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| Zentrum für Ostasienwissenschaften | |
|---|---|
| Name | Zentrum für Ostasienwissenschaften |
| Native name | Zentrum für Ostasienwissenschaften |
| Established | 1990 |
| Type | Research and teaching institute |
| Location | Bonn, Germany |
Zentrum für Ostasienwissenschaften The Zentrum für Ostasienwissenschaften is a multidisciplinary research and teaching institute based in Bonn that focuses on East Asian studies, comparative regional studies, and transnational policy analysis. It engages scholars across sinology, Japanology, Korean studies, and related fields to produce research, host events, and support graduate training in partnership with European and Asian institutions. The center situates its work amid global debates involving actors such as China, Japan, Republic of Korea, European Union, and regional organizations.
Founded in 1990 during a period of institutional expansion in German area studies, the center emerged alongside contemporaneous entities such as the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, and the German Research Foundation. Early collaborations involved scholars associated with the University of Bonn, the Humboldt University of Berlin, and the University of Heidelberg, and the institute contributed to post-Cold War reorientation that paralleled initiatives by the German Foreign Office and the Bundestag. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the center hosted visiting researchers from institutions such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Tokyo, Keio University, Seoul National University, and Yonsei University, and coordinated projects responding to events like the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
The center's mission emphasizes comparative analysis of East Asian societies, historical trajectories, and policy interactions with European actors such as the European Commission and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Objectives include producing peer-reviewed scholarship that engages journals like Journal of Asian Studies, Modern China, and The China Quarterly; training doctoral candidates connected to programs at the DAAD and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; and informing policymakers in bodies such as the Bundesministerium der Verteidigung and the Auswärtiges Amt. The center prioritizes interdisciplinary linkages with specialists in collaboration with museums like the Deutsches Historisches Museum and cultural institutions such as the Goethe-Institut.
Academic offerings span master's and doctoral supervision, certificate programs coordinated with the University of Bonn graduate schools, and summer schools modeled after initiatives at SOAS University of London and the Harvard University Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. Research clusters address topics including urbanization linked to Shanghai, demographic change linked to Tokyo, technology and innovation connected to Shenzhen and Seoul, and environmental policy in contexts like East China Sea fisheries. Faculty and affiliates publish in edited volumes alongside presses such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Stanford University Press, and contribute to policy briefs used by organizations like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group and the World Bank.
Governance follows a director-and-board model typical of European research centers, with advisory input from committees that include representatives from universities such as the University of Cologne and the University of Münster, and partner institutions including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Japan Foundation. Administrative oversight coordinates finance, human resources, and grant management in compliance with standards set by the German Rectors' Conference and reporting channels to funders such as the European Research Council and national ministries. Visiting chairs have been held by scholars with affiliations to Columbia University, University of Oxford, and Peking University.
The center maintains bilateral and multilateral collaborations with academic institutions including Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, National Taiwan University, Australian National University, SOAS University of London, and Sciences Po. It partners with research networks such as the European Association for Chinese Studies, the Asian Studies Association of Germany, and consortia funded by the Horizon 2020 framework. Collaborative projects have included exchanges with the Mercator Institute for China Studies, joint symposia with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, and capacity-building with municipal partners like the City of Bonn and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Facilities include specialized libraries with collections comparable to holdings at the GISTEMP archives, language resource centers offering pedagogy for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese language, and Korean language, and digital labs equipped for GIS analysis, textual corpora, and audiovisual archiving compatible with standards used by the Digital Humanities community. The center's archive contains primary-source materials relating to historical treaties such as the Treaty of Shimonoseki and diplomatic correspondence connected to episodes like the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). Seminar rooms host lectures modeled on colloquia at the German Historical Institute and video-conferencing suites connect researchers with partners at the Asia-Europe Meeting.
Major projects have included long-term comparative studies of urban governance referencing case studies in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei; energy transition research linked to Fukushima Daiichi aftermath analyses; and migration studies related to labor flows between Vietnam and China. Publications produced under the center's imprint and in collaboration with presses and journals include monographs on modern China politics, edited volumes on Japan–Germany cultural transfers, and policy reports informing debates in the European Parliament and at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The center has organized conferences addressing themes found in works by scholars associated with Princeton University, Yale University, and University of California, Berkeley.
Category:Research institutes in Germany Category:East Asian studies