March 16, 2004
Sigur Center Advances Asian Studies
Spurred By University-Wide Excellence Designation, Program
Shapes Future
By Greg
Licamele
As one of seven areas of academic excellence selected by the University,
the Sigur Center for Asian Studies is making greater strides to research,
interpret and enrich both the Asia Pacific region of the world and the
United States understanding of it.
This preeminent institute of Asian affairs in Washington collectively
and individually focuses on China, the Koreas, Japan, Taiwan, India, Pakistan,
Indonesia, Australia and many other countries in the region. First formed
from the Sino-Soviet Institute, the center recently reached a pinnacle
of being selected as one of seven University-wide areas of academic excellence
as part of GWs Strategic Plan, along with transportation safety,
history, political science, biomedical engineering, human evolution and
public policy/public administration.
This endorsement of the Sigur Centers successes and plans provided
the institute with additional funding, faculty members and graduate assistants,
leading this Elliott School of International Affairs entity to implement
its identified goals.
Mike Mochizuki, associate professor of political science and international
affairs and director of the center, said research, teaching and public
outreach have made significant contributions to understanding a complicated
region of the world. But building on those accomplishments will guide
the future of the center.
We want to do what were doing better, Mochizuki said.
During the last several years, weve really grown both in terms
of faculty and the number of students interested in Asia, especially in
the PhD program. The visiting scholars program has increased from less
than 10 to about 20 per year.
The Sigur Center developed a plan for three clusters of research and teaching
it wants to pursue: the legacy of colonialism and war in contemporary
Asia; regionalism and institutional building in the Asia Pacific region;
and the international consequences of domestic developments in Asia Pacific
countries.
Speaker series, as well as seminars, publications, Web sites and other
projects have been initiated in all three areas. One particular project
on tap is a research and policy program on memory and reconciliation in
East Asia, which addresses the legacy of colonial Japan.
Theres no question that Japans role in international
security affairs is becoming more prominent and will continue to be increasingly
prominent, Mochizuki said, citing the recent deployment of troops
to Iraq. The worst thing would be if a more proactive Japanese security
role becomes a negative rather than a positive factor for regional stability.
Australia and Southeast Asian countries have been willing to put the past
(of Japans colonial and military history) behind, but Korea and
China are having more difficulties.
With a grant from the US Institute for Peace, this memory and reconciliation
project will convene discussions, conferences and papers intended to address
the historical context and to dispel misinformation that Mochizuki said
exists in the mass media and among scholars.
Wrong facts are being reported, Mochizuki said. So the
first step for reconciliation is to be very clear about the factual knowledge
and then be clear about what things are contested.
Daqing Yang, associate professor of history and international affairs,
said this project is unique because it integrates research, education
and public policy, a combination that the Sigur Center will thread together
and analyze.
Our position in Washington, as an academic institution recognized
for its international and Asian studies, will enable us to monitor, analyze
and promote reconciliation in the Asia Pacific region, Yang said.
The Sigur Center works toward other goals not specifically identified
in its three-pronged plan, too. For example, the China Policy Program
organizes and manages scholarly and policy dialogues on Chinese issues
with institutions in China, Europe and the United States. This summer,
David Shambaugh, professor of political science and international affairs,
will lead a delegation of GW faculty members and others to Beijing for
a conference with the International Department of the Chinese Communist
Party on the collapse of the Soviet Union and the impact on China.
This is a unique undertaking, as China has never collaborated with
any foreign entity on this subject, Shambaugh said.
As the Asia Pacific region becomes more connected, the faculty at the
Elliott School and across the University are collaborating more at the
Sigur Center. Mochizuki said the focus for the faculty has shifted from
its strength of China to additional areas of the region, including South
Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan), which Mochizuki and Ambassador Karl
Inderfurth, professor of the practice of international affairs, are developing
further.
What has happened over time is a broadening and deepening of Sigur
Center faculty to include Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and South Asia,
Mochizuki said. Its also multidisciplinary, but I think our
real strengths in Asia are in political science, history, and, to some
extent, anthropology and economics.
The Sigur Center is closely linked with the academic side of the Elliott
School, as the faculty teach and advise students interested in the region.
Beyond the research and public outreach opportunities, teaching remains
critical to the centers core, which also is growing. For example,
41 students pursuing a PhD in political science or history have a major
interest in Asian studies. This represents a 50 percent increase in enrollment
among those students in the last three to four years.
We connect the research with the teaching, Mochizuki said.
Every time we get a new position or we get a grant, we want to improve
the curriculum, as well.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
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Related Link
Sigur
Center for Asian Studies
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