NusPARC Screening Committee

A formal application process for a grant or stipend determines the recipients for financial awards issued by the Nusantara Performing Arts Research Center.  The applications are examined by an independent screening committee, which is appointed by the NusPARC Board of Directors.  This screening committee comprises scholars and experts from the academic and professional performing arena in the Southeast Asian performing arts.

Screening Committee (2011 - present)

Professor Dr. Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan (BA Honours, Monash University; PhD, University of Queensland) is an ethnomusicologist who holds the Kadazandusun Chair at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.  She also teaches the courses Borneo Ethnography and Ethnomusicology in the university’s School of Social Sciences, and Borneo Music Studies and Ethnomusicology in the School of Arts.  She is Regional Vice President for Sabah of the Borneo Research Council, a member of the ICTM Study Group on the Performing Arts of Southeast Asia and a member of the Jawatankuasa Pakar Pendaftaran Warisan (Adat) of Jabatan Warisan Negara (National Heritage Board).  From 2009 to 2010, she was Adjunct Research Fellow in Anthropology in the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Australia. 

Ms. Janet Pillai (BA in Drama & Theatre (Hons.), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, MA in Theatre Arts, University of Hawaii, USA) is a senior lecturer in the Drama and Theatre Department, School of Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.  She leads Arts-ED, a non-profit organization specializing in community-based arts and heritage education for young people.  She is also a pioneer in children's theatre, having directed more than 25 stage performances.  Pillai's research interest is in the area of creative pedagogy, cultural conservation and learning theories.  She won the DIGI Amazing Malaysian Award in 2006, and was the recipient of the BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for ‘Cross Cultural Champion of the Arts 2004’ for her work with young people and local communities.