News

APSI welcomes new Asian Studies students to Duke at the start of Fall 2026

Orientation is an annual whirlwind of activities, introductions, and information that settles into a foundation for building an intellectual experience.

For the ten students who matriculated to the MA in East Asian Studies program at APSI in Fall 2026, this included an opportunity to begin making connections with each other as well as staff, faculty, and graduate students from multiple departments around Duke.

People gathered in a room (standing and seated) listen to a person (Nicole Barnes) speaking about an academic program — Professor Nicole Barnes addresses students and faculty
at a lunch celebrating Asian Studies at Duke

The students in the entering MA cohort bring a range of academic backgrounds from universities in the U.S. and Asia.

Their interdisciplinary research interests span an eclectic mix of subjects including literature and film, history, politics, gender and sexuality, popular culture, digital media, technology ethics, environmental policy, colonialism, and philosophy.

At a lunch gathering for Asian Studies students, relationships were both renewed and forged as returning students shared their stories and insights with their junior peers.

PhD students in (or considering) the East Asian Studies graduate certificate program also had a chance to meet with students and faculty beyond their home department.

The APSI get-together was welcoming, warm, and not overwhelming—I learned so much about Asian Studies at Duke!”

All of the staff and faculty at APSI look forward to the incredible intellectual journey ahead for these talented students.

Here are some additional images taken during the course of the welcome and celebration events:

A person (Eileen Chow) speaks to a room of people (some standing, some sitting) gathered for lunch — Professor Eileen Chow speaks to new and returning students at a welcome lunch celebrating Asian Studies at Duke during 2026 Orientation

People gathered for a lunch celebration in a conference room — Returning members of the APSI community introduce themselves to new arrivals

A person, standing, speaks to a small group of people seated at a table — Professor Eileen Chow (standing) and Dr. Xingming Wang (seated, right) speak with a group of newly matriculated MA students

A small group of people sitting at and standing near a table, engaged in conversations — Professors Sung Eun Kim and Kimberly Hassel (standing, l–r) speak with new and returning students

Five people sitting at a table (four in a semicircular booth), engaged in conversation — Students engage Dr. Xingming Wang in discussion