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.
Sadia Kazi, Office and Programmatic Student Assistant
Email:
Sadia is a first-year graduate student in the Master of Public Policy (M.P.P) program at Michigan State University. She is originally from Bangladesh. Sadia joined the Asian Studies Center as an Office and Programmatic Assistant in October 2022 and she is excited to continue exploring and learn more about Asian culture, heritage, and policy environment through this role.
FLAS Fellowships
Global Speaker Program
Asian Studies Center Newsletter
AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies
