A Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges to Promote Asian Studies
ASIANetwork Faculty Enhancement Program
Deepening Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts
Seminars in India, South Korea and Vietnam
supported by
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Supported by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, ASIANetwork will provide faculty from member institutions the opportunity to apply to participate in a faculty enhancement program to facilitate the study of a country in Asia which lies outside their primary range of expertise. The program will offer faculty development seminars over a three-year period for Asian and non-Asian specialists at sites in India, South Korea and Vietnam. Although faculty members may apply to more than one seminar, they may participate, if chosen, in only one. Only faculty at institutions which have been members of ASIANetwork in the year before application is made are eligible for consideration. Applications from all disciplinary interests are invited. Non-Asian specialists may apply for any country not a part of their current teaching focus. Asian specialists may apply for countries not in their primary area of expertise. For example, China specialists may seek to initiate or enhance their understanding of India.
Program Overview
The ASIANetwork Faculty Enhancement Program is a competitive grant opportunity for faculty with no academic training in the country of focus. The program will be centered around an in-country, collaborative travel seminar that will consist of structured workshops directed by one or two country experts held at three different times over a one-year period: prior to departure, in-country, and after returning to the United States. During these workshops, faculty will discuss their scholarly and pedagogical goals for presenting the country of focus within the liberal arts. Finally, drawing upon the knowledge and experience gained in the faculty enhancement seminar, faculty participants will introduce courses and programs focused on India, South Korea, or Vietnam on their home campuses to help deepen the understanding of these countries among students, colleagues, and members of their larger communities.
Outcomes of these seminars will include new Asia material for existing courses, the development of new courses on Asia, and reenergized careers for both Asian and non-Asian faculty. Additional Asia courses and the more broadly Asia-focused research agendas of the participating faculty will help sustain and deepen the study of Asia on their liberal arts campuses. Beyond impacting their own institutions, returning faculty will comprise a cohort of newly-trained scholar-teachers with interests and enhanced knowledge about India, South Korea, or Vietnam, that will allow them to act as resources to ASIANetwork institutions through the ASIANetwork Consultancy Program.
Timetable
Summer 2011: India (seminar completed)
Summer 2012: South Korea – See Important Dates below
Summer 2013: Vietnam – applications due November 15, 2012 (watch for further details in summer 2012)
Important Dates for the South Korea Faculty Enhancement Program
Date of Program: June 9 – July 1, 2012
Director: Dr. Brandon Palmer, Coastal Carolina University
Application deadline: December 1, 2011
Notification of selected participants: January 16, 2012
Deadline for acceptance of the award: January 27, 2012
Additional information and application procedures are available on the Summer 2012: South Korea Seminar page.
Program Director
Ronnie Littlejohn, Belmont University 615-460-6494; ronnie.littlejohn@belmont.edu
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation granting mission is to strengthen and sustain institutions and their core capacities, rather than be a source for narrowly defined projects. As such, they develop thoughtful, long-term collaborations with grant recipients and invest sufficient funds for an extended period to accomplish the purpose at hand and achieve meaningful results.
ASIANetwork, a consortium of approximately 150 North American colleges, strives to strengthen the role of Asian Studies within the framework of liberal arts education to help prepare succeeding generations of undergraduates for a world in which Asian societies play prominent roles in an ever more interdependent world.
