Advisory Council

The Asian Studies Advisory Council (ASAC) provides guidance and support to the Asian Studies Program Director, oversees Asian Studies degree programs, makes recommendations on policy matters related to teaching and research about Asia at the university, and encourages the participation of students and faculty colleagues in the scholarly and co-curricular activities of the Asian Studies Program. Their activities are guided by the ASAC Bylaws. Advisory Council members serve for 3-year terms. Members of the Asian Studies Executive Committee (marked with *) advise the Director between meetings of the Advisory Council, meet with the College of Arts and Sciences Dean, and make recommendations to the Advisory Council on policy and curriculum changes. Members are elected by the Advisory Council and serve for 1-year terms.

Diana Aga.

Diana Aga

Department of Chemistry

Specialties include research in the fate and transport of pollutants and environmental chemistry and toxicology.

John Atkinson.

John Atkinson

Department of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering

Specialties include air pollution control and the development of sustainable materials that will improve indoor and outdoor air quality.

Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen.

Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen

Department of Geography

Specialties include economic and urban geography, innovation and industry studies, foreign direct investment, and biotech and bioenergy.

Anya Bernstein.

Anya Bernstein

UB School of Law

Specialties include administrative law, national security, federal liability and federal jurisdiction, immigration, law and culture, and legality and political culture in Greater China.

Rebecca French.

Rebecca French *

UB School of Law

Research interests include the intersections of law, anthropology, legal theory, religious studies and Buddhist legal systems, and Tibetan and Indonesian immigration and cultural issues.

Winston Chang.

Winston Chang

Department of Economics

Research interests include international trade and economics, and East Asian economies.

Filomena Critelli.

Filomena Critelli

School of Social Work

Specialties include Child welfare policy and practice; family policy; youth development; immigration and transnational issues.

Walter Hakala.

Walter Hakala

Department of English and Asian Studies Program

Research interests include Urdu and Indo-Persian literature, Mughal and early colonial history in northern India, and Sufism and Islam in South Asia.

Junhao Hong.

Junhao Hong

Department of Communication

Research focuses on global communication issues, relationships between media and society in Asian societies, and how media formations differ in different societies.

Sameer Honwad.

Sameer Honwad

Graduate School of Education

Research interests include building learning communities for environmental science.

Hyein Amber Kim.

Hyein Amber Kim

Linguistics, Korean Language Program

Specialties include Specialties: Korean Language, Race and Ethnicity, Identity, Multicultural Education, and TESOL.

Isok Kim.

Isok Kim

School of Social Work

Specialties include Immigrants and refugees; refugee-related trauma; post-resettlement challenges; cultural competence/humility in interprofessional education; community-based participatory research.

Wooksoo Kim.

Wooksoo Kim

School of Social Work

Research interests include Asian immigrants, Asian immigrant elders and their mental health, alcohol use and gambling, immigration and acculturation, and community-based research.

EunHee Lee.

EunHee Lee

Department of Linguistics, Asian Studies Program

Research interests include natural language semantics, second language acquisition, and the structure of the Korean language.

Jeehyun Lim.

Jeehyun Lim *

Department of English

Specialties include Asian American literature and culture; theories of race, ethnicity, migration, and diaspora; cultures of liberalism.

Yan Liu.

Yan Liu

Department of History.

Specialties include the history of medicine in the first millennium, the history of pharmacology, religious healing (Daoism and Buddhism), and alchemy.

Sean MacDonald.

Sean MacDonald

Linguistics, Chinese Language Program

Specialties include Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Animation Studies, Chinese-English Translation.

Nadine (Shaanta) Murshid.

Nadine (Shaanta) Murshid

School of Social Work

Research interests include microfinance and masculinity, domestic violence, genocide, political violence, trauma, and social movements.

Mark Nathan.

Mark Nathan *

Department of History and Asian Studies Program

Research interests include Buddhism in Korean history, law and religion, transnational religious developments, and religious propagation in Asia.

Jiyoung Park.

Jiyoung Park

School of Architecture and Planning, Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Research interests include urban economics and transportation modeling as applied to natural and man-made environmental and security problems.

Jessie Poon.

Jessie Poon

Department of Geography, Director of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Study Center

Research interests include economic and regional development, political economy of Asia,  Asian business networks, and globalization and multinationals in Asia.

Molly Poremski.

Molly Poremski *

UB Libraries, Asian Studies Liaison

Mitsuaki Shimojo.

Mitsuaki Shimojo

Department of Linguistics

Research interests include properties of Japanese grammar, lexical-semantic and psycholinguistic aspects of categorization in Japanese, and Japanese syntax in conversation.

Jin Young Song.

Jin Young Song

School of Architecture and Planning, Department of Architecture

Research interests include urban regeneration through building façade, urban housing in Asia, and sensation and affection in memorial design.

Kristin Stapleton.

Kristin Stapleton

Department of History

Research interests include modern China, the history of Chinese family life, Chinese socialism, humor in history, and the place of non-U.S. history in American intellectual life.

X. Christine Wang.

X. Christine Wang

Graduate School of Education Early Childhood Research Center, Learning and Instruction

Research interests include technology and early learning & development, digital literacies and science inquiry, and early education in international contexts.

Eun-Hye Yoo.

Eun-Hye Yoo

Department of Geography

Research interests include GIScience, geostatistics, spatial statistics, public health and environmental modeling, spatial hedonic modeling, and uncertainty analysis.

The Asian Studies Executive Committee members are: Jeehyun Lim and Molly Poremski. Asian Studies Director Mark Nathan and Director of Undergraduate Studies Amanda Kennell serve ex officio.

Advisory Council Chairs: Rebecca French