Summer Institute 2025: Contemporary Asias – Pluralities Beyond Areas (US)

This multidisciplinary program will explore recent changes in the production, structuring, and sharing of knowledge about Asian cultures and societies, and how these changes might foster knowledge communities that are more collaborative, responsive, and attuned to the pluralities of Asian experiences. Combining methodological reflections on area studies with context-rich engagement with key dimensions of societal and cultural transformation in contemporary Asia, the Institute will support diversity-focused teaching and learning and next-generation digital humanities.

Program Specifications

• Prior to the Institute, participants will be expected to read four background texts to establish a shared foundational knowledge base. They will also be provided with a bibliography of works relevant to the Institute themes, and presenter-recommended readings for each Institute session that will be accessible through a password protected file sharing system prior to the Institute.

Funding Information

• Each participant will be provided with a US$3,450 stipend. The stipend is intended to help participants meet the costs associated with attending the Institute, including lodging, travel, meals, etc. To help keep lodging costs to a minimum, participants will have the option of accepting reservations that will be made for Studio room lodging at the East-West Center faculty guesthouse, Lincoln Hall, for the dates of the Institute.

Expected Outcomes

• Participants will be expected to draft a detailed course module, syllabus, or research project reflecting Institute content and themes. The final two sessions in the Institute program will be devoted to sharing these projects.
• Participants will also be encouraged to make research or pedagogical presentations at the 2026 ASDP National Conference, and will be invited to collaborate on an edited volume organized around the Institute’s themes for the Asian Studies Development Series at the State University of New York Press.

Eligibility Criteria

• You are eligible to apply if you are a:
  • United States citizen, including those teaching abroad at U.S. chartered institutions and schools operated by the federal government;
  • resident of U.S. jurisdictions; or
  • foreign national who has been residing in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.

Ineligibility Criteria

• You are not eligible to apply if you:
  • are a foreign national teaching abroad
  • are related to the project director(s)
  • are affiliated with the applicant institution (employees, currently enrolled students, etc.)
  • have been taught or advised in an academic capacity by the project director(s)
  • are delinquent in the repayment of federal debt (taxes, student loans, child support payments, and delinquent payroll taxes for household or other employees)
  • have been debarred or suspended by any federal department or agency
  • have attended a previous NEH professional development project (Seminars, Landmarks, or Institutes) led by the project director(s).

Selection Criteria

• A selection committee composed of the Institute Director plus two Project Consultants in the field of Asian Studies will evaluate all complete applications and select participants. Alternates will also be identified.
• A guiding principle of the selection process will be to include people from a wide range of disciplines to become co-creators of a truly diverse community of inquiry. This will likely include people with substantial graduate Asian studies training, but also people with no such training. They also anticipate including both people with academic and/or personal commitments to the study of Asia, but also people completely new to studying and teaching about Asia. In the end, they are looking for a group of people who will enthusiastically explore how turn differences into opportunities for mutual contribution.
• For NEH Institutes for Higher Education Faculty, 20% of available spaces will be reserved for non-tenured/non-tenure track faculty and 10% of the available spaces for advanced graduate students (individuals who have reached candidacy in a doctoral program or are in the final year of a terminal degree program).

For more information, visit East-West Center.