APSI Annual Report 2023-2024

From the APSI Director

Prasenjit Duara; a person wearing a brown suit with a green shirt, a patterned tie, and glasses — Prasenjit Duara
Oscar Tang Family Distinguished Professor, Department of History

During my first full year as Director of the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI), I have found immense satisfaction in collaborating with an exceptional team of staff members, a conscientious executive, and, as I like to say, ‘learnful’ students in our Master's cohort. Within the institute, we extended a warm welcome to Heidi Rodeffer, our new staff member, and Jieun Cho, our postdoctoral fellow.

In addition to our Speaker Series, addressing relevant themes within the APSI community, we successfully hosted the popular East Asian film series, drawing enthusiastic participation from both within the university and the broader community. We also embarked on several innovative projects that engaged the wider university community.

One notable initiative was a collaborative program with the Middle Eastern Studies Center, featuring Peter Hessler, a distinguished journalist specializing in China and the Middle East, who conducted discussions and was interviewed by renowned China podcaster Kaiser Kuo. Another milestone was the launch of our Environmental and Climate Change project and the associated website, APSI and the Environment, which aligns with the sustainability efforts outlined in the Duke Climate Commitment.

Under the leadership of Jieun Cho, we organized a symposium titled The Politics of Dwelling in the Anthropocene, convening a selective group of Duke and non-Duke researchers to dive into this timely theme. A significant focus for this year was the initiation of a collaborative project seeking to bring together APSI scholars with Asian researchers on pertinent environmental issues. We are building the APSI Environmental Futures in Asia Network, including a series of annual meetings to foster knowledge exchange and collaboration. The inaugural workshop is scheduled to take place at Jeju National University in South Korea in July 2024.

APSI faculty
- APSI's Postdoctoral Associate
Gallery exhibits

Event highlights
Films

By the numbers

Funding for students

APSI offers multiple funding opportunities to support students engaged in collaborative as well as individual research, supplement travel expenses to present at conferences, and recognize merit through academic-year scholarships.

This support has enabled students to pursue a wide range of academic objectives and led to departmental as well as national awards for students such as Huiyin Zhou (Trinity '24), who received the Paul Farmer Award for Justice and Social Responsibility as well as the Benenson Award, and Cole Walker (Trinity '23), who was named a 2023-24 Schwarzman Scholar.

Academic year scholarships

During the academic year, APSI supports high-achieving undergraduates and graduate students through competitive scholarship awards.

Students enrolled in the Master of Arts in East Asian Studies (EAS-MA) program are eligible to receive merit-based fellowships supporting the first and second year of their studies. Second-year fellowship recipients have demonstrated academic achievement during the first year of their program and are endorsed by Duke faculty.

The Sirena WuDunn Memorial Scholarship is given annually to the students(s) who best embody the ideals of Sirena WuDunn, a member of the class of ’84.

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APSI students

APSI offers comprehensive coverage of East Asian politics, societies, history, and cultures, with particular strengths in literature; modern history; comparative history and culture; anthropology; film, media and visual studies; comparative studies of capitalism; and religious studies.

The MA in East Asian Studies provides rigorous interdisciplinary training for students seeking careers in academia or professional fields that require regional specialization. The program introduces key area studies methodologies while providing flexibility for students to specialize in specific modes of inquiry.

Students enrolled in any of Duke’s graduate degree programs may document their area specialization by earning a certificate in East Asian Studies. Certificate students are integral members of our scholarly community.

Student experiences

Two Duke students, David Junquan Zong (EAS-MA '24) and Danni Xu (CAH-MA '24), spent a semester abroad in Japan through the Meiji University Exchange Program.

Read about their experiences

For the second year in a row, students from Duke University attended the annual meeting of the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (SEC-AAS). Six second-year EAS-MA students presented their work on five different panels.

Learn about their trip

Graduates of the MA in East Asian Studies program at Duke are talented individuals who take the research and analytical skills they hone during their time at Duke into academic and professional careers. This alumni spotlight focuses on Jackson Herndon (EAS-MA '24) who was accepted as a PhD student in history at NYU and is the first Blakemore Freeman Fellow selected from Duke University in over 10 years.

Get to know Jackson Herndon, EAS-MA '24

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APSI faculty

APSI faculty are interdisciplinary scholars who are experts in the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, history, art history, language, law, literature, performing arts, political science, policy, religion, and sociology.

They teach graduate and undergraduate courses, engage in collaborative research, and mentor students in APSI’s MA in East Asian Studies program.

Get to know our faculty and librarians

APSI faculty working on environmental topics

Check out some recent publications

Supporting faculty

Duke faculty receive support for Asia-focused research clusters, course development grants, research project grants, presentation travel, and conference hosting. APSI also supports all faculty at Duke through library grants that fund purchase of essential reference materials, database access, and subscriptions.

In 2023-24, research clusters included:

Archival Research for East Asian Studies
Digital Asia Research
East Asian Language Pedagogy Research
East Asian Religions Research

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Meet APSI's 2023-24 Postdoctoral Associate

Jieun Cho: APSI Postdoctoral Associate

In this interview, Dr. Jieun Cho delves into her current work and discusses the joy she has found in the scenery around Durham.

Dr. Cho earned her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Duke University, specializing in gender, environment, and disaster. As a postdoctoral scholar at APSI, she seeks to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on social reproduction, toxic ecologies, and environmental futures from the perspective of post-Cold War East Asia.

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Collaborative Gallery Exhibits

October–November 2023: “Hilabana: Espasyo Temporal” + Mural Project

Filipina street muralist Venazir Martinez visited Duke's campus for the opening of an exhibition in the John Hope Franklin Center art gallery featuring selections from her work. The event was part of a celebration of Filipino American History Month, co-sponsored by APSI, the John Hope Franklin Center, and the Asian American & Diaspora Studies (AADS) program with support from Duke Pamilya.

Read about her visit

April - June 2024: Celebrating the Life and Work of Corky Lee

For over 50 years, Corky Lee photographed the daily life of Asian Americans alongside chronicling their participation in movements for social justice. On April 11, after a conversation between Eileen Chow and Columbia University historian Mae Ngai, the audience moved downstairs for the opening of an exhibition of 15 of Lee’s prints, sponsored by APSI and the John Hope Franklin Center.

Read about the exhibit

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Event highlights

Chinese Opera in Contemporary Taiwan: Wei Hai Min 魏海敏 and Her Personae

On September 30, world renowned Peking Opera diva Wei Hai Min visited Duke to discuss her career as an opera performer of the Mei Lanfang tradition during a tour of North America as a 2023 Asian Cultural Council Fellow. Professor Eileen Chow served as moderator and interpreter for the event.

Wei's master class allow a packed theater to learn about Chinese opera from one of its leading practitioners, while introducing Taiwan's vibrant culture of contemporary theater. Highlights included demonstrations that drew on her own renowned performances from the traditional jingju repertoire as well as cross-cultural adaptations.

Peking Opera star Wei Hai Min speaks to a packed theater of fans while a slide showing Mei Lanfang's diverse roles is projected on a screen behind her

Peking Opera star Wei Hai Min speaks to a packed theater alongside interpreter and moderator Eileen Chow.

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Event description (title, speaker, date, time, location); layered photo of Chinese Opera performers in full costume

Wei Hai Min as Medea in a poster promoting her talk at Duke

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Uncovering connections across cultures, Peter Hessler engages communities at Duke

In a two-day residency at Duke (Nov. 9-10, 2023), internationally-renowned journalist and author Peter Hessler provided insightful comparisons of human connections across histories and cultures while elucidating his singular method of finding the story.

The events, which included a public keynote, a writing workshop, and a live taping of the Sinica Podcast, were organized and co-sponsored by APSI and the Duke Middle East Studies Center (DUMESC).

Read about Hessler's residency

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April 20: EAS-CAH Workshop—“Digital Asia”

APSI collaborated with faculty and staff in the AMES department to organize a daylong workshop focused on the theme of “Digital Asia.” Keynote speakers Florian Schneider (Universiteit Leiden) and Lisa Nakamura (University of Michigan) engaged students and faculty representing a range of academic disciplines through a combination of keynote lectures and breakout sessions. First-year EAS and CAH graduate students were also invited to share their research during a student panel moderated by Ralph Litzinger (Cultural Anthropology).

Five graduate student panelists sit at at table while the faculty moderator faces them at the far right

Graduate students take questions about their research; the panel moderator, Professor Ralph Litzinger, stands ready to engage.

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Students sitting in decorative chairs around the Pink Parlor, engaged in a workshop

Students take notes during the 2024 EAS-CAH workshop

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Attendees at an academic workshop sitting in decorative chairs in the Pink Parlor

Faculty and students listen during a keynote talk at the 2024 EAS-CAH workshop

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People sitting in chairs, some with laptop computers, facing a seated speaker

Professor Eileen Chow speaks with students during a roundtable discussion at the conclusion of the 2024 EAS-CAH workshop

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Workshop participants gather for dinner and conversation with Professor Eileen Chow

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Read the symposium recap

April 25-26: Politics of Dwelling in the Anthropocene symposium

This symposium, organized by APSI Postdoctoral Associate Jieun Cho, fostered a critical examination of dwelling and place, considering the evolving geo-social realities of our time. Scholars from across the U.S. with expertise in multiple academic disciplines and deep knowledge of several countries gathered at Duke University to explore two vital questions:

How do anthropogenic activities both jeopardize and constitute the very grounds of our coexistence?
How do people navigate complex landscapes amidst global realities of unsettling disparities, contested sovereignties, and deteriorating environments?

Participants included geographers, anthropologists, and historians with expertise across China, India, Japan, Tibet, Korea, and the US; student contributions and questions were welcomed by the more senior scholars. Through interdisciplinary dialogue, the symposium tapped into the transformative potential of redescribing landscapes as dwelling places—a pivotal move towards creating alternative conceptual frameworks, generating political affects, and rediscovering overlooked historical narratives.

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May 9: Commencment

On May 9, 2024, together with faculty, family members, and friends, seven students from the EAS-MA program celebrated the conclusion of their degree program.

Some of our newest alumni are headed to professional careers, while others will continue pursuing further education in PhD programs around the world. All are remarkably talented and dynamic individuals who formed a unique and lifelong bond during their time at Duke. We look forward to seeing where their talents take them next.

Get to know the EAS-MA class of 2024

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Film Screenings

Still images captured on a film strip showing people recording and taking measurements in a field; descriptive text (film title, date, time, location, screening sponsors)

Spring 2024 documentary screening of "Sura: A Love Song" followed by an expert panel discussion

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Descriptive text (event title, sponsors, location, film titles and screening times); movie posters for each film; anime characters

2024 Studio Ghibli Week—co-sponsored with DUU Freewater Productions

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Still image from a film depicting women holding signs and banners at a protest event; descriptive text (event title, date, time, location, speaker names)

Fall 2023 screening of "Crossings" followed by Q&A with the director

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Several times each semester, APSI sponsors (and co-sponsors) screenings of films that are relevant to Asian studies—including popular cinematic movies from the region as well as documentaries related to issues of concern—enabling members of our community to engage with faculty and subject matter experts as well as one another.

Films are typically introduced by members of the APSI faculty and periodically feature Q&A with individuals involved in making the film or professionals who provide additional context and insight.

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