The Guardian of the Flame Collection is available for research at the Luhrs Reading Room, Hayden Library 4th floor. A portion of the collection has been individually photographed and described here.
William Sage is an alumnus of ASU, whose collection of nearly 350 artifacts was built during the early 1970s when he worked in Laos. Along with basketry, musical instruments, jewelry, betel nut paraphernalia, weapons, pipes and forms of money, Sage collected 18 complete ‘costumes’ from 11 different Lao ethnic groups. Sage’s collection is an attempt to represent the ethnic diversity of the country.
Jane Hanks is an anthropologist with long term research interests in Thailand, particularly the ethnic groups that live in mountainous Northern Thailand. Her collection of over 130 artifacts were largely acquired between the years of 1951 and 1979 when she and her husband, fellow anthropologist Lucien Hanks, lived and worked in Thailand. The collection is mostly comprised of textiles, clothing and other personal items made and used by Northern Thai ethnic groups such as the Akha, Lisu and Mien.
Joel Halpern is an anthropologist who worked in Laos in 1957, 1959 and 1969, with a particular focus on the Lao elite. His collection of 55 artifacts contains many examples of Lao textiles and other collectibles.
In 1950s to the 1960s, Betty Grenig’s husband Robert Grenig was stationed with US Army in a host of Asian countries, including Vietnam. Much of this collection of 19 artifacts and 11 photographs comes from the Montagnards, an ethnic group who live 20 miles outside of Hue. It includes baskets, hats, weapons and a rain cloack made of plant materials.
Sociologist Anna Gillespie lived and worked largely in Vientiane, Laos from 1994 to 2009. She referred to her collection of 40 artifacts as “Objects of Everyday Life.” The collection mainly consists of a wide array of items made of bamboo that includes fish traps, tables and baskets used to prepare and store food.
Our Center is located in the Center for Centers, on the second floor of Durham Hall (Durham 244).
For general inquiries and questions, please contact [email protected].
For more information regarding these community organizations, click on their names below to be redirected to their websites or Facebook pages.
The Association for Asian Studies is the largest society of its kind. The Association is a scholarly, non-political, non-profit professional association. They have over 8,000 members worldwide and are open to all people interested in Asian studies.
As part of a collaborative exchange of librarians from Myanmar’s Universities Central Library and Yangon University Library with Arizona State University, the University of Washington and Northern Illinois University, Daw Ni Ni Naing and Daw La Pye Win Htun stayed in Tempe during the month of June, 2014 in order to work with the various library resources and departments at Arizona State University. Dr.