180 Uris Hall
(607) 255-2378
SEAP@cornell.edu
seap.einaudi.cornell.edu
Faculty
A. Cohn*, Director (180 Uris Hall), V. Beard*, A. Blackburn, M. Fiskesjö, C. Formichi*, A. Fuhrmann, J. Goldstein*, G. Green, S. Kuruvilla, T. Loos, K. McGowan*, T. Pepinsky*, E. Tagliacozzo*, K. Taylor, M. Welker*, J. Whitman, A. Willford*, L. Williams*, Emeritus: R. Barker*, M. Hatch*, S. O’Connor, J. Siegel*, E. Thorbecke*, J. Wolff. Retired: T. Chaloemtiarana; Lecturers: N. Jagacinski, Y. Khaing, C. Miller*, J. Pandin*, H. Phan, T. Savella, T. Tranviet
(Faculty indicated by a * are part of the Cornell Modern Indonesian Project (CMIP))
Program
Cornell’s Southeast Asia Program develops and promotes knowledge about countries in the Southeast Asia, including their languages, literatures, visual and performing arts, histories, societies, economies, governments, international and labor relations, religions, and ideologies, through the support of teaching, research, student degree programs, library and archival resources, specialized publications, and outreach activities. It holds a U.S. Department of Education designation as a National Resource Center (NRC), and is recognized by its peers as a “center of excellence in Southeast Asian language and area studies.” Its alumni teach at renowned institutions throughout the United States and around the world and serve in government, business, and non-profit sectors in the United States and abroad.
The Echols Collection on Southeast Asia attracts visiting scholars from throughout the world and as the library of record on the region makes over 500,000 volumes in 162 languages available to the public.
As a program associated with the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, SEAP has 26 core faculty members who are in many different departments and colleges. The language lecturers and several professors are within the Department of Asian Studies. In addition to faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, SEAP faculty come from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Architecture, Art, and Planning. They participate in an interdisciplinary program of teaching and research on the region that stretches from Burma through the Philippines. The fourteen faculty in the Cornell Modern Indonesian Project ,(CMIP), sponsor research, conferences, and publications on Indonesia and were involved in establishing the American Institute for Indonesian Studies in Jakarta and Solo.
Courses are offered in such fields as anthropology, Asian studies, economics, government, history, history of art, labor relations, linguistics, music, and development sociology. Instruction is offered in six languages: Burmese, Cambodian (Khmer) Indonesian, Tagalog (Filipino), Thai, and Vietnamese. As a member of the consortium behind the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, SEAP encourages students to intensively acquire language skills each summer. The Southeast Asia Program provides competitive funding grants for language study at SEASSI as well as awards to support research, and internships in the region in collaboration with the Asian Studies department and the Einaudi Center.
Undergraduates may major in Asian Studies with a focus on Southeast Asia and its languages, or they may elect to minor in Southeast Asian studies with any other major by completing 18 credits of course work. ASIAN 2208 is an introductory course to Southeast Asia and is intended to introduce undergraduates to the region as well as the faculty. Graduate students may work toward an M.A. degree in Southeast Asian studies or pursue a master of professional studies in another school with a concentration in Southeast Asian studies. Ph.D. students specializing in Southeast Asia receive a doctorate in a discipline such as history, history of art, anthropology, government, linguistics, music, economics, finance, labor relations or city and regional planning. As a Comprehensive NRC the Southeast Asia Program is able to offer Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships (to US citizens or permanent residents) for academic year and summer study programs, with priority given to students at the intermediate and advanced level.
For details on the major, see the department of Asian Studies listing in this volume. Additional information regarding courses focused on Southeast Asia, publications, or outreach opportunities and program activities can be found at seap.einaudi.cornell.edu. The SEAP Facebook page also offers insight into activities of the program. We welcome undergraduates or others with new or unexplored interests in Southeast Asia to contact the program office by emailing the Associate Director, Thamora Fishel (tfishel@cornell.edu).