International Studies Centers at SAS Earn “National Resource” Designation
October 27, 2003
In 2003, four international area studies centers of the School of Arts and Sciences received new or renewal funding from the U.S. Department of Education to serve as National Resource Centers for their region. This is the first time in the School’s history that all four of these centers – the African Studies Center, the Center for East Asian Studies, the Middle East Center, and the South Asia Center – have held this designation simultaneously.
Walter Licht, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Professor of History, oversees the School’s research centers. He notes that the competition for these grants is intense, and even centers that have enjoyed funding in the past have no guarantee of renewal of their designation. Licht notes that, “This is a confirmation of how strong and dynamic our area studies programs have become.”
The National Resource Center program provides grants to institutions of higher education to establish, strengthen, and operate centers that serve as national resources for international activities, including teaching a modern foreign language and offering instruction on areas or countries in which the language is spoken; providing resources and opportunities for graduate student research; offering outreach and consultative services; maintaining relationships with institutions of higher education overseas; and maintaining specialized library collections.
For more information on the School’s four area studies national resource centers, contact the following center directors:
- Lee Cassanelli, Associate Professor of History and Director, African Studies Center, lcassane@sas.upenn.edu, 898-8443
- G. Cameron Hurst III, Professor of Japanese and Korean Studies and Director, Center for East Asian Studies, gchurst@sas.upenn.edu, 573-4203
- Robert Vitalis, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director, Middle East Center, rvitalis@sas.upenn.edu, 898-6335
- Michael Meister, W. Norman Brown Professor of South Asia Studies and Director, Center for South Asia Studies, mmeister@ccat.sas.upenn.edu, 898-7475