Southeast Asia Center

The Southeast Asia Center promotes and sustains the study of Southeast Asia and encourages understanding of Southeast Asia in the Pacific Northwest and the nation. We pursue this mission by offering language study and courses in various disciplines that focus on Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian languages offered on a regular basis by the University of Washington include Indonesian, Beginning Khmer, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese as well as the self-study of Burmese. The Southeast Asia Center actively organizes Southeast Asia-related programs such as teacher training, outreach activities and an accessible resource library that includes: print materials, microfilm, maps, and instructional media materials. These activities of the Center are assisted by funding from the University of Washington and the U.S. Department of Education.

A US Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center for Southeast Asian Studies in the Pacific Northwest, the Southeast Asia Center is housed in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies where along with seven other area study centers, it fosters cooperative efforts in teacher training and outreach. The Southeast Asia Center's interdisciplinary academic programs include a BA and MA in International Studies with a Southeast Asian Concentration as well as PhD and professional degrees involving area concentrations and research in Southeast Asia.

The Center's forty core and affiliate faculty come from the College of Arts and Sciences as well as various UW professional colleges. The Center's directorship rotates among core UW faculty. The Associate Director is a professional UW staff member who manages the daily operations of the Center along with oversight from the Director and faculty. The Center depends greatly on the contributions of student assistants, part-time staff, and university and community volunteers.

 Master of Arts Degree

The Master of Arts program in Southeast Asian Studies offers students a framework within which to carry out the interdisciplinary study of the peoples and nations of insular and mainland Southeast Asia¯Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Loro’sae, and Viet Nam. The curriculum combines training in one or more Southeast Asian languages with study of various aspects of modern and classical Southeast Asian civilizations. The University has a distinguished faculty of scholars who provide instruction in diverse areas of Southeast Asian studies, offering a rich variety of courses on these topics.

Students in the Master’s Degree program in Southeast Asian Studies may specialize in language, drama, ethno-musicology, literature, or cinema, or may concentrate in any field of social scientific application including anthropology, history, geography, political science, or sociology. Students must take courses from at least two different departments during their course of study.

The University’s Southeast Asia program offers special strengths in ethnomusicology, film, history, anthropology, archaeology, environmental studies and marine affairs, political science, sociology, cultural studies, science and technology studies, postcolonial theory, and women studies. Filipino, Thai, Indonesian, and Vietnamese are regularly taught on campus, and other Southeast Asian languages, including Burmese, can be studied by special arrangement.

Southeast Asian Studies graduates have gone on to graduate programs in various academic disciplines, as well as careers in government service, journalism, teaching, research, marine affairs, international trade, and international development.

-Laurie J. Sears
Chair, Southeast Asian Studies 

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