A Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges to Promote Asian Studies
2004 Annual Report of the ASIANetwork,
A Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges
To Promote Asian Studies
Presented to The Association for Asian Studies
March 31, 2005
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 over 150 liberal arts colleges seeking to strengthen the study of Asia on our campuses. The headquarters of the consortium is currently located at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Dr. Van J. Symons is the consortium’s Executive Director. During the summer of 2005, the headquarters of ASIANetwork will move to Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, and Dr. Teodora Amoloza will become the consortium’s new 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 2004 report bridges the work of the 2003-2004 board chair, Paul Watt (DePauw University), and the 2004-2005 chair, Joan O’Mara (Washington & Lee University).
CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF ASIANETWORK
- Kaushik Bagchi, Goucher College, (2004-2007)
- Richard Bohr, College of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University, (2003-2006) vice-chair, board of directors
- Diane Clayton, Hamline University, (2002-2005)
- Paul Kjellberg, Whittier College, (2002-2005)
- Phyllis Larson, St. Olaf College, (2004-2007)
- Paul Nietupski, John Carroll University, (2003-2006)
- Ning Chia, Central College, (2003-2006)
- Joan O’Mara, Washington & Lee University, (2002-2005), chair, board of directors
- Jim Peterman, Sewanee, University of the South (2004-2007)
- Van J. Symons, Augustana College, (1999-2005), executive director
- Paul Watt, DePauw University, (2001-2004), (2004-05), ex-offico past board chair
COUNCIL OF ADVISORS
- David Adams, Senior Program Officer, Asia Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), (2004-2007)
- Elizabeth Bentzel Buck, Co-Director, Asian Studies Development Program, East-West Center, University of Hawaii, (2002-2005)
- Lucien Ellington, Editor, Education about Asia, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, (2003-2006)
- Carol Gluck, George Sansom Professor of Japanese History, Columbia University, (2004-2007)
- Roberta H. Martin, Co-Director, National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, East Asian Institute, Columbia University, (2003-2006)
- Barbara Metcalf, Professor of South Asian History, University of California, Davis, (2002-2005)
- Richard Smith, George and Nancy Rupp Professor of Humanities, Rice University, (2004-2007)
- Anthony Yu, Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities, The University of Chicago, (2004-2007)
- Richard Wood, President, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, (2003-2006)
2003-2004 MEMBERSHIP
As of August 31, 2004, ASIANetwork had 164 institutional members. 11 new institutional members joined ASIANetwork during the fiscal year September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2004. ASIANetwork has a solid core base of support as evidenced by the fact that over 50 institutions have been ASIANetwork members for 10 or more years, and over 50 additional institutions have been members for 5 or more years.
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). Dues from member institutions cover about 1/3 of consortium expenses.
Six faculty members from each member institution receive all ASIANetwork mailings and our current membership list includes over 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 in Lisle, Illinois, near Chicago
Date: April 2-4, 2004
Attendance: 150
Conference Program: Keynote Speakers were Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History, “Vietnam Journeys: Behind the Scenes with an Exhibit Curator,” and Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida, “From Angkor to Atlanta: Hindu Temples and Performing Arts.” A pre-conference field trip was conducted by Norman Moline, Augustana College, to view various Asian cultural sites in the Chicago area, and to visit the Field Museum to see the traveling exhibit on “Art in the Palace of the Qing Emperor Qianlong.” 16 concurrent panel sessions and a Sunday morning business meeting were conducted. Two Plenary Sessions were held led by Roberta Martin,, Columbia University, “Virtual Museum Resources for Teaching about Asia,” and Ji-Yeon Yuh, Northwestern University, “Beyond the Peninsula: Korean Diaspora and Contemporary Korea.” A Roundtable Discussion was conducted by Minh Kauffman, the Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam, and Steve Wheatley, the American Council of Learned Societies, to discuss plans for establishing Luce Foundation funded exchanges between Vietnamese scholar/teachers and faculty from ASIANetwork member colleges.
The spring 2005 conference will be hosted by Whittier College and held at the Radisson Hotel in Whittier, California from April 21-24. It is jointly sponsored by ASIANetwork and the Asian Studies Development Program (ASDP) of the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Conference highlights will include: a pre-conference field trip to a Buddhist Temple and to the Norton Simon Museum; keynote addresses by Bruce Cumings (the University of Chicago) and Roger T. Ames (the University of Hawaii at Manoa); two plenary sessions, 34 concurrent panel sessions; and a reception provided by our hosts at Whittier College.
ASIANETWORK FREEMAN FOUNDATION PROGRAMS
The College in Asia Program: During the summer of 2005, under the direction of Norman Moline and associate direction of Jim Winship (both Augustana College), a faculty member and an administrator from ten different colleges (Baldwin-Wallace College, Barat College of DePaul University, Drury University, Carthage College, Coe College, Goucher College, Hamline College, University of Redlands, University of Washington at Tacoma, and Viterbo College) travelled 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. Begun the summer of 1998, the summer 2005 programs marked the final College in Asia Summer Institutes. Altogether, twenty-five colleges participated in this Freeman Foundation-funded program.
Student-Faculty Fellows Program: Under the administrative direction of Teodora Amoloza (Illinois Wesleyan University), 13 student-faculty teams (one mentor working with one to five students, 56 individuals total) from ASIANetwork colleges traveled to Asia either during the 2004 January Interim or during the summer of 2004. Teams from the following colleges participated during the January Interim: Bard College, Daemen College, Hartwick College, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Spelman College. Students and faculty from the following colleges completed their study programs during the summer of 2004: Baldwin-Wallace College, California Lutheran University, Illinois Wesleyan University, Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Trinity University, Warren Wilson College, and Whitman College. Areas where undergraduate research was conducted included: The People’s Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, ROC, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Because of the immense success of this program (during the initial six years of funding the program has supported 234 participants from 46 different colleges), the Freeman Foundation has graciously provided $1,251,524 in renewed funding for a third three-year cycle of Student-Faculty Fellowships. This will enable a minimum of 60 individuals to undertake research in Asia during each of the summers of 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Cautious management of Freeman resources has enabled ASIANetwork to offer funding to twelve research teams (66 individuals altogether) for the summer 2006 programs. Research will be conducted this summer in six different areas of Asia: The People’s Republic of China, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, ROC, and Thailand.
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.
Asian Art in the Undergraduate Curriculum: The Henry Luce Foundation recently provided AN with $370,000 to enable twenty-four ASIANetwork member colleges to invite art historians and art specialists to their campuses to evaluate Asian art and material resources in their collections. Based on these consultancies, a book will be produced, along with an accompanying DVD and web materials of images of the art that is discovered, that will make the case for more effective integration of Asian art into the classroom, and also focus on the historical connections between American colleges and Asia as evidenced in these collections. The Asian Art in the Undergraduate Curriculum book, co-edited by Paul Nietupski (John Carroll University) and Joan O’Mara (Washington & Lee University) will become the first volume in a set of guidebooks to be jointly produced with the Association for Asian Studies as part of the “Resources for Teaching about Asia” series. Editor of the entire “Resources…” series is Bob Entenmann (St. Olaf College); editor of the AN/AAS guidebook series is Rita Kipp (Sewanee, University of the South). A guidebook on Asian Missionary Archives and the Undergraduate Curriculum, edited by Martha Smalley (Yale University) will be the second volume in this series.
A $300,000 “Securing the Future of ASIANetwork” Grant was received in June 2001 from the Henry Luce Foundation to help support the following activities:
ASIANetwork Consultancy Advisory Program:
The ASIANetwork Consultancy Advisory Program Coordinator is Paul Watt (DePauw University). 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 over 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
The consortium’s website was created with support offered by the Henry Luce Foundation in fall 1997 and is located at St. Olaf College. Diane Clayton (Hamline University) provides board oversight for the web, and Craig Rice (St. Olaf) manages the site. Use of the website has grown dramatically. A new on-line Directory of ASIANetwork Members has been posted at our website and is widely utilized.
FULBRIGHT-HAYS GROUP STUDIES ABROAD PEARL RIVER DELTA FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
In collaboration with the Hong Kong America Center, and with funds provided by the Department of Education, fifteen faculty from ASIANetwork member colleges will participate in a 3 ½ week faculty development seminar during the summer of 2005 in the Pearl River Delta region of South China. Faculty will be divided into five groups, three to a group, to explore issues such as the development of new business enterprises in the area; the impact of economic growth on Chinese society, especially as it concerns migrant laborers from other parts of China; the impact of economic development and urbanization on traditional Chinese culture; the roles of government at national, provincial, county, and local levels in fostering social and economic development; and the development of regional planning strategies.
THE CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE WITH VIETNAM/AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES/ASIANETWORK FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAM
With funding provided by the Henry Luce Foundation, CEEVN/ACLS/AN will work together to enable faculty from Vietnamese Universities (4 each year) to spend semester long periods at ASIANetwork member colleges to examine the academic environment, teaching methods, and curricula of the host institutions, and to stimulate academic exchanges and long-term relationships between North American liberal arts colleges and universities in Vietnam. As part of the exchange, during the summers of 2006 and 2007, the grant provides funds to select appropriate scholars from the North American host schools to be guests at the Vietnamese universities involved in the exchange.