A Note from the Director

Seasons Greetings! As we all approach the holidays and look forward to a well-deserved break, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the fall semester and our community. While we miss having the opportunity to interact with you all in person, we are grateful for the opportunities that online programming has brought us. Our audiences have now grown to include communities reaching well beyond the San Francisco Bay Area. As for our speakers, we have been able to feature emerging and leading scholars in the field whose schedules and distance from SF previously made travel difficult. If you are new to the center, we welcome you to become an engaged member of our community. Wherever you are joining us from, our goal is to create a sense of community online among all those who share our passion for the Asia Pacific.

Over the last 5 months, we've engaged with our students and community about Asia through lectures, community building events, and fellowship programs. In our fall semester newsletter, we are delighted to share with your program and project highlights to give you an overview of the center's activities as we strive to achieve our mission of bridging the Pacific and promoting cross-cultural understanding. We also invite you to join us this January for our Winter Book Club and to log on in the spring semester as we showcase the voices and research of women working in the field of Asia Pacific Studies.

Wishing you health and happiness in this holiday season and throughout the coming year!

Melissa S. Dale, Ph.D
Executive Director, Center for Asia Pacific Studies