180 Uris Hall
(607) 255-2378
SEAP@cornell.edu
seap.einaudi.cornell.edu
Faculty
T. Pepinsky*, Director (180 Uris Hall), S. Allred, C. Balance, V. Beard*, A. Blackburn, A. Cohn*, M. Fiskesjö, C. Formichi*, A. Fuhrmann, J. Goldstein*, G. Green, S. Kuruvilla, T. Loos, K. McGowan*, J. Parreñas, E. Tagliacozzo*, M. Welker*, J. Whitman, A. Willford*. Emeritus: M. Hatch*, S. O’Connor, J. Siegel*, E. Thorbecke*, L. Williams, J. Wolff*. Retired: T. Chaloemtiarana, K. Taylor; 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 Cornell library’s 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 part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, SEAP has 27 core faculty members who are in many different departments and colleges, in addition to 6 language lecturers, who are housed in the Department of Asian Studies. SEAP draws its faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Life Sciences, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, 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 and Indonesia. The Cornell Modern Indonesian Project (CMIP) faculty sponsor research, conferences, and publications on Indonesia and were involved in establishing the American Institute for Indonesian Studies.
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.
The Southeast Asia Minor is open to all undergraduates at Cornell. The minor can be combined with any other major by completing 18 credits of course work, including ASIAN 2208 - Introduction to Southeast Asia . This course covers fundamentals about the region as well as acquainting students with Cornell faculty who are Southeast Asia experts. Students who major in Asian Studies can also focus on Southeast Asia and its languages. 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 (FLAS) 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.
Additional information regarding courses focused on Southeast Asia, publications, or outreach opportunities and program activities can be found at on our website. SEAP has many active social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; find us on all platforms using the handle seapcornell. 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.