Welcome to the Sigur Center for Asian Studies
- Designated a Center of Academic Excellence by GW
- Awarded 7 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships by the U.S. Department of Education
Asia is one of the most dynamic and exciting parts of the globe today. The mission of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies is to promote study, research, teaching, and outreach on this important region. The Center, housed within the Elliott School of International Affairs, meets these goals by:
- Increasing the quality and broadening the scope of scholarly research and publication on Asian affairs.
- Promoting scholarly interaction between the U.S. and Asia.
- Providing a major center for policy discussion and outreach.
- Preparing a new generation of students, scholars, analysts, and policymakers to take advantage of the rapidly expanding role of Asia in world affairs.
The Sigur Center sponsors research projects, study groups, conferences, and lectures on political, social, economic, and security issues in Asia. It also hosts the Visiting Scholar and Visiting Research Associate Programs, bringing eminent scholars and top policy planners from universities and government organizations around the world to the Elliott School to teach and pursue their own research.
As the institutional home of the Asian Studies program, the Sigur Center also coordinates undergraduate and graduate instruction in Asian affairs throughout the university. This program is one of the nation's leading programs for the study of modern and contemporary Asia. It boasts an internationally recognized faculty with particular strengths in East Asia and policy issues and with coverage of South and Southeast Asia as well. This faculty is the largest of any university in the Washington, D.C., area.
The Center is named after Dr. Gaston J. Sigur (1924-1995). Dr. Sigur, a specialist on Japan, had a long and distinguished career at George Washington University, the National Security Council, and the U.S. Department of State.