ASRIC Update From The Field

Leakhena Nou will present her current research at the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia (ASRIC), a 501 (c) 3 institutionally affiliated with the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU currently conducting a major survivor outreach project. ASRIC has been educating Cambodian Americans about the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia proceedings and serves as an instrument for participation to survivors of the Khmer Rouge atrocities who desire to file Victim Information Forms. ASRIC work has focused on the large Cambodian American populations in Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia, Southern and Northern California, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia.

Nou will discuss the community forums developed by ASRIC as well as the PTSD-related symptoms that revealed themselves during the forums. The research and observations stemming from these forums have indicated that participating in the judicial process could be a therapeutic experience that might help to empower survivors immobilized by their horrific past. Nou will speak on how ASRIC’s research into the mechanics of victim participation within the tribunal court system exposes the gap between the theory and practicality by which survivors of atrocities can participate in the process.

This program will be followed by a conversation with Leakhena Nou, Assistant Professor of Sociology at California State University, Long Beach and Visiting Scholar at A/P/A Institite at NYU with Duy Nuygen, Assistant Professor, Silver School of Social Work, NYU.