Five Students on Research Externships in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Ohio University students begin externships in Cambodia.

Five Ohio University undergraduate students are in Cambodia this summer in a student-faculty collaborative “externship” project call “Imagining International Justice in Post-Genocide Cambodia.”

The students are working with various organizations through partnerships with the Ohio University Center for Law, Justice & Culture.

Ohio University has a strong history of Southeast Asian studies and connections with Cambodia through the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, with a community of OHIO alumni and current students from Cambodia living and working in the United States and abroad.

Each of the undergraduate student externs is pursuing an independent research project developed with the themes of law and justice, genocide education, and memorialization in mind.

• Danielle Fultz is a senior studying French (Honors Tutorial College), History,  and War & Peace Studies. She is conducting research on the way in which the history of the genocide is taught through formal and informal educational systems in Cambodia today.
• Bekki Wyss is a junior studying English (HTC) and Law, Justice & Culture. Her project, “The Legacy of Forced Marriage in Post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia,” focuses on the way in which the ongoing Khmer Rouge Tribunal deals with issues of sexual violence and forced marriage during the genocide.
• Samantha Rommel is a junior studying Anthropology and Museum Studies. Her main academic focus is in cultural and museum anthropology, more specifically in issues regarding contested identities in post-conflict societies, social memory, and ethical museum practices.
• Katie Conlon is a sophomore studying History (HTC) and Law, Justice & Culture. She is particularly interested in the experiences of the minority Cham Muslim community during the Khmer Rouge period, and how Cham engage with the Khmer Rouge Tribunal today.
• Elizabeth Cychosz is a junior studying Anthropology, Journalism (HTC), and Museum Studies. She is carrying out ethnographic research on the public relations practices of various genocide museums, including museums such as the Sleuk Rith Institute’s Museum of Memory, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields Museum.

This collaborative project, “Imagining International Justice in Post-Genocide Cambodia,” is led by two faculty members: Dr. Haley Duschinski, Director of the Center for Law, Justice & Culture and a legal anthropologist who specializes in law and conflict, with research and teaching experience in South Asia and Northern Ireland; and Dr. Christine Su, Director of Southeast Asian Studies and a Cambodia area specialist who specializes in race and ethnic relations in Southeast Asia, with extensive research and project experience in Cambodia.

Read more about the students in Cambodia.