Ardeth Thawnghmung is the Chair and Professor in the Department of Political Science at UMass Lowell.

Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, Ph.D.

Professor

College
College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
Political Science
Phone
978-934-4238
Office
Dugan Hall - 2nd Floor

Expertise

Comparative Politics, International Relations, Southeast Asian Politics

Research Interests

Southeast Asia; Comparative Political Economy; Ethnic Politics; Qualitative Research Methods.

Education

  • Ph D: Political Science, (2001), University of Wisconsin-Madison - Madison, WI.
    Dissertation/Thesis Title: _Paddy Farmers and the State: Agricultural Policies and Political Legitimacy in Rural Myanmar (Burma).î
  • MA: International Relations, (1995), Yale University - New Haven, CT
  • BA: Political Science, (1993), Indiana University - Fort Wayne - Fort Wayne, IN

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Fulbright Public Policy Fellow 2020-2021 (2021), Service, Professional - Fullbright
  • Research Grant (2014), Scholarship/Research - United Institute of Peace
  • Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Program (2011) - Fullbright
  • Teaching Excellence award (2011), Teaching - Political Science Department, University of Massachusetts
  • Visiting Research Fellow (2007) - East-West Center, Washington, D.C. and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.
  • Visiting Senior Research Fellow (2006) - Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
  • Visiting Henry Luce Fellow (2002) - Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University
  • Open Society Institutes Supplementary Grants (1998)
  • Prospect Burma Scholarship (1997)
  • Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies and Yale International Relations Research Grant (1996)

Selected Publications

  • Whitten-Woodring, J.M., Kleinberg, M., Thawnghmung, A., Thitsar, M.T. (2020). Poison If You Don’t Know How to Use It: Facebook, Democracy, and Human Rights in Myanmar . International Journal of Press/Politics
  • Thawnghmung, A., Fasolo, V. (2020). “Migration and Intercommunal Relationships: Interdisciplinary and Inter-regional Dialogue". Migration Studies.
  • Thawnghmung, A., Htoo, E. (). The Fractured Center: "Two-headed Government” and Threats to the Peace Process in Myanmar”. Modern Asian Studies.
  • Keyd, H. (DIIS, Denmark), Thawnghmung, A. (University of Massachusetts Lowell) (). The Significance of EveryDay Access to Justice in Myanmar’s Transition to Democracy (Trends in Southeast Asia # 9,). ISEAS, Yusof Ishak Institute, 2019. ISSN 0219-3213
  • Thawnghmung , A. (University of Massachusetts Lowell ), Funari, M. (University of Massachusetts Lowell ) (2019). “Ethnic Armed groups in Myanmar” .
  • Thawnghmung, A.M. (2019). The Everyday Economic Survival in Contemporary Myanmar. University of Wisconsin Press
  • Thawnghmung , A. (University of Massachusetts Lowell ) (2018). Rural Myanmar (pp. 72-83). Routledge New Contemporary Country Handbook, Routledge
  • Bertrand, J. (University of Toronto), Pelletier, A. (University of Toronto), Thawnghmung, A. (University of Massachusetts Lowell ) (). First Movers, Democratization and Unilateral Concessions: Overcoming Commitment Problems and Negotiating a “Nationwide Cease-Fire” in Myanmar. Asian Security.
  • Thawnghmung, A., Robinson, G., (2017). Myanmar’s New Era: A Break from the Past, or Too much of the Same? .
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2017). Signs of life in Myanmar’s nationwide ceasefire agreement? Finding a way forward,”. Critical Asian Studies, Vol. 49( 3 ) 379-395..
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2017). Do Consultancies Compromise Academic Research and Ethics? A Case Study of Burma/Myanmar. Asian Journal of Political Science, 1-18..
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2016). The Politics of Indigeneity in Myanmar. Asian Ethnicity, 17(4) 527 - 547.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2016). Special Issue on Poverty. 1(1).
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2016). The Myanmar Elections 2015: Why the National League for Democracy Won a Landslide Victory. Critical Asian Studies, 48(1) 132-142.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2014). Contending Approaches to Communal Violence in Rakhine State (pp. 323-338). NIAS Press
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2014). From the "loyal" to the revolutionary "Karen": Looking at Burma’s post-revolutionary eras (pp. 238-256). Oxford University Press
  • Thawnghmung, A., Renard, R.D. (2012). The" Other" Karen in Myanmar: Ethnic Minorities and the Struggle without Arms ; Lanham: Lexington Books, 2012, xxxii+ 197p. Southeast Asian Studies, 2(2) 421–425.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2011). Beyond Armed Resistance: Ethnonational Politics in Burma (Myanmar). Policy Studies (15471349), (62) 1-67.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2011). The Politics of Everyday Life in Twenty-First Century Myanmar. The Journal of Asian Studies, (3) 641.
  • Thawnghmung, A., Maung, A.M. (2008). MYAN MAR IN 2007: A Turning Point in the "Roadmap"? Asian Survey, 48(1) 13-19.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2008). Myanmar: Responding to Strategies and Programming of Myanmar's Military Regime (pp. 274-290). Southeast Asian Affairs 2008
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2008). Responding to Strategies and Programmes of Myanmar's Military Regime. Southeast Asian Affairs, 274-290.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2008). The Karen Revolution in Burma : Diverse Voices, Uncertain Ends.
  • Thawnghmung, A., Myoe, M.A. (2007). MYAN MAR IN 2006 Another Year of Housekeeping? Asian Survey, 47(1) 194-199.
  • Thawnghmung, A., Sarno, P. (2006). Myanmar Impasses: Alternatives to Isolation and Engagement? Asian Journal of Political Science, 14(1) 40-63.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2004). Behind the Teak Curtain : Authoritarianism, Agricultural Policies and Political Legitimacy in Rural Burma, Myanmar.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2003). Burma: A Gentler Authoritarianism? Foreign Policy, (139) 39-40.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2003). Preconditions and Prospects for Democratic Transition in Burma/Myanmar. Asian Survey, (3) 443.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2003). Rural Perceptions of State Legitimacy in Burma/Myanmar. Journal of Peasant Studies, 30(2) 1-40.
  • Thawnghmung, A. (2003). The Socio-Economic Impacts of Rice Policies Implementation in Rural Burma/Myanmar. SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 18(2) 299-321.

Selected Presentations

  • Elections, State Coercive Capacity and Violence in Burma/Myanmar and Colombia - APSA Meeting, 2014 - Washington D.C.

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • Summer Research Grant (2005), Grant - Provost office, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • UML-SayDaNar Burmese Digital Archive (2016), Grant - Chancellor’s 2020 Challenge Grant
    Kim, S.J. (Principal), Aung, J. (Co-Principal), Thawnghmung, A., Ali, M., Thomson Tripathy, S.
  • The Politics of Everyday in Burma/Myanmar (2010), Grant -
    Thawnghmung, A. (Principal)
  • 2010-2011 Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Program (2010), Sponsored Research -
  • Visiting Research Fellow (2007), Fellowship - East-West Center, Washington, D.C. and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
  • Visiting Senior Research Fellow (2006), Fellowship - Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
  • Visiting Henry Luce Fellow (2002), Fellowship - Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University
  • Open Society Institutes Supplementary Grants (1995), Grant -
  • Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies and Yale International Relations Research Grant (1994), Grant -
  • Horald Moran Scholarship (1993), Grant - Indiana University