Jan Mrazek

Assoc Prof Jan Mrázek is an Associate Professor in Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he has been teaching since 2003. His research spans travel writing, Javanese performing arts, and Czech colonial encounters in Southeast Asia.

• Education: PhD in Southeast Asian Studies from Cornell University; undergraduate degrees in Art History (Southeast Asia) and Japanese Language/Literature from the University of Michigan.
• Research Focus: Intersections of travel, maritime life, colonialism, and cultural representation. His work explores Czech travelers' narratives in Indonesia and the evolution of Javanese wayang kulit in modern media.

Recent Publications examine container shipping as historical metaphor, Czech ethnographic paradoxes in Malaya, and the phenomenology of gamelan performance. He also founded the NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble.

Teaching emphasizes experiential learning through travel, music, and creative writing, challenging students to question colonial legacies and engage with non-Western epistemologies.