In 2004 the Asian Studies Program at Austin College was successful in applying for a competitive grant from the US Department of Education. 
We were awarded a two-year grant of more than $145,000 under the
Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program.  

Faculty Development 
     A large part of our grant program focused on Faculty Development.  As a result of the grant, 18 faculty members received some sort of training on Asia.  Eight faculty members received funds to complete individual research projects, and 12 were involved in at least one stage of the Infusing Asia into the Undergraduate Curriculum Seminars that were created to provide expertise on Asia for a group of non-Asianist faculty. 

Resource Development
     Also a significant aspect to the grant, we were able to build up our material resources dealing with Japan and Asian Studies generally.  This will make it easier for faculty when designing courses, and make it possible for students to do more in-depth research on Asia. 

Japanese Adjunct
     The grant also allowed us to hire an adjunct professor to teach some intermediate level Japanese courses enabling us to free up Dr. Langton to offer more higher level courses in Japanese.

Events
We also held a number of events to help raise the profile of Asia and Asian Studies on Campus and in the local community.  Each of these activities brought a different aspect of Japanese culture to campus, creating excitement about Asia and broadening the base of students interested in studying Asia in depth.

Traditional Japanese Theater Workshops and Demonstrations
Japanese Film Series & Lecture
Taiko Drummer performance
Japanese Model UN Delegation visit