The Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment at Vassar College

The considerable environmental challenges China faces and the myriad opportunities these present, in tandem with Vassar’s existing research-related and administrative connections with two Chinese universities—Central China Normal University in Wuhan (CCNU) and East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai—galvanize our commitment to a China-centric LIASE program.  We will deepen our collaboration with ECNU and CCNU through annual intensive summer field workshops and in hosting on our campus visiting faculty and post-doctorates from these two institutions.  Through this collaboration, we will enhance the engagement of our faculty and students with China and provide infrastructure and networking opportunities for scholars from our partner institutions and other LIASE grantee colleges. We will promote curricular innovation by injecting China-related subjects into our Environmental Studies courses and providing incentives for Asian Studies and language courses to increase their environmental content.   Ultimately, this will inform the Asian Studies program’s collaboration with the Environmental Studies program to establish at Vassar an Asian Sustainability correlate sequence (minor)—and with it, a lasting new facet of the Vassar curriculum catalyzed by LIASE.