The Asian Studies Center collaborates closely with affiliates and specialists in various Departments and Colleges. As a designated National Resource Center (for Pan Asia) under the US Department of Education's Title VI program, the Center also partners internally with many units across MSU as well as externally, including higher education institutions in the Midwest and beyond, and K-12 schools. Together, we work to advance teaching, research, and outreach activities at MSU and beyond to advance knowledge and learning about Asia.
Siddharth Chandra, Ph.D.
Director, Asian Studies Center
Director, Title VI National Resource Center (Pan Asia)
Email:
Office: (517)-884-2116
Siddharth Chandra has been Director of the Asian Studies Center since 2009. The Center was a Title VI All-Asia National Resource Center between 2009-2018. He is also a Professor of Economics at James Madison College at Michigan State University. Prior to joining Michigan State University, he was Director of the Asian Studies Center and Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.
Soksamphoas Im, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Asian Studies Center
Associate Director, Title VI National Resource Center (Pan Asia), & FLAS Coordinator
Email:
Office: (517)-884-2117
Prior to joining the Asian Studies Center in December 2023, Samphoas worked in various higher education institutions and non-profit organizations, including Stanford University, Center for Khmer Studies, and Clinton Health Access Initiative - as both a researcher and a program analyst. Samphoas holds a PhD and an MA in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and an MSc in Defense, Development and Diplomacy from Durham University, the United Kingdom.
Jiahang Li, Ph.D.
Outreach Coordinator, Title VI National Resource Center (Pan Asia)
Email:
Office: (517)-884-7296
Jiahang Li joined MSU in 2013 and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education in the College of Education. Li earned a Ph.D. degree in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Maryland College Park, and M.A. and B.A. degrees from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, China. Prior to MSU, Li worked at the National Foreign Language Center.
Julia Grimm
Secretary
Email:
Office: (517)-884-2120
Julia Grimm is the secretary for Siddharth Chandra and the MSU Asian Studies Center. She has worked in various units of International Studies & and Programs (ISP) since 2011. Julia graduated from MSU with a business/social science interdisciplinary degree. In the Asian Studies Center, she facilitates ASN programming, setting up collaborative meetings, and EBS processing. She enjoys learning something new about Asia and Asian countries each day.
Mae Crowell
Fiscal Officer
Email:
Office: (517)-884-2118
Mae Crowell is the Fiscal Officer at the Asian Studies Center (and several other units within International Studies & Programs). In her role, she is responsible for managing all financial accounts and coordinating human resources. Having held a variety of staff and administration roles across campus, Mae has been a proud employee of MSU for 20 years. She enjoys the variety of programs and people she gets to work with at the Center.
Sarinna Areethamsirikul, Ph.D.
Sarinna Areethamsirikul is an event coordinator. She had worked for various international and Thai NGOs. She was a fixed-term assistant professor at James Madison College at Michigan State University between 2016 and 2017. Her interest is in the fields of international development and democratization in Southeast Asia. She received a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an M.A. in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburg.
Shaurya Arora, Office and Programmatic Student Assistant
Email:
Shaurya Arora is an Honors College Junior pursuing a Dual Degree in Finance and Economics. He began working at the Asian Studies Center this semester as an Office Programmatic Assistant and is excited about working with the Center. He loves producing music, playing the piano, and is an avid fan of FC Barcelona.
Lisa Beatty, Graphic Design and Digital Media Student Assistant
Email:
Lisa is a graphic design student in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, graduating in April 2026. Originally from Japan, she joined the Asian Studies Center as a Graphic Designer and Social Media Assistant in August 2024 to promote cross-cultural understanding through visual design.
Isabella McKimson, Office and Programmatic Student Assistant
Email:
Isabella is a Finance student at the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, with anticipated graduation in 2027. Since August 2024, she has served as the Office and Programmatic Student Assistant at the Asian Studies Center, where she draws on her personal Asian heritage to contribute to the center’s work.
Vidur Patel, Student Media/Comm Assisstant
Email:
Vidur Patel is a Game Development student at Michigan State University. He is from India. He has worked as a Media and Communication Assistant at the Asian Studies Centre since September 2024, where he is excited to share and express Indian culture.
Manan Vyas, Social/Digital Media Student Assistant
Email:
Manan is a senior majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Mathematics. He has been working at the Asian Studies Center since 2022 and is excited to continue exploring and learning more about Asian culture and heritage through this role.
FLAS Fellowships
Global Speaker Program
Asian Studies Center Newsletter
AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies
