History of Asian Studies

The Asian Studies Program was founded back in 2011 by longtime UMBC History professor, Dr. Constantine Vaporis. Since then, the program has grown in size, resources, and more. Follow along below to learn more about the timeline of Asian Studies and the accomplishments of the program all of these years!

Skip To: 2020s | 2010s

2020s

2026:

• 3/5/26 – Special screening of Made in Ethiopia and Q&A with filmmaker Xinyan Yu; Tracy Tinga (MCS) and Guenet Abraham (Visual Arts) as discussants.
• 4/16/26 – Manil Suri Book Event: A Room in Bombay in conversation with English/MCS alumnus Aditya Desai.
• 4/29/26 – Book celebration hosted in honor of Sharon Tran’s Asian Girlhood in the Shadows of US Empire.

2025:

• 4/2/25 – Travels on the Revolution’s Edge: The Life and Times of Xu Ming (1920-2014) by Gail Hershatter, Research Professor and Distinguished Professor Emer. of History at UC Santa Cruz and a former president of the Association for Asian Studies.
• In the Fall of 2025, Dr. Fan Yang from UMBC’s Media and Communication Studies Department, took over the role as the Asian Studies Program Director.
• 9/11/25 – American Qi (?): Chinese Medicine in Music City, USA with Dr. Ruth Rogaski, History Professor at Vanderbilt University, who share about the impact of Chinese medicine in the American South.

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  10/28/25 – KPop Demon Hunters: A Conversation on Media, Culture, & Globalization sponsored by various departments of UMBC to gather and talk about the impact of this global animated film. With a panel & discussion led by Dr. Fan Yang, students were able to listen in on understanding the rippleeffect of Kpop Demon Hunters, the film that has now touched the lives of the community and the world.

  • The event was also covered and published as an official UMBC story by author Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque.

2024:

• 5/6/24 – Empathy at War: China and North Korea During the Korean War lecture with Dr. Gregg Brazinsky, Professor of History and International Affairs; Director of Asian Studies (AS) Program; and Co-Director, East Asia National Resource Center at George Washington University.
• 11/11/24 – From Pandan Donuts to Masala Chai Ice Cream: Infusing Asian Tastes into the Ethno-Culinary Imaginary with Dr. Anita Mannur, Director of the Asia, Pacific and Diaspora Studies Program and Professor of Critical Race and Gender Studies at American University.

2023:

• 11/1/23 – Why Be Moral? Confucian Perspectives on the Origin of Morality with Dr. Yunwoo Song, Professorial Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion at American University.

2020:

• 3/5/20 – Changing Landscapes, Changing Tides: The Transboundary Impact of Climate Change and Asian Economic Development with Dr. Abigail Jahiel, Professor of Environmental and International Studies at Illinois Wesleyan University.
• 9/30/20 – A Day in the Life of a Teenage Samurai: Watch Party and Question and Answer Session with Dr. Constantine Vaporis, Professor of History at UMBC and Founding Director, Asian Studies Program at UMBC.

2010s

2019:

• 3/7/19 – Japanese Calligraphy Demonstration and Workshop
• 2/22/19 – Excursion to Jewish Museum of Maryland to visit the exhibit, World War II Jewish Refugees in Shanghai.

2018:

• 4/23/18 – Japanese Tea Ceremony: Ms. Reiko Briscombe demonstrated the Japanese tea ceremony and spoke about the history, purpose and occasions that the tea ceremony is performed as well as the spiritual aspects of this ancient tradition.
• In the Fall of 2018, Dr. Meredith Oyen from UMBC’s History Department, took over the role as the Asian Studies Program Director.
• 11/5/18 – A Labor of Love: Translating Queer Fiction from Korea with Dr. Samuel Perry, Associate Professor of Asian Studies at Brown University.

2017:

• 2/4/17 – Myanmar: Perspectives on a Society in Transition lecture with Dr. Christina Fink, Cultural Anthropologist and Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at The George Washington University.

2016:

• 4/24/16 – Natural and Unnatural Disasters: 3/11, Asbestos, and the Unmaking of Japan’s Modern World with Dr. Brett Walker, Montana State University.
• 10/25/16 – Reflections in a Yoshiwara Mirror: Representing the ‘Beauties of the Azure Towers’ in Print with Professor Julie Nelson Davis, Professor of the History of Art (Modern East Asian), University of Pennsylvania.

2015:

• 2/10/15 – Mardistan (Macholand): Reflections on Indian Manhood film and discussion with Dr. Harjant Gill, Towson University.
• 3/3/15 – Without You, There is No Us with Suki Kim, journalist.
• 3/10/15 – Durations and Interruptions: People, Process, and Art at the 1985-86 Festival of India with Dr. Rebecca Brown, Johns Hopkins University.
• 8/27/2015 – Maryland’s First Lady, Yumi Hogan visits UMBC.

2013:

• 2/6/13 – A Book Presentation: The City of Devi from Manil Suri, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, UMBC.
• 3/13/13 – Past Obsessions: World War II in History and Memory with
Carol Gluck, Distinguished Lecturer, Association for Asian Studies and Department of History, Columbia University.

  

• 9/6/13 – Yakshagana Dance Performance
• 10/9/13 – The Pivot to Asia in Obama’s Second Term with Dr. Victor Cha , Georgetown professor and one of the country’s foremost experts on the Korean peninsula. He is a former Director for Asian Affairs in President George W. Bush’s National Security Council.
• 12/3/13 – Film Presentation on ‘Roots of Love’: On Sikh Hair & Turban and discussion on religion and gender in South Asia with Dr. Harjant Giil, Towson University.

2012:

• 2/8/12 – Pacific Encounter: The Japanese Iwakura Embassy in America in 1872 with
Dr. Martin Collcutt, Princeton University.
• 4/18/12 – Totaram Sanadhya’s ‘Mere Fiji Dwip me Ikkis Varsh’ (My 21 years in Fiji) and the Second
Abolition with Dr. Mrinalini Sinha, University of Michigan.
• 10/3/12 – Japanese Science and International Politics in the Interwar Period: The Nobel Candidacies of Hideky Yukawa (Physics) and Katsusaburo Yamagiwa (Physiology) with Dr. James R. Bartholomew, Professor of History, Ohio State University.

2011:

• During the year of 2011, Dr. Constantine Vaporis from UMBC’s History Department, founded Asian Studies and became the very first director of the program.
• 9/27/11 – U.S. Trade Policy In The Asia-Pacific: The Path Forward? with Ambassador Demetrios Marantis, Deputy US Trade Representative.
• 11/3/11 – China Goes Global lecture with Dr. David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs; Director, China Policy Program, The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University.