Freeman Gift Will Further Asian Studies

The Freeman Foundation, a Vermont-based philanthropic organization that promotes Asian studies, has awarded $2 million to the College of Arts and Sciences' curriculum in Asian studies.

Course offerings in Asian studies will expand greatly because of the gift, said Miles Fletcher, history professor and chairman of the Asian studies curriculum.

Two of the most prominent new features of the Asian studies program will be an eight-week summer program that will be established in Beijing and a five-week program in Kyoto, Japan.

The summer program in Beijing will be modeled after a Burch Field Research Seminar that took place in Beijing in the spring of 2001, said James Hevia, chairman of the curriculum in international studies.

In the Burch seminar, 15 students worked on individual projects focusing on issues in contemporary China, although Hevia said he hopes to expand the program's scope with the new funds.

"We hope to take up to 40 students per year to Asia," he said.

The funds also will be used to provide scholarships for 15 students who want to participate in one of UNC's already established programs in Asia.

New faculty also will be hired for the curriculum, including additional professors in Chinese language and literature and Japanese language and literature and a new director for the Center of Asian Studies, Fletcher said.

Thirteen faculty members now teach courses in the Asian studies curriculum.

Some funds will be allotted to purchase new library materials for undergraduate courses and to attract distinguished speakers.

The Freeman grant is not the only funding that the Asian studies program has received.

In November, UNC alumnus Alston Gardner donated $10 million to Asian and international studies at UNC.

"It's a promise for future development," Fletcher said. "There will be many more opportunities for UNC students to study in Asia as a result of the Gardner and Freeman gifts."

Hevia said he was relieved that the University received the grant. The Freeman Foundation gave about $100 million in gifts to 40 colleges and universities in 2001, he said. "We put together a very good proposal, competitive with other institutions," Hevia said.

Other schools that received grants from the foundation include Duke University and the University of Florida.

Speed Hallman, director of development communications, said the grant counts toward the $1.5 billion goal of the Carolina First campaign -- a seven-year private fund-raising campaign that began in 1999.

Hallman said, "I think the gift is special because it supports top priorities and goals of the Asian studies program, and it's a great match between the foundation's interest and Carolina's."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.