Professor of Southeast Asian History at UCLA (1999-2002) and ANU (1987-99). His books include The Indonesian National Revolution (1974), Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680, 2 vols (1988-93), An Indonesian Frontier: Acehnese and other histories of Sumatra ( 2004) and, as editor, The Making of an Islamic Political Discourse in Southeast Asia (Centre of Southeast Asian Studies: Monash University, 1993), and Verandah of Violence: The Historical Background of the Aceh Problem (Singapore University Press, 2006).

Michael Gilsenan is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Anthropology at New York University, US. His books include Recognizing Islam (1982/2000) and Lords of the Lebanese Marches (1996) His current research is concerned with aspects of the diaspora of Arab families from the Hadhramaut (south Yemen) into South East Asia over the past one hundred years.