Mission Statement

Duke East Asia Nexus (DEAN) strives to enrich Duke University’s educational experience by promoting the active engagement of ideas on real world issues.  Our vision is to raise awareness of East Asian affairs, to develop international dialogues, and to work for diversity in all aspects of our endeavors.

DEAN as a Publication

Dukenexus.org is an online academic journal that interrogates the dynamic region of East Asia through an multidisciplinary approach. Our first issue was published in March 2008 with articles mostly by Duke students. Since then we have become one of the nation’s leading peer-reviewed academic journals that brings undergraduate scholarship on East Asia to an international audience.

In Fall 2009, DEAN obtained a grant from the Basset Fund to publish our first hard-copy journal in addition to our online journal.  Thanks to this grant, DEAN has expanded to include a bi-annual hard copy publication which puts into print a selection of the best papers found on our website. Rather than monthly issues, we now accept submissions year round for Dukenexus.org. The fall edition of the hard copy publication is released in early December and the spring edition is released in early May.

In the years to come, our contributors will include pundits from various academic disciplines, professionals with first-hand experiences with the issues, as well as college students united by an academic interest in the region. To this end, we invite fellow universities in America and East Asia to contribute articles and engage in lively dialogues on the arguments presented. By evaluating these arguments with due rigor — what they do tell us and what they fail to tell us — we can together gain new knowledge and understanding. Through this active exchange of ideas, we can make a positive contribution to the relations between America and East Asia.

DEAN as a Student Organization

The Duke East Asia Nexus (DEAN) is a multi-faceted student organization that seeks to enrich the Duke Community’s understanding of political, economic, and cultural issues facing the region of East Asia. With helpful guidance from Professors Ralph Litzinger and Anne Allison, as well as Ning Ai of Harvard Asia Pacific Review (HAPR), Duke students with an academic interest in East Asia founded DEAN in the fall of 2007.

Since 2008, DEAN has led the undergraduate initiative to establish an East Asian Studies Certificate at Duke. In 2009, DEAN co-authored the proposal for this certificate with Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI) with the hope to build a community of East Asia scholars who can work with each other and advance the discipline both inside and outside the classroom. The certificate was approved by the Curriculum Committee in Spring 2010 and was officially launched in Fall 2010.

DEAN Speaker Series 2010-2011

Jenny Town, SAIS; Robert O’Brien, Brookings; Matt Reichel and Nick Young

China Panel co-hosted with Duke International Relations Association.

Surviving the Atomic Bomb co-hosted with Rotary Club

Constitution