Preparing Thinkers, Leaders, and Global Professionals through Multiple Asias!

Research Goals: Our research strength lies in its ability to question boundaries: boundaries between nation and diaspora, past and present, language and culture, theories and practices, and academy and lived experiences, through an understanding of Asias as multiple, interconnected, and globally constituted. By bridging language studies, area studies, ethnic studies, and intellectual traditions, our research contributes to critical understandings of power, mobility, identity, and social justice in local and global.

Teaching Goals: We envision teaching and curriculum as transformative practices that cultivate intercultural understanding, ethical global citizenship, and the ability to think across differences. By integrating language, literature, culture, society, and thought, and by using Asias as analytical and learning perspectives, our pedagogy highlights the multiplicity and connectivity of Asias while fostering  openness, empathy, critical inquiry, and reflective learning. Students are encouraged to engage with issues of globalization, migration, and inequality in ways that connect theories to lived experience.

Global Engagement Goals: The department advances the university’s growth areas by extending learning beyond the classroom through experiential and community-engaged learning, study abroad, and Center-based initiatives that connect the university with local, national, and international communities. Through student research, internships, translation and public-facing projects, international exchanges, and partnerships with cultural, educational, and community organizations, students develop transferable skills in critical analysis, communication, teamwork, and cross-cultural leadership. These experiences prepare students to apply their knowledge of Asias to address global challenges related to migration and social justice, and to pursue professional pathways in education, diplomacy, public service, cultural institutions, nonprofit organizations, business,  consulting, and other globally connected fields.

Fast Facts of Our Department

• Established in 2002
• 14 tenured and tenure-track faculty members 
• 8 full-time lecturers including 1 Advanced Senior Lecturer and 1 Senior Lecturer
• 1 SUNY Distinguished Professor
• 1 SUNY Distinguished Service Professor
• 1 Endowed Chair Professor
• 2 NEH Fellows
• 3 Guggenheim Fellows 
• 2 Fullbright Fellows 
• 1 AAUW Fellow 
• 3 recipients of SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching 
• 1 recipient of SUNY Chancellor's Award for Faculty Service 
• 4 vibrant research and cultural centers, anchored in our academic department (Mattoo Center for India Studies; Japan Center at Stony Brook; Center for Korean Studies, Center for Multilingual and Intercultural Communication)
• 211 majors and minors enrolled (Fall 2025 data)
• 113 undergraduate courses offered per AY, most of which satisfy SBC (2022-2023 data)
• Grants from NSF, US Ed. Department, and the Academy of Korean Studies 
• 4 countries: faculty-led study abroad programs in China, India, Japan, and Korea
• 2 MA programs, 2 BA Programs, 2 combining/accellerated BA/MA Programs, and 7 minor programs

M.A.  in  Global Asias (GLA)

M.A. in History of Philosophies East and West (HPEW) in partnership with philosophy (HPEW)

B.A. in Asian & Asian American Studies

B.A. in Asian & Asian American Studies with Teacher Certification (in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean).

B.A./M.A. Accelerated Program in Asian and Asian American Studies

B.A./M.A. Combinined Program in Asian and Asian American Studies with Advanced Education

Minor in Asian American Studies (AAM)

Minor in Asian and Asian American Studies (AAS)

Minor in Asian Thought (ATH)

Minor in China Studies (CNS)

Minor in Japanese Studies (JPN)

Minor in Korean Studies (KOR)

Minor in South Asian Studies (SOA)

 

Our Faculty and Staff

 

Honoring S. N. Sridhar and Kamal Sridhar  11/14/2025 

 

Symposium: Asian Languages and the Professions  4/8/2008

 

Humanities Building

 

The Department of Asian & Asian American Studies is one of the few departments in the U.S. that integrates the study and teaching of both Asian and Asian American studies. It offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that highlights the history of New York as the home of Asian immigrants since the 19th century and recognizes the importance of the Asia-Pacific in this present century. We focus on the study of Asian and Asian American languages, cultures, and intellectual histories over time and in contact with other global cultures. Among our faculty are internationally-recognized scholars in  applied linguistics, cultural studies, history,  and intellectual traditions. Our global curriculum ranges from studies of classical Asian civilizations to studies of modern Asian diasporic cultures.