Providing leadership, coordination and support for East Asian studies at the University of Southern California.
113
Affiliated Faculty in over 44 departments
388
Students sent to East Asia on Global East Asia
$2.8 M
Awarded in Student and Faculty Funding
Upcoming Events
Spring 2025
Global East Asia 2025 Orientation
Friday, February 7, 2025 | 2:00PM-3:00PM | DMC 150 | RSVP
This Global East Asia 2025 Orientation session will cover the Tokyo Maymester program, flights, insurance, health and safety, and other general travel-related requirements by the university. Additionally, this will be a chance to meet the course faculty and graduate student assistant, the EASC staff administering the program, and your fellow classmates. This is a MANDATORY orientation for the course and Global East Asia scholars must attend or make other arrangements with EASC.
Please RSVP by Monday, February 3, 2025.
This orientation is only for registered students of EASC-360.
MYAKU-MYAKU Meet and Greet
Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | 1:00PM – 1:50PM | CAS 100 | RSVP
EASC invites you to meet MYAKU-MYAKU, the official mascot of the upcoming Expo 2025 that will be held in Osaka, Japan this year. The event will include a short presentation on Expo 2025, a Q&A session, and photo opportunities.
Refreshments will be provided.
This event is co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles and the USC Japanese Student Association.
“Flower Bird Wind Moon” (Kachō Fūgetsu) by Velina Hasu Houston – A Staged Reading
Saturday, March 1, 2025 | 2:00PM-5:00PM | Location TBD | RSVP
On the first day of Women’s History Month, the Shinso Ito Center presents a reading of “Flower Bird Wind Moon,” a play that explores female empowerment and immigrant integrity. When Japanese immigrant Kiyoko Kitchen’s husband dies and she is confronted with elder abuse, she seeks a way to live independently given the for fortitude that so long ago generated her immigration to America. Her endeavor synchronizes with a surreal world in which a character based upon her illuminates her youth. The play’s title comes from the Japanese notion of kachou fuugetsu – we can learn about ourselves in the experience of nature.
This event is presented by the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture and co-sponsored the USC East Asian Studies Center, the USC School for Dramatic Arts , and the East West Players
Spring 2025 EASC Undergraduate Mixer
Friday, March 7, 2025 | 2:00PM – 3:30PM | CAS 100 | RSVP
Please join us for the Spring 2025 EASC Undergraduate Mixer! Come meet other East Asian area studies and Korean studies majors and minors while enjoying some food and drinks. We would love for you to also invite any other students interested in East Asian media, research, or study abroad opportunities!
Please note that this event is open to USC undergraduates only.
Please RSVP by Friday, February 28, so we can order enough snacks and drinks for everyone!
Spring 2025 EASC Grad Mixer
Tuesday, March 25 | 4:00PM – 5:30PM | CAS 100 | RSVP
Please join us for the Spring 2025 EASC Grad Mixer! Enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow students across USC. Graduate students from any field are welcome to join, so it is a great opportunity to meet fellow students with East Asia-related research topics and interests!
Please RSVP by Friday, March 14, so we can order enough food and drinks for everyone!
EASC Guest Speaker Series: Dr. Ambedkar and Navayana Buddhism: Opening New Forms and Approaches to Liberation – Talk by Santosh Raut
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 | 5:00PM-6:20PM PT | Zoom Webinar | RSVP
Moderated by Prof. Jessica Zu, Santosh Raut (Harvard Divinity School) explores how Bhimrao Ambedkar writes about and expounds his vision of the Buddha-Dhamma as an instrument to reconstruct society and the peaceful transformation of an individual.
EASC Guest Speaker Series: By the Women, For the Revolution: Gendered Struggle of Navayāna Buddhism – Talk by Harsha Gautam
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 | 12:00PM-1:20PM PT | Zoom Webinar | RSVP
Moderated by Prof. Jessica Zu, Harsha Gautam (University of Texas at Austin) challenges the widespread notion that Navayāna Buddhism is exclusively a lay-focused tradition, emphasizing the pivotal role played by monastics, particularly nuns, within the movement. By focusing on the grassroots efforts of Navayāna nuns with oppressed communities, this talk will explore the innovative strategies the nuns employ to introduce Buddhism to unfamiliar audiences. It will also delve into how these Buddhist nuns navigate and resist the intersecting oppressions of caste and gender, while actively contributing to the broader struggle for social emancipation.
EASC Guest Speaker Series: China’s Relations with Central Asia: Why Should Americans Care? – Talk by Morris Rossabi
Friday, April 11, 2025 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | THH 202 | RSVP
Moderated by Prof. Bettine Birge, Prof. Morris Rossabi (Columbia University) first describes traditional Chinese relations with Central Asia, including the so-called Silk Roads, but he then focuses on China’s increasing interest and involvement in the region since the 1990s collapse of the Soviet Union. As China plays a greater economic role in Central Asia, he also discusses the impact on Xinjiang and on China’s relations with Russia. He concludes with an explanation of the importance of these developments for the U.S.
Spring 2025 EASC Faculty Luncheon
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 | 11:30AM – 1:30AM | University Club Scriptorium | By Invitation Only
EASC is excited to host our annual Faculty Luncheon this spring! We look forward to having the opportunity to share recent developments and reconnect with each other. We will be hosting this year’s lunch party at the University Club Scriptorium. We look forward to celebrating the end of the semester with you!
Please RSVP by Tuesday, April 1.
EASC Signature Programs
Undergraduate
Global East Asia (GEA) is a four week upper-division Maymester research course with a study abroad component for USC undergraduate students, made possible by the East Asian Studies Center and USC Dornsife. This intensive program gives students the opportunity to travel and conduct research in China or Japan. Students from all majors, schools and language backgrounds are eligible to apply and experience East Asia in a unique way.
Graduate
EASC Graduate Fellowships provide summer stipends, typically between $1,000-$3,000, depending on the proposed course of study. The purpose of the award is to advance understanding of East Asia and/or US-Asia relations. The award may be used for research, language training or area studies, and can also be used for research including Asia in a comparative context or as a case study.
Research
A centerpiece of the East Asian Studies Center’s efforts to support all forms of research that deal with East Asia at USC is the manuscript review. Any USC faculty working on a book that deals with East Asia in some way are eligible for possible support. The program is designed to provide helpful and timely feedback to faculty preparing monographs or other similarly large academic works prior to submission for publication.
EASC Graduate Fellowship Applications are Open!
EASC Graduate Fellowships provide summer stipends, typically between $1,000-$3,000, depending on the proposed course of study. The purpose of the award is to advance understanding of East Asia and/or US-Asia relations. Awards are given based on the quality of the proposed project and budgets submitted with the application. The award may be used for research, language training or area studies, and can also be used for research including Asia in a comparative context or as a case study.
Applications are due by 5:00pm on February 7, 2025.
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Contact Us
East Asian Studies Center
3454 Trousdale Parkway, CAS 100
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0154