SEAP Information
Introduction
Our director, Dr. Sarosh Kuruvilla, and the entire faculty and staff of SEAP encourage you to explore the vast spectrum of opportunities and resources available to students and the general public through this website. For more information on the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell or an upcoming program or event, we also invite you to contact us. We invite you to stop by the SEAP activities and events page or subscribe to our listserve, SEAP-L, to keep abreast of upcoming lectures, conferences, or cultural activities related to Southeast Asia that might be of interest to you.
The Southeast Asia Program
The Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on the development of graduate training and research opportunities on the languages and cultures of Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. SEAP is a designated as a US Department of Education National Resource Center (NRC). As such, it is therefore committed to facilitating outreach initiatives and extending program resources on Southeast Asia to academics, students, businesses, governments, NGOs and the public at large.
Faculty
SEAP is currently directed by a senior faculty member who is selected by SEAP core faculty from among its ranks and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences on a rotating basis for a three-to- five year term. The director serves on a half-time basis. Faculty participation in SEAP is voluntary. Faculty members jointly represent their discipline departments and the Field of Asian Studies: Southeast Asia. The current director of SEAP is Dr. Sarosh Kuruvilla, Professor of International and Comparative Labor in the Industrial Labor Relations School.
Courses of Study
At the graduate level, SEAP offers a terminal Master's Degree in Southeast Asian Studies that emphasizes courses in language and area studies on Southeast Asia.
- BA – Undergraduate students from any college at Cornell can major in Southeast Asian Studies in the Department of Asian Studies, or in Southeast Asian History through the History Department. Students can also pursue a minor in Southeast Asian Studies as they major in another field by completing 18 credit hours of course work. Typically, students take AS 2208 and several more courses, two of which may be language courses.
- MA –Through an extensive network of SEAP core and associated faculty members from throughout Cornell, students pursuing the Master's Degree in Southeast Asian Studies are able to both further their professional careers as well as prepare for a disciplinary PhD program in fields as diverse as Agricultural Economics, Anthropology, Asian Studies, City & Regional Planning, Government, Labor Relations, Music, History of Art, and Rural Sociology.
- PhD – PhD students can major in either Southeast Asian History or Linguistics or can minor in Southeast Asia. PhD students also are expected to develop research competency in a Southeast Asian language, and spend one to two years in field research.
To facilitate the highest standards for cultural inquiry, SEAP offers language proficiency at a multitude of levels in Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese.
Libraries
Students pursuing advanced studies in Southeast Asian Studies at Cornell also benefit from materials located in the Echols Collection of Kroch Library--a resource that is widely regarded as the foremost collection on Southeast Asia in the United States.
The Kahin Center
SEAP is fortunate to provide a unique resource, the Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia. SEAP Publications, the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project (CMIP), and our Outreach Office are located here. The Kahin Center is the academic hub where faculty, students, and visitors have offices and activities.