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Asia

Asian expertise is in such abundance at Cornell that there have been three separate programs created to support cultural events, research, language teaching, and outreach from the region. The East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia Programs have all been designated National Resources Centers by the U.S. Department of Education in recognition of their history of excellence in their respective areas. Among these three programs Cornell provides language instruction in over 15 Asian languages, and supports an almost endless array of Asian films, lectures, conferences, workshops, and cultural events throughout the year.

East Asia

Cornell’s tradition of cooperation with East Asia is among the longest and richest of any U.S. academic institutions, spanning some 135 years. Throughout Cornell’s history these relationships have been diverse and plentiful, ranging from individual faculty research to more formalized initiatives. Virtually all of Cornell’s colleges and schools now incorporate the study of East Asia into their curricula via graduate and undergraduate study, scholarly exchange, research, or cultural events. Cornell’s East Asia Program, itself a product of the university’s tradition of international cooperation, has become a national resource for language study, undergraduate and graduate training, outreach, and advanced research on the entire East Asia region.

The 2004 tour of the International Monkey King Troupe was produced by the Cornell East Asia Program

Over more than a century of international cooperation, Cornell has amassed one of the country’s finest collections for study of East Asian societies, known as the Charles W. Watson Collection on East Asia.

South Asia

In 1953, when the Indian Studies Program was officially organized, Cornell had already had a significant history of teaching on India and South Asia. In fact, Sanskrit was among the first courses offered at Cornell in 1865. Over time, the Indian Studies Program grew into what is today known as the South Asia Program, which serves as the hub of campus-wide networks of individuals with an interest in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Special resources on South Asia at Cornell include a world renowned library collection with extensive holdings in the vernacular languages of the subcontinent, faculty in more than 25 disciplines teaching more than 110 courses, and an extensive art collection, featuring south Indian bronzes as well as Moghul miniatures, housed at the Johnson Museum. Besides the regular courses, numerous seminars and colloquia on topics as varied as rice-wheat cropping in Sri Lanka, the Maoist movement in Nepal, Urdu poetry in Pakistan, and energy resource management in Bangladesh are offered throughout the academic year.

Southeast Asia

Cornell was among the first universities to offer studies of Southeast Asia, its languages, literature, visual and performing arts, histories, societies, economies, governments, religions, and ideologies. Established in 1950, the Southeast Asia Program is directed by faculty from traditional liberal arts departments, applied disciplines and professional schools. Language instruction is offered in Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese, and the Program is a consortia member of six intensive summer language programs in these same languages. Undergraduate students from any college at Cornell can major or concentrate in Southeast Asian Studies.

The formal program of study is enriched by a diverse range of extracurricular activities including exhibits at the Johnson Museum and concerts of the Gamelan Ensemble. The George McT. Kahin Center and the Echols Collection are valuable resources that support an interdisciplinary program of teaching and research at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Echols Collection is the premier repository of materials on Southeast Asia outside of the region and as such attracts many visiting scholars from around the world.

Read more about the Southeast Asia Program

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Courses
Funding Resources
International Agreements
Languages
Library Resources
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Career Planning

Master in European Business (MEB) for ILR Seniors
Unit: School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Audience: Current Cornell Student, Cornell Alumni, Prospective International Student

ILR seniors now have an opportunity to earn a one-year Master in European Business from one of the world's top business schools. The program includes two semesters of study, each at a different campus of the European School of Management (Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin, Torino) or partner institutions in India (MDI Gurgaon), Thailand (AIT) Bangkok and Mexico (ITESM Monterrey). Coursework is followed by a 12-week internship in the country of the student’s choice. This program builds on an existing and successful partnership between the ILR School and the ESCP-EAP European School of Management. Graduate students at both institutions have had an opportunity to participate in a dual degree program at the graduate level. The MEB program now offers ILR seniors the chance to enroll after completing your ILR degree. In addition to acquiring a graduate degree in European business, students will gain invaluable experiences through living abroad, learning new languages, and interning alongside colleagues from around the world. The ESCP-EAP European School of Management was recently ranked 2nd in the 50 best Masters in Management programs worldwide and 6th in the best Business Schools in Europe by the Financial Times. To apply and receive more information please visit ESCP-EAP web site. For more details, please contact: Maë d’Alexis: mdalexis@escp-eap.net, tel: (33) 1 49 23 58 90

Courses

Asian Law Curriculum
Unit: Law School

The Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture offers a unique array of curriculum opportunities for those interested in this region of the world.

Cornell's Adult University (CAU)
Unit: School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions
Audience: Cornell Alumni

Cornell's Adult University (CAU), which, in addition to its on-campus summer programs, offers educational trips around the globe during the four seasons of the year. In this manner Cornellians and friends of the University not only deepen their knowledge and understanding of world cultures, but also serve as ambassadors for the University. Recent study-tour destinations have included Russia, India, East Asia, Tanzania, New Zealand, Peru, and the Galapagos. The subject of numerous articles over the years, CAU is regularly highlighted in Arthur Frommer’s print and online travel guides.

Funding Resources

FLAS Fellowships

The Area Studies Programs at Cornell have been awarded federal funding to support Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships. This Title VI program of the U.S. Department of Education provides academic year and summer fellowships to Cornell and other institutions of higher education to assist graduate students in foreign language and area or international studies.

International Agreements

Languages

Library Resources

Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia
Audience: Current Cornell Student

STARTED OFFICIALLY IN 1918 with a donation of around 9,500 books, 1600 pamphlets and 550 manuscripts, the Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia (http://asia.library.cornell.edu/ac/) is among the top East Asian library collections in the country. Originally named the Charles W. Wason Library on China and the Chinese, the backbone of the collection began as the private library of the late Charles W. Wason (Cornell class of 1876), a railroad magnate based in Cleveland. Over the years, the Wason Collection, now consisting of over 550,000 items in many formats, has expanded its focus to include materials from Japan, Tibet, Manchuria and Korea, offering superb and often unique resources for research and teaching.

Echols Collection on Southeast Asia
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences
Audience: Current Cornell Student

As a premier resource on Southeast Asia, the Echols collection annually adds more than 7000 volumes to its collection. It is the most comprehensive body of material on a global region in the Cornell Library system and the largest collection on Southeast Asia in the United States and in the world.

South Asia Collection

South Asian material is spread throughout the campus, not only in central library collections, but in unit libraries to support research in areas such as law, labor history and labor relations, architecture and planning, geology, music history and South Asian music, and physical sciences. In addition to more than a quarter of a million volumes, the collection includes over 23 newspapers, 465 videos and films, 838 maps and 2,080 sound recordings and cassettes.

Outreach

Cornell Educational Resources in International Studies
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences
Audience: Current Cornell Student, Cornell Faculty/Staff, Cornell Alumni, International Visitors/Scholars, Prospective International Student

The Cornell Einaudi Center for International Studies in partnership with Area Programs is committed to extending its resources to the wider community. Outreach programs in International Studies offer post-secondary conferences, professional development opportunities for teachers, public programming, business workshops, speakers bureaus, and much more.

Programs, Centers, and Institutes

Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture
Unit: Law School

The Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture aims to bring a broad interdisciplinary and humanistic focus to the study of law in East Asia. Through research, teaching, and scholarly dialogue, it seeks to expand the purview of legal scholarship and to develop new ways of thinking about transnational law, politics, and culture.

East Asia Program (NRC)
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences

The East Asia Program coordinates and supports the campus-wide study and understanding of East Asia through courses, faculty research, libraries, art exhibitions, language-learning resources, student organizations, and exchange programs.

South Asia Program (NRC)
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences

The South Asia Program aims to bring attention to South Asia through courses, faculty research, libraries, art exhibitions, language learning, resources, student organizations, exchange, and outreach programs as well as their own publication series.

Southeast Asia Program (NRC)
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences

The Southeast Asia Program promotes knowledge and interest in the countries and cultures of Southeast Asia through the support of interdisciplinary teaching, research, outreach, resources, and specialized publications.

Projects and Initiatives

Publications

Cornell East Asia Series
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences

The Cornell East Asia Series produces scholarly monographs, translations of literature and major works of literary criticism, social analysis, specialized textbooks, and well-integrated volumes of articles on important subjects dealing with the cultures of China (both the PRC and Taiwan), Japan, Korea (both north and south), and Vietnam.

Southeast Asia Publication Series
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences

The Southeast Asia Program publishes a wide variety of scholarly and language texts on topics related to countries in Southeast Asia and makes them available to interested international clientele, academics, the business community, governmental agencies, and non-governmental agencies (NGO's).

Study Abroad

Cornell Abroad in Asia
Audience: Current Cornell Student

Cornell students regularly study in several Asian countries. From intensive language to field-based programs to immersion in another university, students have a wide range of choices. The Cornell Abroad website maintains links to many programs, and walk-in advising is available every day from 1:30-3pm at 300 Caldwell Hall.

Miscellaneous

Fellows Program for Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture
Unit: Law School

The Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture offers modest support towards tuition to one JSD student each year whose work makes a particularly unique and important contribution to the research objectives of the Program.