▷Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies
The Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies was established in July 2022 as the first area studies centre founded by the IIAS. Closely aligned with the development of Area Studies as a first-level discipline, the Center focuses on foundational research and adopts fieldwork as its primary methodological approach. Drawing on the interdisciplinary strengths of IIAS, it is committed to serving national strategic needs while actively promoting the development of South and Southeast Asian studies, research innovation, public service, and international academic exchange and cooperation. The Center also publishes South Asian Review, a publicly available academic serial first launched in 2022.
The Center’s research covers countries and regions including Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, and Vietnam. It has established teaching and research partnerships with leading domestic and international institutions, including the China (Kunming) Academy of South and Southeast Asia, Kyoto University in Japan, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India. In addition, the Center has collaborated with Thammasat University in Thailand to establish the Bangkok Field Station, and with Kathmandu University in Nepal to establish the Kathmandu Field Station, further expanding and deepening its localised academic engagement and international cooperation.
▷Center for West Asian and North African Studies
The Center for West Asian and North African Studies at IIAS was established in November 2022. The Center is committed to foundational research and fieldwork-based inquiry, and is dedicated to academic research and talent cultivation on West Asia and North Africa from the perspectives of comparative and interdisciplinary studies, integrating both historical and contemporary dimensions. Its research covers a broad range of countries across the region, including Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Egypt, Palestine, Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Israel.
The Center maintains close academic exchange and cooperation with internationally recognised universities and research institutions. Its principal partners include the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, the University of Exeter, the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Saudi Arabia, and the Faculty of Political Science and Economics at Shahid Beheshti University in Iran. In addition, the Center has jointly established a field station in Sharjah with the Research Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, further expanding and deepening bilateral academic collaboration.
▷Center for Eurasia Studies
The Center for Eurasian Studies of the Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) at Tsinghua University was founded in November 2022. The center is dedicated to promoting the development of area studies as a first-level discipline while conducting Eurasian studies and nurturing talents. Under its new system of disciplines, the Center is committed to building a synergistic and supportive academic research community to offer an encouraging environment for academic exchange for PhD students, researchers and visiting scholars.
Team members possess diverse disciplinary backgrounds, covering political science, economics, world history and other disciplines, and their research spans many countries and regions, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Romania, and the Korean Peninsula. Every semester, the Center organizes a series of academic lectures and conferences on different topics, as well as film, documentary and art exhibitions, providing a platform for scholars and anyone else interested to learn more about Eurasia.
The Center maintains close academic ties with a number of universities and research institutions in China and abroad. It has engaged in extensive, accomplishment-laden cooperation and joint research projects with Oxford University, the University of Exeter, KIMEP University in Kazakhstan, Osh State University in Kyrgyzstan, and the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. In addition, field research in Eurasian studies by PhD students at the IIAS is supported by overseas partner institutions.
▷Center for Sub-Saharan African Studies
The Center for Sub-Saharan African Studies (CSAS) was founded in April 2024 as an affiliate to the Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) at Tsinghua University. The Center prioritizes fundamental research, fieldwork, and the construction of research databases related to African studies, dedicating itself to the development of the first-level discipline of Area Studies in China. With the production and dissemination of knowledge on African Studies as its mission, the Center is committed to promoting the exchange of academic insights, and strives to become an important research platform connecting China, Africa, and the international African Studies community.
The researchers at the Center possess multidisciplinary expertise spanning sociology, economics, political science, public administration, world history, anthropology, and other disciplines, with geographic coverage encompassing South Africa, Tanzania, Madagascar, Uganda, Rwanda, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, and other Sub-Saharan African countries.
The Center maintains close academic ties with numerous universities and research institutes both in China and abroad, especially those in Sub-Saharan African countries. It has developed substantive cooperation with institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Exeter, the University of Cape Town, the University of Rwanda, the University of Dar es Salaam, the Ifakara Health Institute of Tanzania, the Makerere University, the University of Toamasina, the University of Mauritius, the University of Lagos, the Medical College of the Aga Khan University in Kenya, and the University of Dakar, among others. The academic exchanges, field research, and academic visits carried out by the Center’s faculty and students in their research countries have been supported by these partner institutions. Additionally, the Center has jointly established a field station with the University of Rwanda in Kigali, which will further expand and deepen the cooperation between the two sides.
▷Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) of Tsinghua University was established in April 2024. The Center is committed to advancing area studies, with a focus on Latin American and Caribbean studies and talent cultivation. It prioritizes problem-oriented basic research, long-time extensive fieldwork, interdisciplinary collaboration through comparative studies, and theoretical innovation that balances particularity and generality. The Center’s goals include conducting in-depth examinations of the history and reality of Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting knowledge production and talent cultivation, and facilitating academic exchange. It aims to foster an academic community in Latin American and Caribbean studies, encompassing researchers, PhD students, and scholars from around the world, to encourage collaborative and innovative academic endeavors.
The research team possesses diverse disciplinary backgrounds spanning political science, economics, public administration, sociology, world history, art theory, and ecology, with geographic coverage encompassing Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Chile , etc.. Each semester, the Center organizes various academic activities, including individual and series lectures, academic conferences and salons, to provide a platform for scholars specializing in Latin American and Caribbean Studies to deepen their understanding of the region.
The Center continues to enhance exchanges and cooperation with the world-renowned universities and research institutions through joint research projects, academic conferences, and field research. Currently, the Center's partners include University of Oxford, University of Exeter, University of CEMA, Torcuato Di Tella University, University of Chile, University of Brasilia, College of Mexico, National Autonomous University of Mexico, etc.
Building upon the interdisciplinary and inter-regional teaching and research strengths of the IIAS, the Center aims to enrich the academic community's knowledge and understanding of area studies. It seeks to advance the development of the first-level discipline of area studies, and endeavor to play an important academic role in the advancement of Latin American and Caribbean studies.
▷Center for Global Studies
The Center for Global Studies addresses the impact which the global economy and the global political order have on the countries and regions of the Global South. In pursuing this objective, it seeks to explore and develop methodologies, theories, and paradigms for Area Studies which enable an integrated understanding of the Global South. The focus is on issues which are of shared interest to the countries of the Global South, using interdisciplinary approaches. At the same time, to strengthen the empirical foundation of regional and country-specific research, the centre has established fieldwork stations in core research regions based on the research needs of developing countries. The fieldwork stations adhere to the research philosophy of ‘rooting in the field and immersing deeply,’ aiming to build a comprehensive field research platform that integrates academic research, talent cultivation, and knowledge production. By having researchers reside long-term in target countries and deeply integrate into local social structures, the stations provide vibrant empirical support for the theoretical construction of global issues. Attention is, in particular, given to the impact of global factors on these countries. The center adheres to perspectives of topic-led transnational and cross-regional comparative research, takes into account the theoretical foundation of discipline and cross-regional perspectives, and focuses on promoting theoretical construction, field research, academic network construction, data resource management and student training related to global issues.
The research team of the center has a diverse disciplinary background, covering different disciplines including political science, history, sociology, and anthropology. The study covers a wide range of regions, including Sub-Saharan African, Eurasia, Latin American and Caribbean, West Asian and North African, and South and Southeast Asian.
In terms of work content, the center will strive to promote topic focus and theoretical construction of global issues research, seek optimal combination between interdisciplinarity, regional foundation and global issues, and carry out cutting-edge research practice and theoretical innovation exploration around global issues.
