Trude RENWICK

Society of Fellows in the Humanities, Faculty of Arts, HKU | profile link

I am a scholar of architecture and urbanism in Thailand and Southeast Asia whose research examines the intersections of commercial, spiritual and infrastructural space. I am currently a fellow in the Society of Fellows in the Humanities at HKU and I received my PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in Architecture History, Theory and Society with a designated emphasis in Anthropology and a certificate in Global Urban Humanities in 2021.

My next project, “Peripheries Mobilized,” examines the impact of the Chinese-sponsored Pan Asia Railway on conceptions of periphery and frontier in cities along its central route. As key nodes along this new infrastructural network, previously “peripheral” urban outposts like Khon Kaen and Luang Namtha are now central foci for the Thai and Lao governments. Investments made in these remote cities by their respective national governments are not only in tourism and trade but in the creative industries and other intellectual infrastructures.

Questions I hope to explore through this project include: How is this newfound infrastructural investment altering the flow of labor into and out of these urban centers? Who are some of the non-state project stakeholders involved in the development of these small cities from artists to corporations? I am excited to engage with other scholars at HKU through the BRINFAITH collaborative in order to launch this new project.

At HKU I will also complete my first book manuscript, tentatively titled “Eat, Pray, Shop: Spiritual Practice and the Shaping of Global Commercial Space in Bangkok.”This ethnography examines the role of official and unofficial spiritual practice in shaping Bangkok’s commercial landscape.

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