Asian Studies explores subjects from art to Zen

Americans have long been intrigued by the ancient civilizations of Asia, but they now are looking at such countries as China and Japan with renewed and broader interest, according to David Pong, professor of history and director of UD’s East Asian Studies Program.

And, he says, that desire for more knowledge—not just about Asia’s past but also about its present and future roles in the world—is reflected in the growth of the University’s program.

“With modern history and current economic developments, it makes it almost impossible for us not to pay some attention to this part of the world,” Pong says.

Where Americans once were mainly interested in Chinese and Japanese culture and art, he says, they now want to gain deeper knowledge to develop careers in the field. “Now you have people who are interested in business and science, who are interested in East Asia as well,” he says. “It is possible to combine their expertise [in business and science] with knowledge of the region.”

At UD, the East Asian Studies Program began with two students who had minors in the field in September 1989. As new courses were offered in response to increased student interest, it became possible to establish a 32-credit major in addition to the 18-credit minor in 1998, when four students chose that new major.

East Asian Studies has since developed into a sizable program, offering a rich array of more than 60 courses from 10 disciplines. They include an anthropology course on the lives of women in Asia, a philosophy department seminar on Buddhism, a political science and international relations course called “China and the World: Re-Orienting the Globe,” a health and exercise sciences class focusing on tai chi and numerous language, literature and history courses.

Eleven students, a record number, graduated in May with East Asian Studies majors, and about 60 current students have selected it as a major. The University Faculty Senate awarded the major permanent status last year.

“Since 1998, the program has soared in terms of student interests and faculty size,” Pong says. “It’s partly because of the teaching of East Asian languages and partly because departments are recognizing that Asia is a very important place.”

One recent graduate of the program, Barnabas Seyler, AG ’07, AS ’07, entered UD as a horticulture student, with East Asian Studies “the farthest thing from my mind,” he says. But, after taking a Chinese language course, Seyler says his interest in all aspects of Asian studies was piqued and he began adding related courses. He graduated with a second degree in Asian Studies.

“I think understanding Asian cultures and histories is vitally important to nearly every career today,” says Seyler, who now is a graduate student in the Longwood Program in public horticulture and hopes eventually to work with Chinese landscape design or horticultural institutions.

“The effects of the rising economies in Asia and the changing geopolitical climate today indicate that the knowledge and insight gained in East Asian Studies courses will prove increasingly important if one is to remain competitive in the job market.”

Increased program events and other opportunities also are attracting students and faculty, Pong says. He took his first study abroad group to China in 1999, and during Winter Session last year, 28 students joined him and Jinguo Chen and Maria Tu of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures for a program in that country.

One of those students was Sarah Ellenberger, AS ’09, who says she started studying the Chinese language “very informally, on a whim” as a high school junior and found that she loved it. She enrolled at UD with East Asian studies in mind, and last year’s study abroad clinched her interest in the field.

“It was such an amazing trip, and the professors were all so helpful,” Ellenberger says. “I’m now declared as an East Asian Studies and history double major, with a Chinese and linguistics minor. I absolutely adore Delaware’s East Asian department….Because the program is developing, serious students in the East Asian Studies major are able to work closely with these wonderful professors.”

The Winter Session study abroad program offered students the opportunity to study Chinese history, language and contemporary culture; to meet with renowned Chinese filmmakers and actors; converse with students at universities in China; and visit a variety of cultural and historical sites.
In addition to study abroad, the East Asian Studies Program has launched other expanded opportunities for students, Pong says. In April, for example, four UD students made presentations at the regional Asian Studies Undergraduate Research Conference held at Ursinus College. “OnlySwarthmore had more than four presenters,” Pong notes.

Also, for the past four years, East Asian Studies faculty members have offered a semester-long workshop for local schoolteachers. Funded by the Delaware Department of Education, the workshops instruct teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade in how best to teach Asian studies.
Supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the University’s program offers a variety of enrichment events, including lecture and film series. The grant also helps to pay the salaries for two half-time Chinese language instructors for two years. With the demand for Chinese language increasing every year, Pong says, these faculty positions are likely to be continued.

“The grant enabled the Chinese program to reach not quite the same level as the Japanese, but approaching it, so we have a more balanced program today than we did two years ago,” he says. “The grant is instrumental in strengthening our language programs.”
About 300 students enrolled in Japanese language courses and more than 200 in Chinese in the past year. The grant also funded the creation of eight new courses and four significantly revised courses for the program. As a result, Pong says, the current program has a much richer curriculum to offer students.

The East Asian Studies Program does not have its own faculty but is staffed by instructors from a variety of disciplines across the University. As enrollment in the program has grown over the years, so has the number of faculty members with interests in East Asia, Pong says. The program’s faculty includes those from the departments of Anthropology, Art History, Criminal Justice, English, Foreign Languages and Literatures, History, Music, Philosophy and Political Science and International Relations and from the College of Health Sciences.

“This program is not possible without all the participating departments,” Pong says, noting that the faculty members work enthusiastically as a team.

Pong oversees the program, advising all incoming students and rising seniors, while four colleagues in the foreign languages and literatures department advise the sophomores and juniors.

“The reason why I do all these things is because I do care, and I do have an abiding interest in—a passion, really—for engaging our students to become more aware of different parts of the world,” he says.

In addition to directing the program, Pong is editor-in-chief of what will be the largest encyclopedia in the English language on modern China. The reference work, currently in creation, will have about 700 entries in four volumes. Pong also has completed editing a book, Resisting Japan: Mobilization for War in China, 1935-1945, to be published later this year.

In the future, he says, he would like UD’s program to add Vietnamese and Korean language courses as well as Korean studies courses to reflect the growing Korean population in Delaware and the United States.

“I think in any institution of higher education, we really need to have a very encompassing view of the world,” he says. “I have never seen any other program or department that has grown so fast around this campus.”

Julia Parmley, AS ’07