CC Hosts ASIANetwork
ince 1994, Colorado College has hosted the administration ofthe ASIANetwork, a consortium of 100 liberal arts colleges and universities.
The group promotes curriculum development and design in Asian Studies, advances inter-institutional cooperation in foreign study programs, enhances faculty development, provides a network of consultants, exchanges information on programs and grant opportunities, and shares cultural and public affairs programs. It also publishes a newsletter, The ASIANetwork Exchange.
ASIANetwork has received significant grants to further its goals, including the Luce Foundation's $225,000 to support the Consultancy Program. Through this program, consultants from member colleges visit other member colleges to help establish new Asian Studies programs or strengthen existing programs. The grant also contributes toward the publication of the newsletter and helps support the annual meetings.
The Ford Foundation $436,000 grant is designated for faculty curricular development on Asia for the 21st century. The program targets faculty who are new to the study of Asia but in positions to implement curricular change in studying Japan, China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. In each of these areas, participants spend three weeks in the summer on a host campus in the U.S. during year one, and study abroad in Asia for three weeks during the second summer. The Japan Seminar is hosted by Earlham College; the China Seminar by St. Olaf College; the Southeast Asia Seminar by Kenyon College; and the South Asia Seminar by Davidson College.
The Freeman Foundation's $1 million grant funds the Faculty-Student Fellows Program and the College-in-Asia Summer Institute. The fellows program supports the collaborative research of 10 faculty-student pairs each year for four years. During that time, the student works with a faculty member and both travel to Asia. The second Freeman Foundation-funded initiative provides training to initiate, manage and direct regular semester-in Asia programs. "The ASIANetwork is a conduit for the on-going conversations among the faculty engaged in preparing a new generation of undergraduates for a changing world in which Asian societies will play prominent roles," says Marianna McJimsey of Colorado College's Education Department, who is the executive director of the ASIANetwork. For more information about the ASIANetwork, contact McJimsey at Colorado College, 14 E. Cache La Poudre, Colorado Springs, CO 80903; e-mail: mmcjimsey@cc.colorado.edu; Tel: 719/389-7706; Fax: 719/389-6925.