Center for Southeast Asian Studies

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) is a unit within Ohio University's Center for International Studies (CIS). We work closely with other programs in the CIS, especially the African Studies NRC. CSEAS enjoys strong participation and support by professional programs in Communication, Business, Fine Arts, and Education. Our center's mission aims to foster an understanding of the world in all its complexity to promote responsible development, peace, and justice. The CSEAS offers the bachelors and masters degree in Southeast Asian (SEA) studies.

There are 33 persons designated as core members of the SEA faculty, and they offer courses in 19 disciplines. In the past five years, 114 students have graduated from our university with a SEA specialization, including 12 at the doctoral level. Our program is in a rapid growth mode because the institution chose it for selective investment as a center of excellence. We have gained six tenurable faculty positions within the past three years in Classics and World Religions, Film, Environmental and Plant Biology, Interdisciplinary Arts, Art History, and Anthropology. We will gain another new position in Islam in 2006-2007. We offer Indonesian language study through the fourth year, Thai through year three, and Vietnamese through the second year.

The Ohio University Southeast Asia Collection is one of the largest in North America, with approximately 244,000 volume equivalents (of which more than half are in vernacular languages), 46,800 serial titles and 95,000 microform titles. Our library maintains a unique concentration on Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia in its endowed Overseas Chinese Documentation and Research Center. A major acquisition in 2005 was the purchase of retired Cornell professor David Wyatt's private collection of Southeast Asian library materials, consisting of roughly 20,000 volumes, at least half of which are in Thai. This makes our holdings on Thailand comparable to some of the best in the nation, complementing our holdings on insular SEA which are already of world rank.

The CSEAS provides direct K-12 classroom presentations through our outreach arm, the Ohio Valley International Council. We also present teacher workshops regularly, both as standalone offerings and in conjunction with conferences hosted on our campus. We target two-year post-secondary constituencies through activities with the Midwest Institute for International and Intercultural Education, including workshops and joint projects. A feature of our outreach program is a focus on Islam of SEA.

Key elements in our plans for the 2006-2010 period of this grant include the following: 1) creation of new faculty positions in History and Sociology; 2) development of eight new courses for our undergraduate major; 3) acquisition of library resources to support growth in undergraduate enrollment; 4) reinstitution of Khmer language courses; and 5) support for an ambitious outreach initiative with our African Studies Program on Islam, including production of a video for K-12 and broadcast use and K-12 workshops.