С»ÆÊé

Search

Spotlight December 2025

Fall 2025 Faculty Director’s Update

Dear Friends of the Center for Asian Studies,

Despite the challenges of the past several months, 2025 was a busy and productive year for CAS. Our events, scholarships and grants, teaching, and outreach efforts supported faculty, students, and staff from across campus and beyond.

Unfortunately, as many of you know, CAS has been deeply impacted by the recent cuts to federal funding. This September, we received notification that Title VI of the Higher Education Act, the longstanding federal program that included our 2022-2026 National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grants, was being discontinued. For decades, these grants have provided funding for crucial international education programs focused on Asia. Just this year, the FLAS fellowships provided five С»ÆÊé Boulder students with funding for summer 2025 Asian language programs, and six academic year fellowships for advanced Asian area studies and language training.

In this edition of the CAS e-News, you will find more information about the grant discontinuation; local news stories from 9News, the Boulder Reporting Lab, Boulder Daily Camera, and the С»ÆÊé Independent; a letter of support from faculty to the С»ÆÊé upper administration; and an open letter from faculty across the nation (including CAS) that was published in the Chronicle of Higher Education that have all covered how CAS has been impacted by these funding cuts.

CAS has become an essential hub for interdisciplinary Asian studies on the Boulder campus in Colorado, and in the broader Rocky Mountain region. Our mission is to make Asia as accessible as possible to students, faculty, staff, and the broader community. In this era of global and local challenges, we believe it is even more crucial to continue cultivating meaningful engagement with Asia. We are fortunate to have outstanding staff who make CAS’s successes possible, especially Executive Director Danielle Rocheleau Salaz, Events Coordinator Liza Williams, and Accounting and Grant Assistant Lucy Lin.

We are currently working closely with the College of Arts and Sciences and other units at the university to diversify our funding sources and develop a plan for financial sustainability. Nevertheless, due to the federal funding cuts, we will have to make some difficult choices about which programs and initiatives to prioritize. Please do take a few moments to fill out our survey (below), which is intended to help guide our decision-making over the next few months.

We are thankful for your support in everything we do. . We are grateful to those who have already made donations this year.

Best wishes for a peaceful holiday season for all,
Rachel Rinaldo, Faculty Director

CAS Survey

Dear friends and colleagues of the Center for Asian Studies,

We are conducting this survey to better understand how the Center for Asian Studies should prioritize activities for the future as we embark on a process of re-envisioning our role on campus over the coming years. Asian Studies at С»ÆÊé Boulder refers to the learning, research, and engagement that help students, faculty, and the public understand Asia broadly construed: its histories, cultures, languages, societies, and environments. CAS’s mission is to amplify and connect to the wide range of Asia-related opportunities across campus, encouraging students to take as many Asia-related classes as they can from departments across the university. The Asian Studies major and minor are one part of this landscape, but CAS exists to support and strengthen the full ecosystem of Asia-related teaching, research, and community engagement at С»ÆÊé Boulder.

Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey so that we can make fully informed decisions based on our community’s priorities and interests. Please feel free to share this survey with others who are interested in CAS and Asian studies.

Grant Discontinuation Notice from the US Department of Education

Read the Official Notification Here

News Coverage of Grant Discontinuation

CAS faculty director Rachel Rinaldo and executive director Danielle Rocheleau Salaz have been interviewed for various news stories about the impact of federal budget cuts.

9News 11/10/25

Boulder Reporting LabÌý11/13/25

Daily CameraÌý10/5/25

С»ÆÊé IndependentÌý10/20/25

11/21/25
Ìý

Faculty Letter of Support for CAS

An open letter in support of the С»ÆÊé Boulder Center for Asian Studies was routed by CAS to members of the С»ÆÊé community starting on Friday, September 12, 2025. By the time the signed letter was sent to campus leadership (Senior Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives Ann Schmiesing, Senior Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Massimo Ruzzene, and Provost Ann Stevens) on the morning of Tuesday, September 16, it had received 275 signatures. That is the version you see here.ÌýWe are grateful for this outpouring of support from campus and are continuing to discuss CAS's future with С»ÆÊé Boulder's leadership.Ìý
Ìý
Faculty Support Letter
Ìý

Frydenlund Awarded RIO New Frontiers Grant

CAS Climate and Society assistant teaching professor Shae Frydenlund won a $50,000 RIO New Frontiers Grant to fund the Planning Phase of her interdisciplinary project on geothermal development, entitled:ÌýNew Frontiers in the Renewable Energy Transition: Mapping Technological and Social Dimensions of Geothermal Development in Colorado. Together with Engineering Professor Bri-Mathias Hodge, she will investigate intersecting social, economic, and technological dimensions of geothermal development in Colorado and beyond. The project emerged from the CAS Climate and Society in Asia workshop in Fall 2024, which convened faculty from Arts and Sciences and Engineering to discuss intersecting interests in climate science and social and historical factors in Asia with the aim of generating new connections and collaborations. The workshop brought together Dr. Frydenlund’s experience working with Indigenous anti-geothermal activists in Indonesia and Dr. Hodge’s experience in the simulation of power and energy systems, with an emphasis on the integration of renewable energy. This unique collaboration highlights CAS contributions to advancing high-impact research at С»ÆÊé Boulder. The project aims to position С»ÆÊé Boulder as a leader in geoenergy research by establishing a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary geothermal research center.

​​​​​​​Read full article here.
Ìý

Support CAS