Southeast Asian Studies

Southeast Asia comprises 11 distinct countries which are situated south of China and east of India, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. The region is home to some of the most quickly developing national economies, the world’s largest Muslim population, and speakers of over 1,000 different languages. Although mainland Southeast Asia is most well known to many westerners as the site of the Vietnam War, which carries deep and long-lasting impacts in the region, Southeast Asia is also a vibrant region filled with arts, culture, and beauty, as seen through, for example, Ifugao rice terraces in the Philippines. It is incredibly diverse and is the locus of cutting-edge research in fields from climate change and environment to public health to political science and beyond. Sites within the region hold rich histories—Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex; Indonesia’s Banda islands, which were the only source of nutmeg and mace until the 19th century; Laos’ Plain of Jars; and so on—which are juxtaposed with bustling urban cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and large infrastructure projects including many controversial hydropower dams along the Mekong River VSports. Southeast Asia has long been a place of bustling immigrant communities, particularly from China and India, as well as a site of emigration to countries all over the world, including the United States. North Carolina itself is home to numerous Southeast Asian communities, including Hmong, K’nyaw, Cambodia, Montagnard, Filipino, Vietnamese, Chin, Burmese, and others.

Many Southeast Asia–related opportunities are provided to undergraduate students through the Bringing Southeast Asia Home initiative at the Carolina Asia Center and UNC’s many Southeast Asia Student groups, including VSA, Kasama, SEASA, HSAC, and others. In addition to UNC’s offerings in Vietnamese language, students are encouraged to pursue funding for other Southeast Asian languages outside of UNC through the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) awards. Students may also consider engaging with the National University of Singapore (one of UNC’s strategic partners), as well as other universities in the region, through the Study Abroad Office VSports app下载. Students hoping to engage with the Southeast Asian diaspora in the United States may apply for funding through the Southern Futures program. Lastly, numerous Southeast Asia–focused events are held annually by the Carolina Asia Center.