Eastern Connecticut State University recently joined a partnership with the New York Southeast Asia Network (NYSEAN), a multidisciplinary group of scholars at colleges and universities in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey who specialize in Southeast Asian studies. The network allows for collaboration in research, conferences and workshops. Eastern is one of the first schools to partner with the network, which is housed at Columbia University, and joins other universities such as Cornell University, Seton Hall University and Pace University.  

Eastern has joined the network as a campus community, which allows all students and faculty to link with NYSEAN to promote cultural programs and original research. By joining NYSEAN, Eastern will be able to expand the community of learners studying Southeast Asia.  

The main benefit of joining the network is access to funding opportunities. Students and faculty can apply for competitive funding for research, cultural and education programs and raising awareness regarding the histories and cultures of Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian diaspora around the world, including New England.  

Bradley Davis, associate professor of history and coordinator of the Asian Studies minor, looks forward to this networking opportunity: “Eastern and the entire CSU system, not to mention the state of Connecticut, is really a hotbed for research on Southeast Asia.”  

“At Eastern, through student engagement and faculty-mentored student research, we have already accomplished a great deal,” says Davis. “The Asian Cultural Society has brought not only Lunar New Year but also the traditional New Year celebrations of Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand to our campus.” Other examples of Eastern’s interest in Southeast Asia includes the Knight House regularly hosting Ajahn Boumlieng from the Lane Xang Buddhist temple in Willington; recent student-run research including a study of tropical medicine in the Philippines and the history of agriculture in Java; and a current project on traditional Cambodian dance.  

In the coming years the NYSEAN network will open multiple doors for Eastern faculty and students alike. “We have an exciting multicultural campus community,” says Davis. “I really look forward to students and colleagues connecting with the NYSEAN to bring their work to the region and the world.”