The department is the home for instruction in the languages, literatures, religions, cultures, and intellectual histories of Asian societies and is one of the few departments in America that offers instruction in social sciences, the humanities and languages across all three regions of Asia: East Asia (China, Japan and Korea), Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), and South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh). The Department is committed to the examination of social, political, and cultural formations that transcend traditional national and areal boundaries.
Graduate students connected to Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences departments — history, linguistics, Asian studies, history of art and visual studies, government, comparative iiterature, Romance studies and music —have received Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies East Asia Program fellowships and grants for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Cornell’s College of Arts & Sciences honors the winners of its 2026 teaching and advising awards. Faculty members Nicole Giannella, Karola Mészáros and Landon Schnabel stand out this year, earning major awards for excellence; many instructors and teaching assistants received recognition, as well.
Asian Studies graduate Dr. Sirithorn “Ing” Siriwan has accepted a position as Assistant Professor in Southeast Asian Studies at Trinity College Dublin. She finished her PhD in Asian Studies in 2024, and her dissertation, “Between Lives: Livingness and Remnants of Rice Ontology in Northern Thailand,” was awarded the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Dissertation Prize in 2025.…
Asian Studies Major, Arushi Kende arrived at Cornell with a deep interest in how societies can nurture and encourage a sense of deep community and care for one another. In a time when social discourse seems course and uncaring, Arushi stuck to her vision that there are different models that can be emphasized and fostered.…
