A Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges to Promote Asian Studies
2002 Annual Report of the ASIANetwork,
A Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges
To Promote Asian Studies
Presented to The Association for Asian Studies
March 21, 2003
Submitted by Dr. Van J. Symons
Executive Director, ASIANetwork
INTRODUCTION
ASIANetwork, conceptualized in 1992 and incorporated in 1993, has grown to become a consortium of about 150 liberal arts colleges seeking to strengthen the study of Asia on our campuses. The headquarters of the consortium are located at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Dr. Van J. Symons is the consortium’s Executive Director. ASIANetwork runs on an April to April calendar, revolving around our annual spring conference, when new board members are elected and a new board chair and vice-chair assume their responsibilities. The 2002 report bridges the work of the 2001-2002 board chair, Joel Smith (Skidmore College), and the 2002-2003 chair, Jim Leavell (Furman University).
CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF ASIANETWORK
- Diane Clayton, Hamline University, (2002-2005)
- Stephan Goldberg, Hamilton College, (2001-2004)
- Paul Kjellberg, Whittier College, (2002-2005)
- James Leavell, Furman University, (2000-2003), chair, board of directors
- Joan O’Mara, Washington & Lee University, (2002-2005)
- Gita Rajan, Fairfield University, (2001-2004)
- Joel R. Smith, Skidmore College, (1999-2002), ex officio, past chair
- Yi Sun, University of San Diego, (2000-2003)
- Van J. Symons, Augustana College, (1999-2005), ASIANetwork executive director
- Job I. Thomas, Davidson College, (2000-2003)
- Paul Watt, DePauw University, (2001-2004), vice-chair, board of directors
COUNCIL OF ADVISORS
- Thomas Benson, Past President, Green Mountain College, (2000-2003)
- Elizabeth Bentzel Buck, Co-Director, Asian Studies Development Program, East-West Center, University of Hawaii, (1999-2002)
- Ainslie T. Embree, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, (2000-2003)
- Carol Gluck, George Sansom Professor of Japanese History, Columbia University, (2001-2004)
- Donald P. Gregg, Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea, Chair of the Board, The Korea Society, (2000-2003)
- Timothy Light, Department of Religion, Western Michigan University, (2000-2003)
- Barbara Metcalf, Professor of South Asian History, University of California, Davis, (2002-2005)
- David Vikner, President, International Christian University of Japan Foundation (2000- 2003)
- Anthony Yu, Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities, The University of Chicago, (2000-2003)
2001-2002 MEMBERSHIP
As of August 31, 2002, ASIANetwork had 132 institutional members and 13 affiliate individual members. 17 new institutional members joined ASIANetwork during the fiscal year September 1, 2001 through August 31, 2002. At the spring business meeting of ASIANetwork, held April 30, 2000, members of the consortium approved the following formula for ASIANetwork membership. Full Membership is open to degree-granting institutions who define their sole or primary mission as the provision of an undergraduate liberal arts education and whose enrollments are roughly between 500-2500 students. (Annual dues: $250) Associate Membership is open to degree-granting institutions who define as one of their basic missions the provision of an undergraduate liberal arts education. Typical Associate Members are small universities, some community colleges, and private and public colleges with somewhat larger enrollments. (Annual dues: $150) Affiliate Membership is open to either organizations (foundations, publishing houses, etc.) (Annual dues: $100) or individuals with an interest in undergraduate liberal arts education. (Annual dues: $50). Six faculty members from each member institution receive all ASIANetwork mailings and our current membership list includes nearly 1,000 individuals. Faculty from member institutions are eligible to attend the spring conference at the reduced membership rate. Faculty from Full and Associate Member institutions are eligible to apply to participate in ASIANetwork programs, but in the case of competing applications for fellowships and grants administered by ASIANetwork, and for board membership, Full members will be given priority.
ASIANETWORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Venue: Hickory Ridge Conference Center, Lisle, Illinois (near Chicago)
Dates: April 19-21, 2002
Attendance: 172
Keynote Speakers: Susan J. Napier, University of Texas-Austin, “Inside the Labyrinth: Anime Visions of Technology, Modernity, and Apocalypse,” and Henry Rosemont, Jr., St. Mary’s College of Maryland, “Confucian Perspectives on Freedom, Human Rights, and Justice.”
Program: Two keynote speaker presentations; two plenary sessions; 8 concurrent panels; a Saturday afternoon gu zheng recital presented by Ms. Yingli Wang, Northwestern University; a Sunday morning business meeting; and a Friday pre-conference field trip entitled “Asian Art, Culture, and Community in the Chicago Area,” involving 21 participants, directed by Norman Moline, Augustana College. Because this was our 10th anniversary conference, on Friday afternoon, current board members invited former board and council of advisor members (13 came) to a special meeting to reflect upon ASIANetwork’s past and deliberate about its future.
The spring 2003 conference will be held in Greenville, South Carolina and hosted by Furman University from April 11-13th. Keynote speakers are Eliot S. Deutsch, The University of Hawaii-Manoa, and Garol Gluck, Columbia University. A pre-conference field trip entitled “Azaleas, Avatars, and the Mysteries of Southern Mill Village Life” is also offered.
ASIANETWORK FREEMAN FOUNDATION PROGRAMS
Program Director: Madeline Chu, Kalamazoo College
The College in Asia Program: Under the direction of Norman Moline and associate direction of Jim Winship (both Augustana College), a faculty member and an administrator from various colleges and universities travel for three weeks through Japan, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China to study how to administer and run in-house term-in-Asia programs. The program was not run during the summer of 2002 but will again be run the summer of 2003 for ten participating institutions.
Student-Faculty Fellows Program: Under the administrative direction of Teodora Amoloza (Illinois Wesleyan University), 12 student-faculty teams (one mentor working with one to five students, 60 individuals total) from ASIANetwork colleges traveled to Asia to conduct undergraduate research projects during the summer of 2002. Teams from the following colleges participated: Carthage College, Central College, Colgate University, Colorado College, Eckerd College, Hamline University, John Carroll University, Lake Forest College, St. Olaf College, University of Redlands, The University of the South, and Whitman College. Countries where undergraduate research was undertaken included: India, Japan, The People’s Republic of China, Taiwan.
Because of an unusually strong pool of applicants for the summer 2002 Student-Faculty Fellows Program, The Freeman Foundation graciously provided additional financial support to enable 60 student and faculty participants to study in Asia, rather than 40, as provided for in the original ASIANetwork grant request.
ASIANETWORK LUCE FOUNDATION PROGRAMS
Asia in the Undergraduate Curriculum: A Case for Asian Studies in Liberal Arts Education was published by M.E. Sharpe in May 2000. Co-edited by Suzanne Wilson Barnett (University of Puget Sound) and Van J. Symons (Augustana College), the book contains six chapters which place the development of Asian studies programs in small colleges in historical context, make a compelling case for the inclusion of Asian studies in the liberal arts curriculum, and consider the challenges faced in developing and sustaining Asian studies programs. With support provided by the Luce Foundation, gift copies of this book have been presented to each college president and academic dean or provost at all ASIANetwork colleges and several other individuals. Over 700 copies of the book have been sold by M.E. Sharpe.
ASIANetwork Consultancy Advisory Program:
The ASIANetwork Consultancy Advisory Program Coordinator is Joel Smith (Skidmore College). Drawing from the highly successful ASIANetwork Luce Consultancy Advisory Program, which was conducted from 1994-98, this program matches experienced consultants from established Asian studies programs at liberal arts colleges with ASIANetwork member institutions seeking advice on how to strengthen the study of Asia on their campuses. Each year about a half dozen consultancies are facilitated through this outreach program.
“ASIANetwork EXCHANGE, A Newsletter for Teaching About Asia”
The 32-page newsletter of the consortium is published three times annually, fall, winter and spring and distributed free of charge to about 1000 faculty and administrators at ASIANetwork member institutions. The editor of the newsletter is Marsha Smith (Augustana College), and the assistant editors are Nirmala Salgado (Augustana College) and Anne Prescott (Indiana University).
The ASIANetwork Website, www.asianetwork.org