Korean Studies Gets a Boost with $1.8 Million Grant

The UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies (CAPS) is expanding East Asian programs and public outreach thanks to a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant. The award designates the UO as an East Asia National Resource Center.

The new center, which will be housed in CAPS, will receive $1.8 million over the next four years in programming and fellowship funding.

Among many new opportunities, the funding will support the creation of a tenure-track position in Korean literature and film, resulting in up to five new classes devoted to Korean cultural studies. In addition, a number of other faculty members will be awarded course development funding to build Korean components into their courses.

“East Asian studies has a strong history at the UO,” said CAPS director Jeff Hanes, an associate professor of history. “This new federal designation acknowledges our longstanding expertise and offers us a golden opportunity as we enter what many have called the ‘Asian Century.’”

CAPS is also teaming up with Knight Library to hire a Korean cataloguer to acquire new materials and also advance the “e-Asia Digitization Project,” a growing collection of digitized e-books and full-text web resources. In addition, grant resources will:

• fund a K–12 outreach coordinator who will help develop statewide curriculum and teacher training workshops

• provide 13 undergraduate- and graduate-level fellowships annually

• help launch a K–16 Japanese Global Scholars immersion program, modeled on the existing Chinese Flagship immersion program

• expand East Asian content for K–12 outreach programs through the UO’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

The UO center is now one of 22 national research centers for East Asian studies in the United States designated for 2010–13.

“Students who are really serious about East Asia, especially graduate students, will be looking at places designated as national research centers, because they know those are the powerhouses,” said CAPS assistant director Lori O’Hollaren. “Being part of this group raises our national and international profile.”

— Patricia Hickson