Lawrence Today magazine, Summer 2006
In 2001, the Freeman Foundation of New York City awarded Lawrence University
a $1.5 million grant as part of the foundation’s Asian Studies Undergraduate
Initiative, now concluding its fifth and final year.
From the beginning, the foundation made it clear that it intended to fund institutions
that demonstrated “a high level of institutional commitment to ongoing
Asian studies offerings, strong program leadership, student interest, and an
existing critical mass of courses and faculty to ensure a sustainable program.” On
that basis, Lawrence was one of the 84 institutions selected for grants, out
of 130 universities and colleges that submitted proposals.
(Pictured: Joellen
Hwung, ’07, in Beginning Intermediate Chinese)
In a recent publication, Strategies for Sustainability in Undergraduate
Asian Studies, the Freeman Foundation cited Lawrence as a case study
in “Making
the study of Asia core in the curriculum,” essentially acknowledging
that the college spent its grant money doing what it said it was going to do — and
quite successfully.
Highlights of the “Freeman years” at Lawrence have included topic-based
interdisciplinary study tours to
sites in East Asia, which have led to the addition of Asian content to courses
throughout the curriculum; addition of
Japanese language instruction, in addition to the Chinese language already
being taught; over 40 new or revised courses with East Asian content; and
introduction of Asia into the Freshman Studies program.
The Freeman grant played a key role in enabling Lawrence to establish its
partnership with Waseda University in
Tokyo, in which Waseda students spend a year studying at Lawrence in a version
of Freshman Studies coupled with instruction in English
and American cultural topics. Through the Freeman grant study tours and the
Waseda connection, Lawrence’s recognition in Japan has been significantly
increased.
During the period of the Freeman grant, the Department of East Asian Languages
and Cultures was reorganized into a Department of Chinese
and Japanese, and
new majors in Chinese and East
Asian studies and a minor in Japanese were
created, beyond the minor in Chinese and minor in East Asian studies created
in 1997.
Early in the grant period, each study tour was designed around a specific
academic theme but still
primarily consisted of visits to geographic sites of interest related to
trip themes. As the grant progressed, East Asian specialists on the Lawrence
faculty
were able to network with and secure more active involvement by experts on
site in East Asia. Now, members of our faculty have established strong working
relationships with scholars, government officials, and individuals in East
Asia.
Consistent with the Freeman Foundation’s emphasis on sustainability of
programs established under its grants, Lawrence has committed to continuing
to support the tenure-track position in Japanese language created under the
grant and to seek funds for a second full-time position in Japanese and to
continue student/faculty study tours and faculty travel to Asia.