Weatherhead East Asian Institute

The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) at Columbia University is a community of scholars affiliated with Columbia's schools. Its mission is to train new generations of experts on East Asian topics in the humanities, social sciences, and the professions and to enhance understanding of East Asia in the wider community. Since its establishment in 1949 as the East Asian Institute, the WEAI has been the center for modern and contemporary East Asia research, studies, and publication at Columbia, covering China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Mongolia (Inner Asia), Tibet, and, increasingly, the countries of Southeast Asia.

The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) and East Asian Studies at Columbia has been recognized by a wide variety of funding sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, which, since 1960, has designated Columbia as an East Asian National Resource Center.

The Weatherhead endowment supports a significant expansion of Institute programs, including the creation of postdoctoral fellowships, visiting professorships, a faculty research program, graduate training grants, student internships, a resident fellows program, and symposiums and workshops. The endowment will also support graduate fellowships for students pursuing advanced degrees in East Asian-related fields.