Center for Southeast Asian Studies

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) was established in 1973 and has been a Title VI NRC since 1981. CSEAS is administratively located in and funded by the College of Letters and Science and is a major program of the International Institute, where its activities are coordinated with eight other area programs. CSEAS administers undergraduate (BA) and graduate (MA) degree programs in SE Asian Studies, as well as offering a Graduate Certificate and PhD minor in SE Asian Studies. Since 1990, over 400 BAs (53 in SE Asian Studies), over 230 MAs (79 in SE Asian Studies), and 103 PhD degrees have been awarded to students concentrating on SE Asia. CSEAS coordinates area activities and course offerings of 33 core faculty in 19 departments. Expertise by internationally eminent faculty in top-ranked departments and extensive library holdings combine to provide a strong comprehensive coverage with considerable depth on Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. The Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia, offers multiple levels of instruction in Filipino, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, and, most recently, Hmong. On-campus language training is supplemented through active participation in the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI), a national consortium for intensive language training, and in all five summer advanced programs abroad (Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer, Thai, and Vietnamese). As the host of SEASSI in 1994-1995, CSEAS registered the largest enrollments to date (total of 392), and has been selected by SEASSI Consortium to host the institute from 2000 through 2009. A program of over 60 non-language courses with over 25% SE Asian content (34 with 80-100%) are offered annually to undergraduate and graduate students in 29 social science, humanities, and professional school departments. In addition, ample opportunities exist for students to design multidisciplinary and intercollegiate programs on SE Asia in international business, development and environmental studies, natural resources management, forestry, rural sociology, public health, education, and international public policy studies. CSEAS actively supports the College Year in Thailand (for undergraduates) and a graduate study abroad program at Thammasat University, as well as actively participating in the CIEE programs in Indonesia and Vietnam. CSEAS's outreach program sponsors a well-attended weekly Friday Forum lecture series and numerous other lectures, workshops, conferences, symposia, and music and dance performances, with the latter being part of a uniquely comprehensive instructional program in classical Indonesian music and dance. Off-campus outreach activities include regular performances and workshops in the public and private schools, annual K-12 teacher training workshops, and a college faculty access program, in all reaching thousands of K-12 and post-secondary students each year. CSEAS also participates in the Wisconsin International Outreach Consortium, a cooperative statewide initiative to promote better global awareness in the schools and among regional and national business, media, and the general public. The University of Wisconsin (UW) maintains extensive library holdings, including a SE Asian Film and Video Archive (with over 1,600 videos) and vast microform collections of newspapers and primary documents, administered by a full-time, tenured SE Asia librarian. CSEAS also administers an active publications program and a permanent internet website that includes the first digital museum of SE Asian photographs (SEAIT).