American University’s ASEAN Studies Center, the first of its kind to be established in the United States, was formally launched at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 14, 2009, by AU’s Dean of the School of International Service, Professor Louis Goodman, and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan. The Center is part of AU’s School of International Service, the largest and one of the oldest schools of international relations in the United States.
Welcome
Welcome to the ASEAN Studies Center website. We are pleased to tell you about our objectives, programs and resources.
The ASEAN Studies Center (ASC), part of the School of International Service (SIS) at American University (AU), Washington, D.C., was formally launched at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 14, 2009, and had its US launch on the AU campus on February 16, 2010. By being attached to AU, this first US-based ASEAN Studies Center benefits not only from Washington’s key position at the nexus of US-ASEAN relations but also from the extraordinary institutional resources of SIS, the world’s largest school of international relations.
Briefly stated, the ASC’s primary objectives are to (1) conduct research, (2) organize conferences, training workshops and other events, (3) serve the needs of American University students and faculty, and (4) develop collaborative relationships with partner institutions in the United State, Southeast Asia, and other countries. It works closely with the ASEAN Secretariat (notably its Secretary-General, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan) and relevant US and Southeast Asian government agencies, academic communities, research institutes and NGOs.
This website aims to be an authoritative source of information to help researchers, academics, and policy makers gain ready access to ASEAN-related materials (including selected US official documents relating to ASEAN and its member countries), conferences, workshops, and exchange opportunities. In addition to information on ASC activities and linkages to other relevant sites, the ASC website contains an ever-expanding database on experts, based in the US and elsewhere, who work on ASEAN.
We hope you will find this website both informative and readily navigable. Please feel to contact us with any suggestions to make it even better.
Pek Koon Heng, PhD
Director
Objectives and Activities
The ASEAN Studies Center has the following objectives:
- To conduct research into various aspects of ASEAN, including economic, political, security and socio-cultural activities and cooperation, ASEAN’s institutional development, ASEAN’s relations with the US and other major powers, and its impact on international relations of the Asia Pacific region;
- To organize seminars, conferences, and training programs that advance knowledge and analysis of ASEAN for academic and policy communities;
- To assist and train students at American University interested in ASEAN and Southeast Asian affairs through course offerings, graduate supervision, study abroad programs, fieldwork travel support, and internships at the ASEAN Secretariat and elsewhere in Southeast Asia; and
- To develop collaborative activities in partnership with institutions in the U.S, Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific region which have similar aims and interests.
The Center will work collaboratively with the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta and with US government agencies, think-tanks and research institutes in Washington, as well as with Southeast Asia institutions and other ASEAN research centers in the United States and abroad.
