wellen[at]kitlv.nl

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 Wellen, Dr. Kathryn

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Kathryn Wellen is a historian of Southeast Asia specialized in the early modern era. Her current research focuses on the pre-Islamic history of South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Kathryn studied Southeast Asian history at the University of Hawaii (BA, PhD) and the University Malaya (MA) and was the first western exchange student at the University of Brunei Darussalam. In 2003-2004 she held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Belle van Zuylen Institute for Multicultural and Comparative Gender Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She has also served as an area specialist at the Library of Congress in Washington and a consultant to the Borneo Studies Centre in Bandar Seri Begawan. Currently she is an affiliate member of the Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities and she is currently planning a project to use digital technologies to ask new questions of known Indonesian sources.

In addition to Southeast Asian history, Kathryn is also interested in Pacific Islands and world history, particularly how microhistorical studies can inform large-scale paradigms and vice versa.

Selected Publications

‘Filling the gap; Insights into early eighteenth-century Brunei Darussalam from Dutch archives’, in: V. King & S. Druce (eds.), Origins, history and social structure in Brunei Darussalam, pp. 147-170. Oxon & New York: Routledge, 2021.

‘Recollections of a lost kingdom; The varied interactions between history and memory in South Sulawesi, Indonesia‘, Memory Studies, pp. 14-15, 2021.

With Tristan Mostert ‘Royal Bruneian Letters from the Dutch East India Company Archives’, in: Asbol bin Mail, Brahim bin Tengah, et al (eds.), Kesultanan Brunei Darussalam, pp. 435-468. Bandar Seri Begawan: Persatuan Sejarah Brunei, 2020.

‘Families in Austronesian Expansion’, Journal of Family History, 44-3:239-253, 2019.

With Michael W. Charney (ed.), Warring societies of pre-colonial Southeast Asia: Local cultures of conflict within a regional context. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2018.

With Ian Caldwell, ‘Finding Cina: A new paradigm for early Bugis history’, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 173-2-3: 296-324, 2017. Bahasa Indonesia: ‘Menemukan Cina: Paradigma baru masa awal sejarah Bugis‘.

With Ian Caldwell, ‘Family matters: Bugis genealogies and their contribution to Austronesian studies’, International Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, 12-1:119-141, 2016. Bahasa Indonesia: ‘Kaum keluarga: Silsilah-silsilah Bugis dan kontribusi mereka bagi kajian Austronesia‘.

‘Brunei’, in: John Mackenzie (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Empire I: 338-340. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

‘The Danish East India Company’s War against the Mughal Empire, 1642-1698‘, Journal of Early Modern History 19:439-461, 2015.

The Open Door: Early Modern Wajorese Statecraft and Diaspora, De Kalb: Northern Illinois University Press, October 2014.

With A. C. Lopez, ‘Traversing the Malay-Indonesian World: An Interview with Leonard Andaya’, Itinerario, 38-1:7-12, 2014.

‘Credit among the Early Modern To Wajoq‘, in: David Henley and Peter Boomgaard (eds.), Credit and Debt in Indonesia, 860-1930, pp. 80-101. Singapore: ISEAS, 2009.

‘Melayu Islam Beraja: Brunei’s Tripartide Ideology’, in: Chong Shin, Karim Harun and Yabit Alas (eds.), Reflections in Borneo Rivers: Essays in Honor of Professor James T. Collins, pp. 227-242. Pontianak: STAIN Pontianak Press, Book I, 2006.