General

The Centre will continue to reach out to students and staff at Lund University and publishing information about Centre events and courses in the HT newsletter and on different social media platforms. The Centre will also announce and hire a lecturer on contemporary Korean society.

Education

The Centre will work to strengthen student recruitment through marketing on different platforms and in different contexts. It will market its range of BA level courses and elective MA level courses at Lund University, as well as market its MA program more broadly.

It is important for the Centre to continue to apply for funding for developing and supporting education and courses at the BA level. The Centre will also further develop its alumni network and organize a new alumni event in the spring.

The Centre will continue its work to strengthen collaboration with partner institutes in East and South-East Asia for students who want to do fieldwork or study in the region.

Ph.D. education

The Centre currently has five Ph.D. students and will during the year apply for two positions with start date September 2024. The recently established Graduate School in Asian Studies, a new website is going to be set-up at www.graduateschoolasianstudies.lu.se , will enable the Centre to organise and co-organise a range of events, workshops, and courses that will benefit PhD students at the Centre and at other universities in Sweden. One course on ethics and fieldwork in authoritarian contexts takes place during the spring semester and at least one more course will take place during the fall. Several webinars and seminars on timely topics will also be organised. In the spring webinars on academic freedom issues in Asia will for example be organised. The Centre will also host visiting Ph.D. students through a mobility programme and will welcome four students during the spring semester. At least two-three students will be accepted in the fall. A first annual retreat in September for all Swedish PhD students is also planned.

Networking, visiting scholars, and collaborations

The Centre is involved in the Lund University Human Rights Profile Area. It will also continue to develop its international network, including its membership of the NIAS NNC council and the European Alliance for Asian Studies.

Further networking with selected Asian studies centres in both Europe and East and South-East Asia will be explored. Conditions permitting, visits to relevant institutions, for example in Singapore and Korea, will be undertaken to further explore collaboration. In addition, the Centre will work to develop closer ties with the Nordic Centre at Fudan University.

The Centre will continue to accept visiting scholars for shorter stays whenever possible, in order to further strengthen networking and collaboration.

Research

The Centre is nominating a candidate for a Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Academic fellowship and one for a Pro Futura Fellowship. One application to a Riksbanken Program will be submitted, and other research applications will be discussed throughout the year.

Public events and visibility

The Centre will continue to organise 5-6 open lectures each semester on timely topics with invited scholars. During the spring this includes events on transnational repression, Islam in Indonesia, and maritime security issues in Asia among other topics.

The Centre is also planning several other events and workshops, including a workshop on Japanese studies in September.

The Centre continues its cooperation with the Foreign Policy Association with 1-2 events each year.