Perspectives: What is East Asian Studies

In the fall of 2020 the East Asian Studies MA program’s core course, East Asian Studies: Fields and Methods invited Duke faculty members to respond to the broad question “What is East Asian Studies”? Respondents were provided with the following list of sub-questions, developed by the students in the class: 

  • What does “East Asia” mean to you? 
  • What motivated/s you to spend your life studying it? 
  • Why study “East Asia” and not just one nation, e.g. China?
  • What are the big issues in East Asian studies, in your opinion?
  • What questions do you seek to ask/answer?
  • What use is the academic study of “East Asia”?
  • How has your personal identity shaped your perception of East Asia/East Asian studies?

We hope that these responses will help listeners think about the various meanings of “East Asia” and its scholarship.

Gennifer Weisenfeld

Anna Sun

Carlos Rojas

Simon Partner

Sucheta Mazumdar
(NetID login required)

Melanie Manion

Edmund Malesky

Ralph A, Litzinger
(NetID login required)

Nayoung Aimee Kwon

Guo-Juin Hong

Prasenjit Duara

Leo Ching

Nicole Elizabeth Barnes

Anne Allison