UNC Wins $900,000 Grant for Southeast Asia Studies

The Henry Luce Foundation announced UNC would receive a $900,000 grant to further its studies on Southeast Asia, according to a school release from late June. The Luce Foundation “has brought people together across boundaries to develop new insights that will help solve urgent challenges facing humanity,” according to its website. The grant is part of its project “Bringing Southeast Asia Home.”

“Southeast Asian studies can and should play a significant role in making lasting changes to our public university, especially because it serves a diverse and changing U.S. South,” said UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz in a letter of support for the grant.  

UNC plans to use the grant in conjunction with the Carolina Asia Center, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

“We are grateful to the Luce Foundation for recognizing Carolina’s potential for excellence in the study of Southeast Asia,” said Barbara Stephenson, UNC vice provost for global affairs and chief global officer. “This gift will help Carolina realize its goal… of developing a university strategy for Asia and becoming a pan-Asia powerhouse.” 

According to a release from UNC, the school plans to double the number of Vietnamese language courses, which were re-introduced in Fall 2020 due to growing demand. UNC is the only school in the state which offers language instruction for Vietnamese, which is the sixth most-spoken language in North Carolina.

Along with recruiting post-doctoral students and providing support for internships and dissertations, UNC also plans to launch an interdisciplinary minor in Southeast Asian studies. It would be the first such major in the American southeast.

For more information on the grant and Southeast Asian resources at UNC, click here.

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