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About Me

I am a historian of Southeast Asia, focusing on the environment and religion in the maritime region. I completed my PhD in History at Yale University in Dec 2017. Prior to that, I obtained a B.Sc (Hons) in Mathematics and English, along with an M.A in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore.

My current research focuses on conversions, sacred landscapes, indigenous forest communities and more-than-human relationships in Southeast Asia. I have also published on mass violence in the twentieth century and indigenous constructions of health. I am interested in exploring interdisciplinary approaches to historical research and incorporating non-conventional archives such as visual and scientific proxy records as well as digital tools.

Recent Publications

“Religion, Mass Violence and Illiberal Regimes: Recent Research on the Rohingya in Myanmar,” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs , 38:1, April 2019

“Qingzhen from the Perspective of the Other: Consumption and Muslim Boundary-Making in Republican China, 1920 to 1949,” Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, 3:2, November 2018.

“Indonesia’s Mass Killings in 1965-66: Retrospective and Requiem,” Critical Asian Studies, 50: 4 , November 2018

“Traditional Malay Medicine in Singapore: A Gramscian Perspective,” in Indonesia and the Malay World, 45:131 (with Humairah Zainal), March 2017

“Detentions in Mass Violence: Policy and Practice in Indonesia 1965 – 1968,” in Critical Asian Studies, 44:3 (with Douglas Kammen), September 2012

Media Coverage

Social Media

@laurelinarien

Country Focus

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei

Expertise by Geography

China, Southeast Asia

Expertise by Chronology

18th century, 19th century, 20th century

Expertise by Topic

Capitalism, Colonialism, Environment, Genocide, Indigenous Peoples, Medicine, Religion, Rural & Agrarian History