UC Berkeley Institute of East Asian Studies

09/02/2026

The Blakemore Foundation Language Fellowships

The Blakemore Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2027 Blakemore Language Fellowships for an academic year of intensive language study at approved language programs in Asia during the 2027/2028 academic year.

The Foundation is looking for exceptional candidates who will make significant contributions to their career field. The ideal candidate is someone with stellar grades, outstanding recommendations, and a demonstrated commitment to the Asian country and language. Beyond commitment, we are looking for a mature purpose: a career path that will require and benefit from fluency in that Asian language throughout that individual's life.

All fellowships provide a stipend for living, travel, study expenses and full tuition for study at top universities in China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Applications for all fellowship programs may be submitted at https://blakemorefoundation.communityforce.com with a deadline of December 30, 2026.

09/02/2026

CSEAS September Newsletter

CSEAS Chair Lisandro Claudio updated the CSEAS community yesterday on recent transitions. Alexandra Dalferro., the center's beloved program director, has moved to Singapore to teach at the Nanyang Technological University. Congrats Alexandra!

We are so pleased to have Ni Luh Gede Sri Pratiwi as the program director now. Welcome Sri!

A glimpse at a couple of September talks:

September 25 at 5pm
Y Thien Nguye will start the fall program off speaking on "Rethinking the Republican Interregnum in South Vietnam (1964-1967)" at the Faculty Club.

September 28at 5pm
Pavin Chachavalpongpun will talk about the "Five Years After the Youth Protests: The Thai Monarchy Strikes Back" in Dwinelle 370.

Learn more about these programs and connect to CSEAS News at https://conta.cc/4gtKvfQ.

Photo below: A sleeping dragon, Komodo Island.

09/02/2026

Our Graduate Student Fellowship Opportunities this Fall!

Don't miss this opportunity to apply for a couple of graduate student grants in East and Southeast Asian studies this fall.

The Haas Finishing Lines Grants will help graduate students complete their dissertations, and the Translation Grants will fund translation work. Learn more about these grants and others at https://tinyurl.com/2n7tnst5.

08/25/2026

American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS)

Here's a plug for ACMS and their programs. I've excerpted a few paragraphs from their email today by Maggie Lindrooth, their US director.

"Did you learn about Mongolia in school? Who was your favorite teacher? What did you learn from them?

I remember first learning about Mongolia in the fifth grade, when my class studied Marco Polo’s journey to Asia and the years he spent with Khubilai Khan. I was enchanted by the descriptions of the city of Karakorum, and spent hours imagining what this place must have looked like and how Marco Polo must have felt upon arriving in the city after such a long journey.

Of course, Mongolia is now just a plane ride away.

And every year, ACMS brings numerous K-12 teachers and college and university faculty members to Mongolia. Over the coming weeks, keep your eye on our newsletter and social media, where we will be sharing the stories of just a few of these educators and their experiences with ACMS."

Learn more about ACMS at https://mongoliacenter.org/.

08/14/2026

August 28 | 2:00-4:35PM
日本におけるメディアの展開と文学
An International Colloquium on the Formations of Media and Japan’s Premodern Literary History Colloquium in the Art History Seminar Room, East Asian Library, UCB.

Register for the workshop here, https://tinyurl.com/4k232cbf.

Co-Sponsors: C. V. Starr East Asian Library at the University of California, Berkeley, National Institute of Japanese Literature*

08/05/2026

Members of the IEAS U.S.-Taiwan-European Next Generation Working Group were selected to participate in a special issue of "Taiwan Insight." This special issue brings together five reflections from participants in the program. Drawing on discussions with policymakers, legislators, academics, business leaders, and civil society representatives during their visit to Taipei in June 2026, the contributors collectively identify several themes that emerged consistently throughout the visit while offering distinct perspectives on Taiwan’s evolving strategic environment.

Special thanks to Dr. Chun-Yi Lee (University of Nottingham), one of three Senior Advisors to the program, who spearheaded the creation of this issue.

Taiwan is frequently viewed through the lens of cross-Strait tensions, great-power rivalry, or its indispensable role in the global semiconductor industry. While these perspectives capture Taiwan& #…

07/28/2026

IEAS books are now being distributed by UC Press!

July 1, 2026, marked an exciting new chapter for the Institute of East Asian Studies. Books published by IEAS are now being distributed through Publishing Services @ University of California Press.

IEAS has published or distributed more than 200 titles on East and Southeast Asia over the last 70 years, with a focus on the humanities and social sciences. Our peer-reviewed books are now available via the UC Press catalog here:

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

06/04/2026

05/08/2026

May 15 at 7pm
TOSIYA SUZUKI performs at the Wu Performance Hall in Morrison Hall.

World-renowned recorder virtuoso Tosiya Suzuki (鈴木俊哉) performs an evening featuring new works by UC Berkeley graduate student composers: Josiah Adrineda, Xinglan Deng, Claire Hu, Pablo Teutli, Shu Wang, Jenny Xiong, and Tianyu Zou. This concert showcases vibrant contemporary music written for solo recorder, highlighting the creative voices of Prof. Ken Ueno’s studio.

Learn more about the artist at https://events.berkeley.edu/ieas/event/315499-tosiya-suzuki.

Free and open to the public.

05/01/2026

May CSEAS Newsletter

CSEAS wishes all newsletter readers a smooth end of the semester and academic year! May your summers be full of rest, discovery, and fun 🌻

We have one more CSEAS event this year, on Tuesday, May 5 at 6:30 pm. It is organized in collaboration with a SEALIVES Small Grants Program Year 2 grantee, Dr. Christopher LeBoa, and his interlocutors, and addresses topics that LeBoa focused on for his SEALIVES oral history project. "Beyond Displacement: The Rohingya Struggle forJustice" provides an introduction to Rohingya history, life in refugee camps, conditions for asylees in the US, and the politics of the long process towards peace. Please join us!

This is our last newsletter for the 2025-2026 academic year, and updates will resume in the Fall. To read the entire newsletter, please visit: https://conta.cc/3P2Dmtg.

Photo below: Street mural in Singapore.