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/Wason/index) 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.