Why? : Cultivating the New Era of Asia
Today, the world’s focus is shifting to Asia, the continent encountering new flourishing future. It is a timely task to produce knowledge and foster transnational understanding to respond to this historical moment. In South Korea in particular, the government, corporations and the civil society have been competitively conducting projects in an aim to cultivate the new era of Asia. However, this momentous shift in history has arrived all too sudden and the basis for advanced Asia research has not been fully established yet. To cultivate professional manpower, knowledge contents and sustainable research network, it is crucial to turn back to the basics and strengthen foundational research. SNUAC hopes to modestly but also ambitiously undertake this responsibility to improve the groundwork of Asia research. We endeavored to develop the hardware (physical infrastructure) and also the software (basic studies) for Asia research. Now, we are in the progress of balancing the two and improve the software of foundational Asia research.
How? : Launching Asia Research Foundation Program
SNUAC is equipped with world-class research facility in its new building constructed in February 2013. We are fully prepared with the hardware (physical infrastructure) to develop into an integrated research center and take the lead in Asia research. Additionally, we have been funded by the government from July, 2010 and also received additional grant to develop the foundation for Asia research. Our outstanding research facility and substantial financing are the material basis to embark on ‘Asia Research Foundation Program’, the essential software to improve Asia research. In 2013, we conducted several research programs to develop Asia research foundation. Firstly, SNUAC launched research centers with specialized regional and thematic focuses. We also offer research grants to support regional research projects and also develops a database of resources based on individual regions and countries. Secondly, we support inbound and outbound exchanges between regional experts around Asia and also support PhD projects and budding scholars’ publications to nurture the future generation of Asia research.
What? : Integrating Regional and Thematic Research
SNUAC is a new born research institute launched in September 2009. We are young and enthusiastic institute with a long-term vision to become the hub of Asia research. We are planning to establish five regional centers and seven research programs on thematic research. We plan to closely integrate the research in these centers and ultimately develop it to the foundation of Asia research. For the initial phase, we are focusing on filling the missing gaps in basic research on the regions and themes that have been neglected in the field of research. Each regional research center focuses on five main regions in Asia-Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia-. Seven thematic research centers focus on popular culture, democracy and economic development, US-China relations, civil society, risk management, environmental cooperation and Asia Census. SNUAC will continue developing these research centers by integrating regional and thematic research at least for five years.
‘Northeast Asia Center’ develops a research expertise network through symposiums and diverse research projects on Northeast Asia. ‘Southeast Asia Center’ specializes on Mekong river region and conducts field studies in Mekong Delta, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. ‘Popular Culture Program’ investigates ‘Chungnyun’ (Millennial Generation) and cultural trends in East Asia. ‘US-China Relations Program’ organizes seminars and publishes research projects on the diplomatic relations between the US and China. ‘Democracy and Economic Development Program’ focuses on the development of political economy through comparative research on cooperative unions. This Program was successfully selected for Korea Research Foundation Supported Research in 2013. ‘Civil Society Program’ investigates NGO census and develops database about social movements in East Asia and also conducts a mapping project on South Korea’s civil society. ‘Risk Management Program’ focuses on emerging risks in global economy and risk management. The program also actively publishes articles in world-class journals (SSCI) and books. ‘Environmental Cooperation Program’ investigates desertification in Asia through field research in Mongolia and also research on South Korea’s correspondence to UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification). ‘Asia Census Program’ develops research methods including survey methods to measure social changes and aims to systematically organize a resource database for Asia research. SNUAC will continue developing the foundation of Asia research to contribute to the new era of Asia and the global commonwealth.
Website: http://snuac.snu.ac.kr
