Southwestern Awarded National Grant for East Asian Studies from Freeman Foundation

Southwestern University has received a competitive grant of nearly $400,000 that will fund a tenure-track faculty position in East Asian art history.

The grant, awarded by the Freeman Foundation of New York, will support a new junior professorship in East Asian art history for a four-year term, covering salary, benefits and program costs aimed at enhancing East Asian studies on Southwestern's campus. The funding comes at a crucial time as Southwestern endeavors to provide opportunities for more students to study this area of the world. Southwestern has committed to continuing the position on a permanent basis once the Foundation's funding has expired. A search for a new East Asian art history professor will begin immediately.

Steve Davidson, associate professor of history and the grant's author, said the award will position Southwestern's East Asian Studies offerings-courses in history, political science, Chinese language and literature and, now, art history-among the very best found at liberal arts colleges nationwide. Southwestern also counts among its faculty a set of scholars who have focused on the Chinese Economy, Buddhism, and Asian music. "Very few liberal arts colleges have this breadth of offerings in East Asian studies," Davidson said.

The grant also funds the purchase of $40,000 of facsimile art, a lecture series on East Asian art for each of the four years of their funding, and $16,000 of additional books on East Asian art for Southwestern's library. It is Southwestern's first grant award from the Freeman Foundation and the second national-level award Southwestern has received for East Asian Studies.

Southwestern initiated a "Focus on Asia" program in 1988 which began the establishment of East Asian studies as a regular part of its curriculum. The initiative followed a successful partnership with major foundations to support expanding course offerings in East Asian topics and creating a major in international studies with an emphasis on East Asia. Last fall, Southwestern received a $300,000 grant from the Luce Foundation to support a new junior professorship in East Asian politics for a four-year term. Southwestern's Strategic Plan for 2010 aims to add up to 25 permanent, tenure-track faculty to increase student/faculty interactions and academic opportunities.

The Freeman Foundation is based in New York and was established in 1992 to support greater understanding between Asia and the United States.

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