Four years into the Henry Luce Foundation’s Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment (LIASE) grant to Trinity College, we are celebrating the main activities and accomplishments supported by this grant administered by CUGS through an international symposium on campus on April 3-4, 2017. Entitled “Urban Sustainability in Asia: Many Dimensions, Multiple Disciplines, and Diverse Approaches,” this symposium highlights a number of Luce-funded curricular activities.
First, several Trinity faculty will share their experiences teaching the summer study-away programs in China, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Second, we will learn from three peer institutions (Bard College, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and Hobart & William Smith Colleges) that were also awarded the LIASE grant. The symposium devotes an entire afternoon to student programming. While seven Trinity students and recent graduates will reflect on their participation in the summer programs over last few years, eight other Trinity students will present their summer research projects funded by the Luce grant. The symposium concludes with a set of research presentations by faculty members, including the current Luce Foundation visiting scholar (see p. 2 ).
The LIASE grant not only has allowed Trinity to launch a set of new curricular initiatives and activities but also to reinforce and amplify distinctive existing programs. With the Luce grant, we have been able to expand the geographic scope of our earlier China-focused summer program to Southeast Asia and Japan and thus bring in more faculty members as instructors. The opportunities for Trinity students to conduct out summer research in Asian cities through the Luce grant have infused and enriched the steady growth of a student summer research program at CUGS. The four Luce Foundation visiting scholars from China and Great Britain have brought new and local expertise to Trinity through the teaching of Sustainable Urban Development, which in turn has strengthened the already vibrant Urban Studies program.
