About Us

Our faculty members are a multi-disciplinary group in the humanities who conduct research and teach on topics arranged under our rubrics of "Literature & Linguistics," "Religion," and "Society & Culture," as well as offering instruction in 14 modern Asian languages, and the department also offers instruction in five classical Asian languages (Sanskrit, Pali, Literary Chinese, Literary Japanese and Literary Vietnamese).

The department works with Asian specialists of all disciplines across campus, who collectively comprise the East, South and Southeast Asia area studies programs.

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Department Staff & Contacts Mission Statement Employment Opportunities Selden Memorial Prize Other Campus Resources Land Acknowledgement Statement

History of Asian Studies at Cornell

The Department of Asian Studies was initially organized in 1946 as the Department of Far Eastern Studies (changed to Asian Studies in 1962). It developed from a wartime program in the language, history, and culture of China that trained people for government service. The three Cornell Asian area programs for South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia subsequently developed within the department before assuming their separate existences in the 1970s. Initially, the Department was located in Franklin Hall (renamed Tjaden Hall in 1980).

As more positions were assigned to the Department, and with the growth of graduate programs that provided universities around the world with prominent scholars of Asia, the problem of space became chronic. In the early 1970s the Department shifted to Rockefeller Hall where it now occupies the third floor.

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Asian Studies News

Faculty essay: An Everyday Miracle at Cornell

11/10/2023

Professor Law routinely works and travels with her very diverse classes. Her article, “An Everyday Miracle at Cornell” describes the way her students embraced one another in a difficult time. https://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/communication/an-everyday-miracle-at-cornell/

Chinese linguist Tsu-Lin Mei dies at 90

10/24/2023

Mei was one of the most important Chinese historical linguists of the 20th century.

Prominent Thai author speaks about her new novel

9/28/2023

The first woman to win a consecutive Southeast Asian Writers Award, Veeraporn Nitiprapha will discuss her newest novel, “Memories of the Memories of the Black Rose Cat,” on Oct. 5.

Lecture to explore Native American anti-nuclear activism

9/14/2023

A new “Religions on the Move” lecture series kicks off Sept. 28 with "'Make the Sound the Creator Is Waiting for Us to Make': Native American Anti-Nuclear Activism."