By Ann Friou
University News Service
August 24, 2009

The Center for International Studies at Texas State University-San Marcos has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a certificate program in Southeast Asian Studies. 

The grant, for $88,000, will allow the center to add seven new courses to the curriculum—in history, political science, mass communication, adult education and psychological services, criminal justice, family and consumer sciences, and Chinese language—as well as an internship program and a study abroad program. Chinese language courses will be offered beginning fall 2009 and the other courses will be available by fall 2011.

The Center for International Studies, widely recognized for its interdisciplinary curriculum, currently offers a certificate in Inter-American Studies, in addition to undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Studies. Texas State faculty will develop the following courses for the new certificate in Southeast Asian Studies:

• Women and Education in Southeast Asia, focusing on the role of women and education in the development of Cambodia and Southeast Asia (faculty: Ann Brooks, professor of educational and psychological services, and Fulbright Scholar 2008-2009)
• History of Southeast Asia, focusing on the history of modern Southeast Asia, including major cultural influence from India and China (faculty: Leah Renold, assistant professor of history)
• Strategic Communication in Southeast Asia, describing the role of advertising, public relations, and public communication in Asia, including a major focus on Cambodia and Southeast Asia (faculty: Sandy Rao, professor of mass communication and journalism, and associate dean of the Graduate College)
• Government and Politics of Modern Southeast Asia (faculty: Hyuan Jung Yun, assistant professor of political science)
• Family & Consumer Science in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Perspective, focusing on family, children, and household economy as the societal blocks of Southeast Asian civilization (faculty: Ani Yazedjian, assistant professor of family and consumer science)
• Criminal Justice in Southeast Asia, comparing the development of police, security, and judicial institutions in the countries of Southeast Asia (faculty: J.D. Jamieson, professor of criminal justice)
• Internship in Southeast Asia and study abroad program at Peking University in China (faculty: Dennis Dunn, professor of history and director of the Center for International Studies)

The certificate program will enlarge on a relationship that Texas State began with Southeast Asia in 2006, when alumnus Kenneth Wilson and his wife Verena gave the Center for International Studies a substantial gift to conduct student-faculty exchanges with universities and organizations in Southeast Asia. Since then, students and faculty have taught at schools in Southeast Asia and provided information on issues such as public education and public health improvement. In the exchange, Southeast Asian officials—including university faculty and Cambodia’s deputy minister to the U.S. - have visited Texas State.