Description
Book SynopsisOver a long and productive career, Charles “Biff” Keyes carried out research, taught, and forged links between scholars and institutions in the United States, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. His work has focused on religious practice, ethnicity and national cultures, transformation of rural society, and political culture. An enduring theme in his writing has been the role of Buddhism in everyday life in mainland Southeast Asia. His new memoir illustrates the significance of the Buddhist emphasis on impermanence (anicca) and demonstrates how this principle has shaped his own life.
A graduate of Cornell University, Keyes conducted his first fieldwork in a village in northeast Thailand, followed by research in Mae Sariang on the Thai-Myanmar border. In addition to his long career at the University of Washington, he taught at Chiang Mai University and Maha Sarakham University. Keyes made teaching a priority, training graduate students from Thailand and Vietnam. A leading figure in both anthropology and Southeast Asian studies, he served as the president of the Association of Asian Studies and encouraged international scholarship.
Trade Review"Keyes joined a newer trend [in anthropology] to focus on peoples being swept into modernity. . . . [He] became a leading figure in the development of Southeast Asian studies in the US . . . [and] as the Cold War wound down in the 1980s, he became involved in building academic links with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. . . . Keyes is exceptional."
* Bangkok Post *
