The Carolina Asia Center is now INSITE: Asia
CHAPEL HILL, NC—INSITE: Asia is the successor to the Carolina Asia Center as UNC-Chapel Hill’s interdisciplinary unit that supports students, faculty, and staff across the university to study and research on Asia. Dr. Lini Ge Polin, a professor of Chinese in the department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, is the inaugural director of INSITE: Asia. INSITE: Asia is one of the regional programs under the International Program for Scholarship, Innovation, Teaching and Engagement, or INSITE.
The Carolina Asia Center previously existed as a distinct, interdisciplinary hub for research, learning, and community outreach, along with five other centers: Africa, Europe, Eurasia and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. The decision to close the Carolina Asia Center, along with the other five standalone Area Studies Centers was “part of a broader package of budget cuts affecting many centers and institutes across campus,” according an April 1 message from James W.C. White, Craver Family Dean, College of Arts and Sciences.
According to INSITE: Asia’s web site, the program develops resources for engagement with Asia-related topics through seminars, language study, outreach, cultural competency, study abroad and visiting scholars programs. They also collaborate with regional and international institutions to develop educational programs that focus on Asia.
INSITE: Asia is designed to forward the mission of the Carolina Asia Center. “We will continue to support faculty research and teaching on Asia, create opportunities for students to engage with Asian languages and cultures, and build partnerships with communities and educators across North Carolina,” says Says Ge Polin. “Alongside this continuing work, two new emphases will shape the years ahead. The first is preparing students for careers that call for deep knowledge of Asia. The second responds to how AI is reshaping the way languages are taught and learned.”
INSITE: Asia has a staff of five: Associate Director Kevin W. Fogg, a Yale-trained historian with expertise on contemporary Indonesia; Assistant Director Becky Butler, a Cornell-trained linguist and specialist on mainland Southeast Asia; Phillips Ambassadors Program Director Dori Brady, who directs a scholarship program on Asia for Carolina undergraduates; and Visiting Scholar Assistant Gabrielle Neal, who is pursuing her MA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at UNC with a focus on China and Korea.