JP Dr. Elsa Clavé

I have studied in France at the Sorbonne; the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco) and at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), where I received two bachelors (French Literature; Indonesian-Malay Studies) and two Masters (Indonesian-Malay Studies; History). This has led  me to have a special interest in how people think and imagine the world, how they conceptualize the past and its relation to the present, especially in the Philippines,  Indonesia and Malaysia. Understanding other people's culture (mentalities, system of thoughts, values) is, I think, primordial in today's world which is a world of "metissage", where cultures are in contact and enrich eachother. While this is not a new phenomenon, its intensity puts it now at the forefront. Through the years my work has quite naturally brought me to a more general reflection on what type of "relation to the other" was implied by area/Southeast Asian studies, even after the decolonization of the studies. What this relation could be underlies my work both in the classroom and in research.

Besides studying what people think, I also have an (a very serious) interest in what they eat and my favorite cuisine are Tausug and Betawi.