The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) of Jinan University was formally founded in 1960 and after the establishment of the Department of International Relations in 2002, the Institute and the Department were integrated under a two-in-one system. ISEAS is one of the earliest and largest research centers in Jinan University and among its kinds in China, it is the one with longer history, larger scale and more influence.

The predecessor of ISEAS was the Research Team on the Economy of HongKong, Macao, Overseas Chinese and Southeast Asia of Guangzhou Philosophy and Social Science Institute of Chinese Academy of Science, founded in 1958, which was soon renamed the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of the Branch of the South Middle of Chinese Academy of Science.

The history of ISEAS can be traced back to the 1920s. Beginning from 1927, Jinan University, the first university founded by the state in 1906 to offer education to overseas Chinese, established Nanyang Culture and Education Undertaking Department to gather talents to make a systematic study of Southeast Asia and overseas Chinese. The Department initiated the Southeast Asian and overseas Chinese studies in China by publishing several magazines, such as Nanyang Studies and Nanyang Information, as well as various related monographs and training researchers for Southeast Asian study.     

From 1960 to 1966, it was the initial stage for ISEAS, and it came to be an institute with 40 researchers, over 30,000 books in different languages and a quarterly Material on Southeast Asian Studies. During this period, ISEAS was directed by Mr. Situ Zan, a famous patriotic overseas Chinese leader and educationalist from Indonesia and showed fine potential for further development due to their efforts and contributions of Mr. Situ Zan and other predecessors.

ISEAS was closed during the “Cultural Revolution” and reestablished in 1978 when Jinan University reopened. At that time, its post of director was concurrently held by the then president of Jinan University and vice governor of Guangdong province.

ISEAS is a comprehensive interdisciplinary research center with a focus on the studies of the economy, politics, international relations and the overseas and ethnic Chinese issue in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in the Southeast Asia. It consists of Research Team on Economy and Politics, Research Team on International Relations, Research Team on Culture and Education, Research Team on Ethnic Chinese, Office of Information and Materials and the Publishing House of Southeast Asian Studies.

ISEAS has recently taken a deep system reform in the need of its disciplinary construction and development. As a result of the reform, a BA in International Politics began to be offered from May 2002 with the permission of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and the Ministry of Education and the first students for this program was enrolled in the summer of 2002. In July 2002, the Department of International Relations was established and integrated into ISEAS under a two-in-one system of researching and teaching.

At present, the institute and department offers a doctoral program in international relations, two MA programs in international politics and international relations and a BA program in international politics. And it is also the research base for the Asia Pacific Research Center of Jinan University and Guangdong International Relations Promotion Association, which were jointly founded by the institute. It consists of 20 faculty members half of whom are senior research fellows with doctor or master degree, three are postgraduate tutors for doctoral program and eight are postgraduate tutors for MA program. Besides, there are more than 50 part-time researchers at home and abroad. Since 1990, the institute and department has already undertaken more than 50 important research projects at all levels and published some 40 monographs.

The institute and department has published more than 100 issues of the bi-monthly academic magazine Southeast Asian Studies for nearly 40 years with 120 thousand words in each issue, which was formerly called Material on Southeast Asian Studies. After its public distribution in 1988, the magazine is sold at home and abroad and gets much concern and good reputation among the experts and scholars, the academic research centers and the related organizations in this field. It is also the reference magazine for Chinese Social Science Content Index (CSSCI), the comprehensive evaluating database of Chinese Academic Periodical and the Chinese Humanity and Social Science Content database.

The institute and department has always been trying to enlarge its external academic exchange, and has built up close connections with other academic research centers and practical organizations at home and abroad.

The institute and department is one of the main participants in the construction of the discipline of History of Sino-Foreign Relations and Ethnic Chinese, which is being mainly constructed in Jinan University’s “211 project”.

Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia Issue 10 (August 2008)