A Message From the Head of EALC, Karen Kelsky:
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This vitality reflects the unstoppable growth of East Asian economic and political power in the world. And yet, it comes at a time of diminishing state support for higher education. All of your, our alumni, understand that East Asia is not always well-understood by American leaders and university administrators. It is up to us--to those of us who have studied Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and who have lived in and learned about China, Japan, and Korea -- to keep Asia in the forefront of the University's mission in the 21st century. I think of it as educating the educators by showing them what Asia is about, and what the Asia-related community can do.

Here are some of the initiatives your gift will support:

* A new Ph.D. track in East Asian Media Cultures.
This Ph.D. track will allow our students to focus on the study of the award-winning and best-selling Asian movie industry, as well as the worlds of anime and manga and cultural media trade between the U.S. and Asia. Your gift will help seed a faculty line in East Asian Media Cultures, as well as Graduate fellowships.

* Professional Chinese and Professional Japanese tracks
We take seriously the mandate to teach Americans about the language and cultures of China and Japan in order to facilitate trade and business across the Pacific. Our goal is to integrate Chinese and Japanese into the UI's already top-ranked Business, Law and Engineering School programs.

* Named Graduate Research and Writing Fellowships.
We aim to allow our advanced graduate students to be freed of TA responsibilities for a semester or year to concentrate on their masters and dissertation research and writing. The time to focus on their scholarly work undisturbed is invaluable in ensuring their success in finishing graduate school and beginning their professional careers.

* A Free-Standing East Asian Studies Building.
This is our long-term vision. EALC is housed in the Foreign Language Building, and has already passed the building's capacity to support its rapid growth. No other department in the building is growing at the pace of EALC. To continue to keep pace with the impact of East Asia in American life and the life of the University, we need our own building.

We welcome your ideas for other initiatives that you would like to support within EALC. Please don't hesitate to contact me by phone or email to discuss your ideas. Your gift WILL make a difference. We thank you.

To learn about ways to support, please click here.