The Asian Studies Center Global Speaker Program aims to stimulate and increase academic and scholarly interest about Asia at MSU, offering both virtual and in-person formats to share views on any Asia-focused topic.

Faculty members and academic specialists engaged in teaching, research, and outreach at MSU are invited to apply for funding to invite speakers to share their views on any Asia-focused topic that is likely to be of interest to any section of the MSU community. Possible formats for such an event include, but are not restricted to:

1. a one-time speaker session with one guest,
2. a one-time panel session with multiple speakers, or
3. a series of sessions involving different speakers.

The session(s) may be a part of course instruction (i.e., held during normal instruction times) or as an additional session outside of instruction time. With this in mind, MSU faculty and academic specialists are encouraged to invite authors of books and scholars whose work serves as reading material for a course. However, this is not a requirement for funding. Faculty and academic specialists are also encouraged to envision these events as open lectures to create learning opportunities to a wider MSU audience with a general interest in the selected topic.

The Asian Studies Center will support the logistics of the event. However, the proposing MSU faculty member and academic specialist will formally host or arrange to host the proposed event.

To view previous GSP events please visit our GSP archive. 

Award & Application Information

Funding is to be used to cover speaker honoraria, with the following honorarium rates:

• $300 per person for virtual speakers,
• $500 per person for in-person speakers.

Awards are limited to a maximum of $1,500 for events featuring multiple speakers. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis.

Follow Up 

After the Speaker Session, the sponsoring faculty member is required to email the Asian Studies Center to Dr. Soksamphoas Im at imsoksam(at)msu.edu (cc: Julia Grimm at grimmju(at)msu.edu) an estimate of the number of participants who attended each session. Speaker honorarium payments and other reimbursable expenses will be processed after the event.