Mahasarakham University in Thailand bestows Honorary Doctorate on Duncan McCargo, WEAI Research Affiliate

December 22, 2010. Mahasarakham University statement on award:

Professor Duncan McCargo, a native of Britain, graduated with BA honours in English from the University of London (Royal Holloway); and holds a master’s degree in Area Studies (South East Asia) and a doctorate in politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is currently teaching politics at the University of Leeds, UK, where he was promoted to professor in 2002.

Professor McCargo is knowledgeable in the field of politics and has special interest in politics and the media in Southeast Asia. He has conducted fieldwork and research in several countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, USA, Singapore and Thailand. He is especially interested in Thai politics, on which he has published widely, and his expertise has been widely recognised in academic circles and by the international media. He is regularly invited as a special guest speaker, and has given many interviews on political crises in Thailand. He has worked on various topics including Islam in Thailand, and his most outstanding work is the award-winning book Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand (published by Cornell University Press)

Professor McCargo has played an important part in supporting the education of academic staff, helping to internationalise teaching and research in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He brought in funding from the British Council to support the Faculty’s Local Politics Information, Centre and to promote cooperation between Mahasarakham and his department in Leeds in order to study political activity in Northeast Thailand.  In recognition of his contribution to the study of politics and the region, Mahasarakham University Council has resolved unanimously to present Professor McCargo with an honorary doctorate.

Background note:
Duncan McCargo first visited Mahasarakham University (MSU) in 1992. Together with Dr Thaveeslip Subwattana, he created a Higher Education Link between MSU and Leeds, funded by DFiD and administered by the British Council. Under the link, there were seventeen visits to Leeds by MSU academics from 1996 to 2002. Several Leeds academics visited Mahasarakham, two workshops were organised in Thailand with Leeds participation; and an MSU lecturer was funded to gain his PhD at Leeds.  A second MSU lecturer is currently studying with McCargo for a Leeds PhD.