Strategic Plan 2025-2027

At a time of increasing political polarizations and global challenges, such as climate change and geo-political tensions and wars, there is an urgent need to deepen knowledge about East and Southeast Asian societies at Lund University, in Sweden, and more broadly in Europe. The region is of great interest in and of itself due to its long and rich history and diverse cultural makeup. At the same time, many of the challenges it faces, such as an aging population, gender divides, democratic backsliding, the impact of AI, and environmental threats, are of a global concern. Moreover, the region is increasingly embedded in and impacting on global developments, rising geopolitical tensions, and security issues, making deep and context-specific expertise on the countries and cultures in East and Southeast Asia more important than ever.

In recent years we have seen challenges in higher education that are cause of deep concern. There are cut-backs in funding for studies on the region in many countries in Europe as well as in the United States. After more than 50 years of serving as a regional hub of knowledge and expertise, the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) was closed down in 2023. This will have a negative impact on education and research at a time when in-depth and critical studies of Asian societies are much needed outside of academia in order to understand developments in the region and their global implications. In the context of Sweden, there is an increasing government steering of research at the same time as general investments in humanities and the social sciences are being neglected. Securitization of international exchange in higher education as well as threats to academic freedom globally pose important ethical issues and challenges for all scholars, including those working on and in East and Southeast Asia.

We believe there is an urgent need to both safeguard and further develop education and research at the Centre, and Lund University more broadly, and highlight its important role as a national and regional hub of expertise. The Centre is currently the only interdisciplinary institution in the Nordics that covers the whole region and offers BA courses, a popular MSc in Asian Studies, and a PhD program. It has the largest number of researchers focusing on the region in Sweden and the country’s only specialized library. The Centre also coordinates the Graduate School in Asian Studies funded by the Swedish Research Council. In order to further strengthen education and research on East and Southeast Asia, the
Centre’s strategic goals are to:

1. Provide research-led teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels in order to foster new cohorts of students with critical area-specific expertise.

• 1.1. Further develop courses on timely topics of a broad interest, including interdisciplinary courses that involve several faculties at Lund University.
• 1.2. Further develop online courses that target diverse groups of students and professionals.
• 1.3. Explore internship possibilities for students and strengthen our alumni network.

2. Promote a strong research environment and be a leading institution in Europe through critical and cutting-edge research projects.

• 2.1. Further develop and strengthen our research clusters through joint applications.
• 2.2. Explore diverse funding opportunities in Sweden and the EU.
• 2.3. Identify and prioritize new areas of research, for example on climate change, sustainability issues and AI, when it comes to strategic recruitments and the hosting of researchers with external funding.

3. Serve as a meeting place for students and scholars at Lund University, and Sweden, with an interest in East and Southeast Asia.

• 3.1. Encourage new collaborations in teaching and research.
• 3.2. Support and make the Asia Library visible as a unique resource in Lund and beyond.

4. Foster a new generation of scholars in Sweden through our PhD program and the Graduate School in Asian Studies.

• 4.1. Secure funding for PhD positions from Sweden and the EU.
• 4.2. Develop networks with other PhD programs in Europe and beyond.
• 4.3. Welcome visiting PhD students from around the world.

5. Safeguard academic freedom and critical and independent education and research in Sweden and beyond.

• 5.1. Provide an environment that ensures that students and staff feel safe and are able to continue to discuss and do research on critical topics.
• 5.2. Support colleagues abroad and whenever possible offer possibilities to be affiliated with or be a visiting research fellow at the Centre.

6. Disseminate research through various platforms and increase our visibility.

• 6.1. Strengthen our visibility in media and through various platforms.
• 6.2. Further develop our already existing journals and other outlets such as the Nordic Asia Podcast.
• 6.3. Develop a new book series, Lund East and Southeast Asian Studies, to showcase both dissertations and other work.

7. Organize seminars, public lectures, workshops, film screenings, and other events.

• 7.1. Organize events on timely and relevant topics targeting students, scholars, and the general public.