As part of the Nelson Lectures on Southeast Asia, the UVA East Asia Center will be hosting Erica Larson, Research Fellow in the Religion and Globalisation Cluster at the National University of Singapore, for a talk on her new book "Ethics of Belonging: Education, Religion, and Politics in Manado, Indonesia." 

Dr. Larson has a Ph.D in Anthropology from Boston University and was previously Visiting Assistant Professor in Anthropology at Hanover College. Her book draws on ethnographic fieldwork in North Sulawesi to demonstrate how schools become important sites for deliberating the ethics and politics of religious coexistence. Dr. Larson’s current research focuses on Indonesian students seeking higher education in Singapore as a “digital diaspora,” examining the way in which social media usage is intertwined with academic aspirations, religious practice, and various forms of mobility. She is also launching a collaborative, multi-sited project researching Indonesian youth active in religious organizations. 

The talk will be held Thursday, March 20, from 12:30 - 1:45 p.m. in Wilson 142, with lunch provided.