Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University

Interested in learning more about how Duke University is incorporating climate & sustainability into classes? Click to read more about the CAST Fellows Program, it's faculty members, and their courses, like Professor Yan Liu's Chinese 450S class “Understanding China and the U.S.: Stereotypes, Conflicts, and Common Challenges.”

Incorporating Climate & Sustainability into Classes Across Duke | Duke Today Incorporating Climate & Sustainability into Classes Across Duke CAST Fellows Program helps faculty build climate and sustainability concepts in courses Image This year's CAST fellows: first row: Renee Richer; second row: Charles Chang; third row: Clara Park; fourth row (L to R): Germain Choffart, Ya...

It's AMES Graduation day! We're so proud of all our graduating majors, minors, and CAH M.A. students and are looking forward to celebrating all their hard work today. Congrats, Graduates!

We're so proud of the Duke Hindi students who participated in Yale's Hindi Debate! Click below to read more:

Yale Hindi Debate: Duke Students Shine on the National Language Stage As I entered Yale University's Luce Hall, the scent of chai and samosas greeted me. People chatted in Hindi, with many saree-clad ladies and girls and men wearing kurta pajamas, creating the atmosphere of an Indian festival. Grandparents, parents, and professors conversed with their nervous students...

Thank you to all of our students, faculty, and guests who attended yesterday's AMES Honors Reception! We are so proud of our 2024 honors students and had a wonderful time getting to learn more about them, their honors theses, and AMES major experience.

The Japanese program at Duke hosted the 37th Duke Japanese Speech Contest on March 30, 2024 on East Campus. Congratulations to all contestants from Duke, Wake Forest University and UNC Charlotte!

https://asianmideast.duke.edu/news/2024-duke-japanese-speech-contest

Click below to read more about Duke's Arabic debate team coached by AMES faculty Maha Houssami:

Inclusive Arguments for the Win Any Blue Devils basketball fans worth their horns can recite the illustrious career of Coach K by heart. While Coach K may be retired, fear not, there’s an unassuming faculty member well on her way to pulling down equally impressive stats for Duke: Coach H, or Maha Houssami, faculty advisor for th...

Bridging Cultures: The Profound Work of Dr. Mbaye Bashir Lo in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies | John Hope Franklin Center Mbaye Bashir Lo is an associate professor of the practice in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) and International Comparative Studies (ICS), and he is an affiliate o

Students from Toyama College of Foreign Languages Visit Duke for Cultural Exchange with Japanese Language Students

Read more:
https://asianmideast.duke.edu/news/students-toyama-college-foreign-languages-visit-duke-cultural-exchange-japanese-language

We're Hiring!

AMES is hiring for 3 faculty positions with a start date of July 1, 2024.
Candidates can use the AJO links below to view position details/apply:

Korean Studies:
https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/25886
South Asian Cultural Studies: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/25880
Japanese Studies: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/25879

In "I Cannot Write My Life," Duke AMES Professor Mbaye Lo and UNC Professor Carl Ernst follow two decades of Omar ibn Said's life story. Click below to read more:

Returning a Voice to an Enslaved Muslim Scholar | Duke Today Returning a Voice to an Enslaved Muslim Scholar Mbaye Lo‘s new book on Omar Ibn Said follows two decades of sharing his life story Image Published June 23, 2023 Credits Geoffrey Mock University Communications Tags Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Religion Faculty Diversity Schools Trinity College ...

"Hello From Morocco"

In this Duke Diary Dispatch, undergrad Anna Rogacki shares her Duke study abroad experience in Morocco. Click below to read more about Anna's experience:

Duke Diary Dispatch: Hello From Morocco | Duke Today Duke Diary Dispatch: Hello From Morocco Image Published June 13, 2023 Credits Anna Rogacki Tags students, undergraduate Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Schools Trinity College of Arts & Sciences During the first 2 weeks of our program, in addition to learning Arabic, we have also been taking a cour...

Last Saturday, the AMES Japanese program hosted the 38th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Japanese Teachers (SEATJ) on Duke University's East Campus. Many thanks to all our participants!

Congratulations to our graduating AMES seniors and CAH M.A. students on this year's AMES ! Wishing you all the best in the next chapter of your lives - looking forward to celebrating this afternoon!

Many thanks to this semester's Chinese 450S "Understanding China & The U.S." class, taught by AMES Professor Yan Liu, for presenting their research yesterday during Duke's last day of classes (LDOC) for the academic year.

From language policy to antiobiotics, these students shared some very interesting and important research!

Jung-Min Lee recently discussed the precursor to K-Pop with LAist.

What Does A Century-Old Musical Genre Have To Do With K-Pop? Apparently, everything. It's called trot, and it's a cornerstone of the music.

What a thoughtful piece about Yan Lianke's "Heart Sutra" translated into English by AMES Professor Carlos Rojas:

'Heart Sutra' is a satire that skewers religious institutions without mocking faith Chinese novelist Yan Lianke treats the deities of China's major religions as quiet, omnipresent participants in the novel's events, which range from slapstick comedy to shocking violence.

How can we combat anti-Asian racism most effectively and encourage social change? Join Pawan Dhingra, the Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor at Duke and UNC, for a free public lecture on March 29 at 6:30 p.m., preceded by a reception at 5:45 that’s open to all. Learn more: https://duke.is/9xafz

Kusum Kanpczyk adds cooking to her Hindi language courses as a way for students to not only learn the language but also the culture & history of India. “Students need to understand the world if they are going to be active, global citizens.” Read more:

Cultural Connections, One Meal at a Time “Don’t burn the onions.” From the faculty kitchen in the John Hope Franklin Center, the sounds of determined chopping and intermittent laughter mixed with the intoxicating aromas of cardamon, coriander, fennel and cumin escape down the hallway.

Meet Linshan Jiang the postdoc in Chinese cultural studies. She's looking beyond the nation state to underscore the joint history of East Asia. FMI:

AMES Postdoc Looks Beyond the Nation State to Underscore the Joint History of East Asia The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) welcomes Linshan Jiang, postdoctoral associate in Chinese cultural studies, to its faculty for the academic year. Jiang holds a Ph.D. in East Asian languages and cultural studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Along....

AMES welcomes Linda Galvane, postdoctoral associate in Japanese and East Asian cultural studies, to its faculty for the academic year.

AMES Postdoc Studies the Cultural Underbelly of Japanese Literature The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) welcomes Linda Galvane, postdoctoral associate in Japanese and East Asian cultural studies, to its faculty for the academic year.

Congratulations to Cole Walker (AMES major, Chinese) and Raghav Rasal (AMES minor, Chinese language) for being named Schwarzman Scholars! Click below to read more:

Two Duke Seniors, One DKU Alumnus Earn Schwarzman Scholarship for Graduate Study in China Two Duke University seniors and a Duke Kunshan University alumnus have been named Schwarzman Scholars, a program that funds one year of study in Beijing. They are among approximately 150 scholars that will begin the program in August 2023. Duke University seniors Raghav Rasal and Cole Walker have be...

Ivy Sun, a third-year Japanese major student (Class of 2024) in AMES, took second place in this year's Japanese Learning Inspired Vision and Engagement Talk (J.LIVE Talk) at George Washington University on November 13th, 2022. This Japanese-language speaking competition was sponsored by the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C., the Japan Foundation, Nanzan University, among others. Congrats, Ivy!

To read more about Ivy's accomplishment and watch her presentation click below:
https://asianmideast.duke.edu/news/ames-student-takes-second-place-2022-jlive-talk

Join us for a two-day event with guest speaker Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk at Duke University. Please be sure to register for each discussion separately with the links provided below:

Day 1
Date: Thursday November 17
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Richard White Lecture Hall
Registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/orhan-pamuk-richard-white-lecture-hall-duke-university-tickets-442131556387

Day 2
Date: Friday, November 18
Time: 1:30 PM
Location: Nasher Museum of Art
Registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/orhan-pamuk-nasher-tickets-434508104437

Duke Arabic instructor Saad El Hadi and Saad Lahrichi, member of Duke's Arabic debate team, were recently on Al Jazeera to reflect on the team's experience and win at the US Universities Arabic Debating Championship. Their interview starts at 6:28.

هذا الصباح - في قلب الدوحة.. جماهير العالم تعايش مونديال الأحلام تناولت حلقة برنامج الجزيرة هذا الصباح 24/10/2022 المواضيع التالية:فلسطين.. لمة شبابأكتوبر الوردي.. سارئل بالفوانيسبوكتوك.. المعرفة المحمولةقطر.. مونديال النا...

Congratulations to Majed Al Munefi, Saad Lahrichi, Danah Younis and Zeinab Mukhtar for WINNING the 3rd U.S. Universities Arabic Debating Championship (defeating Harvard in the finals)!

For the second year in a row, the Duke University Arabic debate team is going to the International Universities Debating Championship. And congratulations to the coach Maha Houssami for her amazing leadership!

The AMES department welcomed Mohamed Wajdi ben Hammed, postdoctoral associate in Arabic Cultural Studies, to its faculty this year. Click below to read more about ben Hammed's teaching and research.

AMES Postdoc Juxtaposes Muslim and European Thinkers to Explore Modern Arabic Literature The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) welcomed Mohamed Wajdi ben Hammed, postdoctoral associate in Arabic Cultural Studies, to its faculty this year. Along with teaching three courses for the academic year, he will also take part in scholarly events and activities, conduct resear...

Persistence and practice paid off for this Duke-UNC Arabic debate team, with our students building on the diverse experiences they acquired at Duke and individualized attention in Arabic classes, where smaller class sizes helped maximize their potential.

Click below to read more about their top 8 finish at the United States Universities Arabic Debating Championship (USADC):

No Arguments: Arabic Debate Team Among the Top Eight The mere mention of public speaking reduces many to tears: sweaty palms and dry mouth, anxiety levels off the charts and the deafening silence that soon follows when the brain refuses to cooperate. Cue the panic attack. Now, imagine not just public speaking, but debating. Now, imagine debating in Ar...

Congratulations to AMES Hindi Lecturer Dr. Kusum Knapczyk for receiving the Richard K. Lublin Award! Click below to read more.

Four Trinity Faculty Honored with 2022 Undergraduate Teaching Awards The Arts & Sciences Council’s Committee on Undergraduate Teaching has announced this year’s recipients of awards for excellence in undergraduate teaching. Each recipient was recognized at the council’s Sept. 8 meeting, where Committee Chair Connel Fullenkamp expressed appreciation for the many...

Interested in the latest issue of Working@Duke? See below for one of their featured interviews with our very own DGS Assistant, Stacy Weiss!

August/September 2022 Working@Duke Read August/September 2022 Working@Duke by Working Duke on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!

AMES Professor Didem Havlioğlu has been named one of the seven faculty members that have been chosen to serve as Duke University's first QuadEx Faculty Fellows. Click below to read more!

https://today.duke.edu/2022/08/meet-quadex-faculty-fellows

Meet the QuadEx Faculty Fellows Seven faculty members have been chosen to serve as Duke’s first QuadEx Faculty Fellows, responsible for fostering connections between Duke’s academic mission and undergraduate students’ social and residential lives. Each QuadEx Faculty Fellow will be closely associated with (but will not resid...