Greetings from the Chair/Director
The Department of Transnational Asian Studies and the Chao Center for Asian Studies welcome you back to campus after what we hope was a restful and productive summer. This, our third annual newsletter, gives us a welcome opportunity to look back on the activities of our busy past year and point you towards our faculty and student resources and research support.
First, I would like to introduce and welcome some important new staff people:
Jenny Judge has joined us as the new Department/Center Administrator in Asian Studies. A former secondary school teacher with a master’s degree in Higher Education, Jenny moved to Houston from Vancouver, BC, in 2013 and has been working in higher ed administration ever since. She previously served at the Rice School of Architecture before joining the School of Humanities and Arts, where she successfully oversaw several key programs. We are thrilled to have her bring her expertise and experience to our team in Asian Studies.
Jordan Szymczyk is our new Publication Specialist, managing the center’s research publication, Transnational Asia: an online interdisciplinary journal, as well as handling our three websites and social media. Jordan is a Rice alumnus, having received a B.A. in Computer Science here in 2018, and was a member and then a resident associate of Brown College.
In addition, we are excited to introduce Zainab Abdali, the new Chao Center Postdoctoral Associate in Asian Studies Leadership & Engagement. Zainab finished a PhD in the Rice University Department of English and Creative Writing this spring, 2026. She was a co-founder of our student affiliate RADAAR [Rice Asian Diasporic Asian American Research Collective] and has remained a key organizing member of that group for the past five years. She is already hard at work at the Chao Center, focusing on outreach and developing new programming.
Among the highlights of the year, our own Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) and its Director, Dr. Anne Chao, were recognized at their thirty-fifth annual gala by the Asian Chamber of Commerce with the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Community Ambassador Award 2025 for the HAAA’s effort to document and preserve the lived experiences and history of Asian Americans in the Greater Houston area. We thank the Houston Asian Chamber of Commerce for this very great honor.
2025-26 was another active year for events at the Chao Center for Asian Studies and the Department of Transnational Asian Studies. Visitors to campus included our former colleague and good friend, Dr. Lan Li, now of Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Li returned to Rice campus to discuss her new book, Body Map: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine (Johns Hopkins University Press, April 2025). Her talk was a challenging exploration of the aesthetic, conceptual, and political dimensions of mapping meridians as a diagnostic and treatment tool in traditional Chinese medicine.
In addition, our Transnational Asia Speaker Series had a banner year, bringing another seven extraordinary scholars to campus. The list included Professor Andrew Schonebaum, Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park who spoke about the ways in which water shaped the imagination in early modern China; Eric Schluessel, Associate Professor in Modern Chinese and East Asian History at the University of Oxford, who spoke on late nineteenth century agrarian economy in Xinjiang; Frederick R. Dickinson, Lauder Professor of International Relations at the University of Maryland who explored the misconceptions and complexity of post-war Japan; Professor Fei Deng, professor of Chinese art and archaeology at the National Institute of Advanced Humanistic Studies, Fudan University, who examines tenth through fourteenth century Chinese tomb paintings to identity grief in its myriad representations; Leo Ching, Schiff Family Dean of Humanities and the Arts at Duke University, who spoke to a packed room about Taiwanese independence, in the context of US and Dr. Aimée Froom, curator of Arts of the Islamic world at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, who offered a description of the he museum’s extensive collection of Mughal, Ottoman and Safavid art and discussed the range and the limits of their shared aesthetic; and finally, Dr. He Bian, Associate Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Princeton University, who gave us a fascinating look into Qing production of a multilingual lexicography and its impact on the study of natural history. We are excited to continue our Transnational Asia Speaker Series in 2026- 27. Look for our email updates for specific dates and locations.
Meanwhile, the Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research (RADAAR) Collective co-hosted the second annual Texas Association for Asian American Diaspora Studies (TAAADS) Symposium with Texas A&M on the campus of Rice University in the spring of 2026. The event was well attended and thoughtful, with papers presented by a range of Texas graduate students and faculty. We are excited to confirm that RADAAR will repeat that success with another collaborative graduate student-led conference in the spring of 2027.
As for our undergraduate programming and curriculum, this has been an exciting time of growth for the Department of Transnational Asian Studies. Our numbers of majors and our enrollments reflect increased undergraduate interest and enthusiasm for our curriculum and our wonderful faculty. Only six years old, the department is making its presence felt across campus!
Among changes within the department is the increase in funding opportunities for our undergraduate majors. While we offer a range of awards to support academic research projects on campus and abroad, this year we also began offering competitive and need-based grants for majors planning Rice in Country summer language study (in Taiwan and Korea, Jordan and Japan). More information on how a student might apply for funding is on our department website funding page.
Finally, we said farewell to more than twenty accomplished Asian Studies seniors who graduated in May, many with honors. We will miss them but are confident that these extraordinary young scholars will make a difference in the world.
With plenty of new events planned in the new academic year, please keep an eye on our websites and social media for updates. For questions about any of our events, please write to chao.center@rice.edu or the Department of Transnational Asian Studies.
All my best,
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Lisa Balabanlilar Joseph and Joanna Nazro Mullen Professor in the Humanities |
The Year in Review
Chao Center for Asian Studies
Transnational Asia Speaker Series
Through the generosity of the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation and with the support of our faculty, the Chao Center for Asian Studies hosts a number of distinguished scholars annually for guest lectures that are free and open to the public. In 2024-25, TASS talks included:
“Water, Connoisseurship, and Curiosity in Early Modern China” | Andrew SchonebaumOctober 16, 2025 From melted plum-blossom snow to dragon spit, Professor Schonebaum, Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park explored how water shaped imagination, medicine & culture in early modern China. |
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“Piety and Capitalism in Chinese Central Asia” | Eric SchluesselOctober 24, 2025 Professor Schluessel, Associate Professor in Modern Chinese and East Asian History at the University of Oxford, explored how Xinjiang’s agrarian economy (1877–1918) became enmeshed in the Eurasian economy—bringing both hardship and new forms of organization, through collusion between merchants and officials and the resilience of farmers, traders, and craftspeople. |
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“Rethinking the Twenty-first Century Through the Prism of Modern Japan: Manchuria and the Myth of a Neoliberal World” | Frederick R. DickinsonFebruary 19, 2026 In this talk, Frederick R. Dickinson. Lauder Professor of International Relations at the University of Maryland, explored how modern history’s Anglophone focus on post-1945 “triumphs” obscures global complexity, which becomes starkly clear when viewed through modern Japan, where assessing wartime legacies reveals the true calamity behind what is now miscast as a “Second Cold War.” |
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“Visualizing Grief: Weeping Figures and the Expression of Emotion in Tomb Art in Medieval China (10th–14th Centuries)” | Fei DengMarch 5, 2026 Professor Fei Deng, professor of Chinese art and archaeology at the National Institute of Advanced Humanistic Studies, Fudan University, explored rare images of weeping in 10th–14th century Chinese tombs to show how grief was selectively represented and tightly regulated by ritual, funerary custom, and religious belief within spaces otherwise devoted to scenes of ordered enjoyment. |
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“Looking East, Looking West: Safavids, Ottomans, and Mughals in the Age of Empires at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston” | Dr. Aimée FroomApril 9, 2026 Dr. Froom, curator of Arts of the Islamic world at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, spoke about the museum’s extensive collections and how it demonstrates the degree to which Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires maintained unique imperial identities and integrated diverse global influences despite sharing a common Islamic aesthetic. |
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"Becoming Independent: Taiwan In-Between Empires and Nation-States” | Leo ChingApril 11, 2026 Leo Ching, Schiff Family Dean of Humanities and the Arts at Duke University, discussed how debates over Taiwan’s independence have been shaped by both U.S.- China power struggles and Taiwan’s complex colonial history, examining competing political visions—from Marxist nationalism to decolonial thought—and arguing for a re thinking of sovereignty beyond the traditional nation-state model. |
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“The Manchu Mirrors and the Knowledge of Plants and Animals in High Qing China” | He BianApril 17, 2026 Dr. He Bian, explores how the Qing court used multilingual lexicography and natural history to codify a vast biological world, ultimately transforming the Manchu language into a powerful tool for imperial organization and cultural authority. |
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Tai Event Series in Cross-Cultural Studies
"Saints, Scoundrels, Misfits and Rebels: The social implications of vegetarianism in pre-modern China" | John KieschnickNovember 7, 2025 By the end of the sixth century in China, Buddhist monastics were expected, and laypeople encouraged, to be vegetarian. Looking beyond individual philosophy, Kieschnick explores vegetarianism's social impact through four types of figures: saints who promoted the diet, pious-seeming scoundrels who secretly ate meat, misfits who struggled to stay vegetarian, and rebels whose radical eating habits state officials associated with sedition. |
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Awards
Asian Chamber Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards 2025Community Ambassador Award The Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) was proud to receive the Asian Chamber of Commerce: Community Ambassador Award. The Asian Chamber recognizes companies and individuals who have impacted our community at large. The event unites the Asian business community to celebrate excellence in leadership, business, and community impact within the greater Houston area. |
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Author Talks
Invisible Anatomy: Meridians and Math in Chinese Medicine | Lan LiOctober 29, 2025 Dr. Lan Li of Johns Hopkins University spoke about her recently published monograph Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine, which reframes illustrations of invisible structures as body maps to explore a global history of medicine from the tenth to twentieth centuries. Li focused on the graphic form of the tu (圖) as a category of technical images, examining how illustrated lines guided diagnostic and therapeutic practice. By critically analyzing a thirteenth-century image of jingluo (經絡/meridians) through the lenses of science studies, visual culture, and medical humanities, Li traced the aesthetic, conceptual, and political dimensions of these maps across eras to rethink traditional cultures of objectivity. |
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Chao Center Funded and Co-Sponsored
Worldmaking/WorldbreakingOctober 22-26, 2025 This multi-day conference was the 16th annual meeting of the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP), an international, nonprofit association dedicated to discovering and articulating the aesthetic, cultural, ethical, and political identities of the contemporary arts. |
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Book Launch & Panel Discussion"The Social Roots of Asian American Partisanship: From Political Learning to Partisan Leanings" | Prof. Tanika Raychaudhuri November 13, 2025 Professor Tanika Raychaudhuri, Assistant Professor in the Rice University Department of Political Science, celebrated her first book, The Social Roots of Asian American Partisanship (Oxford University Press 2025), with a cross-disciplinary faculty panel exploring the book's insights on Asian American involvement and understandings of politics, identity, and community engagement. |
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Department of Art Printmaking Trip to JapanJuly, 2025 The Chao Center was delighted to support Associate Professor of Art Christopher Sperandio and Master Printer and Rice Lecturer Patrick Masterso, on their 16-day research and training trip to Japan to study the traditional techniques of Mokuhanga (woodblock printing), Washi (traditional papermaking), and Risography. Their itinerary blended formal training at the Karuizawa Mokuhanga School and a hands-on papermaking workshop with executive meetings at the Riso Kagaku Corporation, museum visits, and the acquisition of vintage works for Rice’s Comic Art Teaching and Study Workshop Collection. |
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Chao Center Grant Recipient
Laura Vázquez Arreguín, PhD candidate in History, participated in the Society of Early Transpacific Studies (SETS) Conference in Manila, June 2026, Philippines, thanks to a grant from the Chao Center.
About her experience, Laura says, “It was an incredible opportunity to connect with brilliant colleagues, especially historians from University of the Philippines Diliman, and lay the groundwork for exciting future collaborations in transpacific history.”
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Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research (RADAAR) Collective
TAADS Symposium
The student run Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research (RADAAR) Collective at Rice University co-founded and hosted the second annual Texas Association for Asian American Diaspora Studies (TAAADS) Symposium on March 27–28, 2026, on the Rice campus in Houston, themed “Movement(s): Migrations, Resistance, and Currents of Asian Diaspora.” This symposium was a highly-collaborative event, co-sponsored by several departments and centers from Rice and Texas A&M University, and was attended by students, faculty, and community members from across Texas and nationally.
The symposium featured two keynote events; a Day 1 keynote address by Dr. George Villanueva, Associate Professor of Communication Journalism at Texas A&M University (sponsored by the Rice English department), and a Day 2 Keynote panel, sponsored by Rice's Humanities Research Center, which featured four educators and program managers working on Asian and Asian American Studies initiatives in Texas K-12 and higher education institutions. The symposium also featured a collaboration with a local artist collective, Lualo Studio, who led a circle-keeping and collage-making reflective practice for conference attendees.
This event followed the inaugural 2025 symposium hosted at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. RADAAR is pleased to announce that the 2027 TAAADS symposium will take place February 19-20 at UT Austin in Austin, TX, and the theme for the 2027 symposium is "Circuits: Transpacific Technologies and Speculative Futures in the Asian American South"- the call for papers can be found here.
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RADAAR Grad SocialOctober 16, 2025 In an effort to build a community of grad students working on Asian Studies from across Rice University, RADAAR hosted a graduate social for the first time, welcoming over a dozen grad students and postdocs from six different Humanities and Social Sciences and even STEM departments! We shared boba tea and snacks and discussed the programming and resources that RADAAR and the Chao Center provide in order to support graduate research and community at Rice. |
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Announcing the recipients for the inaugural TAAADS Awards:
Best Graduate Paper goes to Haerin Jung, for her paper entitled “Through Patterns: Yayoi Kusama’s Early Net Paintings.” Haerin Jung is a PhD student in Art History at Rice University.
Best Undergraduate Paper goes to Trinity Ngo,for her paper entitled “White Terror, White Pages: Diasporic Women as Archives of Censored History in Green Island.” Trinity Ngo recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, having completed degrees in English, Rhetoric & Writing, and Asian American Studies.
The RADAAR team is thinking ahead towards next year's events and we are looking for organizers - if you would like to be involved with the TAAADS symposium or other RADAAR events, please let us know!
Zainab Abdali | riceradaar@gmail.com
RADAAR Organizer
RADAAR Upcoming Events:
The RADAAR team is planning its roster of events for 2026-2027, including an opening dinner and arts & crafts night, more meetings of the Asian Studies Reading Circle, and an ongoing Grad/Postdoc Asian Studies Writing Group. We are also excited to announce that the third annual symposium of the Texas Association for Asian American Diaspora Studies (TAAADS) will take place on February 19-20, 2027, at the University of Texas, Austin. The symposium is jointly sponsored by RADAAR and Rice's Chao Center for Asian Studies, UT Austin's Center for Asian American Studies, and various departments at Texas A&M University. To keep up with RADAAR's events and programs, follow RADAAR on Instagram @riceradaar, or email at riceradaar@gmail.com.
Transnational Asia: an online interdisciplinary journal
Special Issue: Transpacific Networks and Religious Circulations Spanning East Asia and the United States
July 2025
We are excited to announce the release of our latest journal issue, which challenges traditional national boundaries by examining the dynamic religious intersections connecting East Asia and the United States. Originating from a multi-year American Academy of Religion seminar, this collection brings together interdisciplinary insights on how the circulation of religious practices across the Pacific reshapes both the traditions themselves and the networks that sustain them. We invite you to explore these compelling articles to discover how transnational networks, cultural translation, and daily practices continue to transform the religious landscape between Asia and North America.
Rice Asian Studies Review (RASR)
The ninth volume of the Rice Asian Studies Review (RASR) stands as a vibrant testament to the changing methodologies and expanding boundaries of Asian, Asian American, and Asian Diasporic Studies. Backed by Rice University’s Department of Transnational Asian Studies (DoTAS), this latest issue compiles rigorously selected academic research and creative artistry from undergraduate scholars across a wide array of disciplines and backgrounds. By bringing together diverse geographic perspectives and multifaceted experiences, Volume 9 directly engages with the concept of Transnational Asia—offering fresh, critical insights that aim to inspire both original scholarship and the next generation of thinkers.
Department of Transnational Asian Studies
Transnational Asian Studies at Home and Abroad
Lunar New Year LunchFebruary 17, 2026 The campus came alive with luck and prosperity as the Rice Lions delivered an energetic Lunar New Year performance, complete with a vibrant drumbeat and the crowd-favorite tradition of tossing tangerines to spectators. It was a spectacular celebration that left everyone wishing for a year ahead filled with joy, good fortune, and plenty of Vitamin C! |
 
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Dough Figurine Workshop
March 2, 2026
The Dough Figurine Workshop was a resounding success, bringing together more than 70 participants—including many local high school students—to explore the rich tradition of dough sculpture. Guided by the expertise of Master Su, whom we invited from Taiwan, attendees had the opportunity to craft their own auspicious lion ornaments. Special thanks go to Wei-li and Heather, whose outstanding hard work and coordination made this wonderful community event possible.
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Rice in Country
Rice in Korea
Eight students spent six weeks in Seoul this summer participating in the program. They were immersed in the language and culture through a homestay, excursions, and community service. Participants completed two courses, Korean Language in Action and Understanding Korean Society and Culture at our partner institution, Seoul National University.
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Rice in Taiwan
Twelve students studied Chinese culture and society alongside interactional competence in Mandarin, with community engagement built into the program. The program took place in Taipei, and several students completed a medical practicum during their time there.
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Both programs were made possible in part by funding from the Chao Foundation.
Houston Asian American Archive
AAPI voices of HoustonJanuary 8, 2026 On Thursday, January 8th Clay Guinn, Ph.D (Elkins Chair in English and Language Arts), along with St. John School’s 9-12th graders, visited HAAA at the Woodson Archive, where HAAA Manager Dr. Anne Chao showcased the often-overlooked AAPI voices of Houston. Dr. Chao’s presentation contributed to Dr. Guinn’s Houston cultural history short course and enriched St. John’s highschooler’s sense of the hardships historically imposed on AAPI diaspora by US regulatory practices and how HAAA serves to combat the discrimination. Wooden’s head Archivist Amanda Focke guided an archival research practice from HAAA archival materials. |
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The HAAA Junior Scholar Award
February 2, 2026
The HAAA Junior Scholar Award is given to graduate student and junior faculty to support a research focus on the Asian diaspora and the immigration experience, inspired by the materials in the HAAA collection. The 2026 the Junior Scholar Award was presented to Mohamad Kadan for Palestinians in Exile: Culture, Global Histories, and the Making of a Nation project that centers on Houston-based Palestinian oral histories to explore how exile, memory, and intellectual life have shaped modern Palestinian history. Drawing the Houston Asian American Archive, particularly its oral history collections, the project examines how Palestinians in Houston narrate displacement, political commitment, and cultural production across generations.
Shapiro Showcase Finalist
April 21, 2026
HAAA’s intern Karis Lai was nominated as a Shapiro Showcase finalist and presented her creative work “Four Seasons of Aging: The Lived Experiences of Chinese American Women” inspired by Asian American oral histories. Four Seasons of Aging: The Lived Experiences of Chinese American Women is a multimedia piece blending oral history, creative nonfiction writing, and photography. Karis Lai’s work features the stories of four HAAA interviewees: Francine Di, Faye Chin, Rogene Gee Calvert, and Lily Chan Foster and uses the seasons as an interpretive framework to understand the complexities of aging in a fresh light. "Four Seasons of Aging" juxtaposes the universal and philosophical aspects of aging with four real stories which highlight the parts of aging that are often missed: the subtle pains, the small inconveniences, and the surprising joys.
Faculty and Staff Achievements
Bei Shan Tang Monograph PrizeShih-shan Susan Huang received the Bei Shan Tang Monograph Prize awarded by the Association for Asian Studies in 2026. This award honors outstanding sole- or co- authored research on Chinese art history of any historical period published in the English language. Catalogues published under the direction of a museum, library, or public or private collection, and exhibition catalogues published in 2024 are eligible for consideration for the 2026 awards. The award announcement includes the following statement: |
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Student and Alumni Achievements
Critical Language ScholarshipAnders Powell, a rising junior who started studying Chinese language and culture with us since his freshman year, has been awarded the prestigious Critical Language Scholarship. The scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and provides immersive summer programs for U.S. undergraduate students to learn a language of strategic importance to the United States' national security and economic prosperity. Anders will study at Tamkang University in New Taipei City. |
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Language Certificate Recipients
Congratulations to this year's recipients of the Certificate in Asian Language and Intercultural Communication. Sixteen students in the Class of 2026 completed a Certificate: two in Arabic, six in Chinese, four in Japanese, and four in Korean. Each of them completed substantial coursework in the language, an experiential learning component, and an outcomes assessment. We are proud of the work they put in and look forward to seeing where they take it.
Faculty Promotions
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Congratulations to Sidney Lu for his promotion to Full Professor, as the Annette and Hugh Gragg Professor of Transnational Asian Studies. |
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Congratulations to Hossam Elsherbiny, Director of Asian Languages in the Department of Transnational Asian Studies, for his promotion to Associate Teaching Professor in Arabic. |
Staff Appointments
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Jenny Judge was appointed the Department Administrator for the Department of Transnational Asian Studies and the Chao Center for Asian Studies. Her career in education started with a Bachelor of Education and a teaching career as a secondary school teacher. In 2008, she transitioned to an administrative role at a private college beginning her career in higher education. A move south in 2013 to sunny, vibrant Houston from rainy, beautiful, Vancouver, B.C., signaled the beginning of an enriching career at Rice University where she initially joined Rice’s School of Architecture before moving to the School of Humanities and Arts Dean’s Office overseeing minors and now, excitedly has joined the administration team for the Department of Transnational Asian Studies and Chao Center for Asian Studies. Over her time in higher education, Jenny has held a range of positions including financial aid, facilities liaison, recruitment, student advising, and undergraduate and program administration. With completion of her Master of Education in Higher Education, she is excited to apply research to her practice. Working closely with faculty and staff, she seeks to provide the administrative support that allow the programs, students, and faculty to achieve their goals and objectives. She particularly values people, loving her opportunities for student engagement, including being a Wiess Associate, and looks forward to continuing to develop positive, collaborative relationships across the university. In her time, between work and studies, she enjoys time with her family, supporting her sons at sporting events, reading as often as possible, and she can often be found running the outer loop at Rice under the magnificent live oaks lining Rice’s campus. |
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Zainab Abdali was appointed Postdoctoral Associate in Asian Studies Leadership & Engagement at the Chao Center for Asian Studies. She is a scholar and public humanities professional who specializes in place-based and community-oriented programming. As the Postdoctoral Associate for Asian Studies Leadership & Engagement, Zainab will support the Center’s existing programs and develop new programming that advances Asian and Asian American Studies in Texas and nationally through cultural events, reading groups, symposia, keynote lectures, and other collaborative events. Zainab previously served for five years as a co-founder and key organizing member for the Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research Collective (RADAAR), a student-run program of the Chao Center that organizes innovative educational, cultural, and advocacy events across Texas through strong partnerships with local organizations and other Texas institutions such as UT Austin and Texas A&M University. Zainab holds a PhD in English with a certificate in the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality from Rice University, and her research focuses on contemporary South Asian and Arab art and literature. |
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Jordan Szymczyk '18 was appointed the Publication Specialist for the Department of Transnational Asian Studies and the Chao Center for Asian Studies. He manages the Department's and the Center's websites and social media, creates Department and Center promotional materials, and manages the Center's research journal, Transnational Asia. He and his wife are also former Resident Associates at Brown College. He holds a B.A. in Computer Science from Rice University and was a member of Brown College. |
Funding for Faculty and Researchers
Thanks to a generous gift from the T.T. and W.F. Chao Foundation, the Chao Center is pleased to offer competitive funding support towards the Asia-related academic and intellectual endeavors of Rice faculty and researchers. A broad range of proposals may qualify for funding. All full-time faculty, PhD students, postdoctoral and research fellows, lecturers, and other academic personnel are eligible to apply.
Small Grants (Up to $5,000)Small grants should represent a unique opportunity or event and not be used to support an on-going class or repeated program. |
Large Grants ($5,000 - $10,000)The Chao Center for Asian Studies awards competitive grants that are intended to develop innovative models for conducting research on or about Transnational Asia or to ask new questions within existing models. |
Funding for Students of Transnational Asian Studies
Thanks to a generous gift from the T.T. and W.F. Chao Foundation, the Chao Center for Asian Studies is pleased to offer competitive funding support towards the Asia-related academic and intellectual endeavors of students in the Department of Transnational Asian Studies. These fellowships are awarded with the goal of facilitating the initiation, completion, or development of either individual or collaborative research projects. A broad range of proposals may qualify for funding.
Chao Scholars Research FundingCompetitive grants are available only to majors in Transnational Asian Studies. Proposals are evaluated by the Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Transnational Asian Studies, in collaboration with the faculty of the department. |
Advanced Undergraduate Research Award (AURA)Through the generous support of the Gee Family Association, the Chao Center supports Asian Studies majors and minors to pursue interdisciplinary academic research, internship or pre-professional work experience, cultural study opportunities, and community service projects. |
Funding for Students of Asian Languages
The Chao Center for Asian Studies is pleased to provide funding for Asian Studies majors enrolled in Rice in Country programs. Additional details regarding eligibility and application procedures are available on the Department of Transnational Asian Studies website. Check there for updates and take advantage of this exciting new opportunity!