The Year in Review: 2025

2025 Highlights

"50-30" panel discussion
50-30: From War to Peace in Vietnam and the United States

A three-day symposium commemorating America's involvement in Vietnam focused equally on war and peace.

Opportunities and Challenges for Southeast Asian Relations Under Trump 2.0
Opportunities and Challenges for US-SE Asian Relations Under Trump II

Weatherhead's March conference offered the ASEAN nations' perspectives on the new dispensation in global affairs. 

Center for Korean Research website
New Hires, New Website Signal a Revitalized Center for Korean Research

A Fall 2025 relaunch ensured that CKR is once again a vital hub for Korean Studies at Columbia.

2024–25 Annual Report
2024–2025 Annual Report

This year's report covered the second half of our 75th anniversary year and included a comprehensive listing of public programs and a complete community roster.

2025 APAC Journal
The 2025 APAC Journal

Centered on the theme “Asia in Motion,” the latest edition includes pieces on China, Laos, Tibet, Taiwan, India, and Southeast Asia as a whole.

The Reed 2025
The Reed 2025

The Reed returned from a hiatus with a print edition, after several years of being digital-only.

New Members

Cameron Foltz
Cameron Foltz

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Jane Gaines
Jane Gaines

Associate Member

Arvid J. Lukauskas
Arvid J. Lukauskas

Associate Member

Tashi Dekyid Monet
Tashi Dekyid Monet

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Shotaro Oshima
Shotaro Oshima

Honorary Affiliate

Initiatives & Events Series

2025 Borton-Mosely Distinguished Lecture poster
The 2025 Borton-Mosely Distinguished Lecture

Bilahari Kausikan: “The Cold War, Russia-China Relations, and the Making (and Unmaking?) of Southeast Asia” (Apr. 8, 2025)

NT Wang Distinguished Lecture
The N. T. Wang Distinguished Lecture Series

Scott Kennedy: "Slow Tech Dragon: A Balanced Assessment of China's Economic Trajectory" (Oct. 27, 2025)

2025–26 China Covid series poster
Covid-19 Governance and Impacts: China from Comparative Perspectives

This 2025–2026 six-lecture series is part of the China COVID Project, an interdisciplinary research initiative led by Professor Qin Gao and funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.

The Andrew J. Nathan Taiwan Lecture Series
The Andrew J. Nathan Taiwan Lecture Series

Launched in Fall 2025, the Andrew J. Nathan Taiwan Lecture Series is a dynamic platform for lectures, workshops, and related programming on Taiwan that creates new opportunities for scholarship and engagement.

Publications

The following books in the Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute series (presented below in alphabetical order by author) were all published in 2025. Click on the cover images to learn more about each book. 

"Fuji: A Mountain in the Making" by Andrew W. Bernstein (Princeton University Press, 2025)

Fuji: A Mountain in the Making by Andrew W. Bernstein (Princeton University Press)

"Poverty in Modern Chinese Realism: From Russia, with Squalor" by Keru Cai (Oxford University Press, 2025)

Poverty in Modern Chinese Realism: From Russia, with Squalor by Keru Cai (Oxford University Press)

"Beyond Coercion: The Politics of Inequality in China" by Alexsia T. Chan (Cambridge University Press, 2025)

Beyond Coercion: The Politics of Inequality in China by Alexsia T. Chan (Cambridge University Press)

"The Politics of Sorrow: A Story of Unity and Allegiance Across Tibetan Exile" by Tsering Wangmo Dhompa (Columbia University Press, 2025)

The Politics of Sorrow: A Story of Unity and Allegiance Across Tibetan Exile byTsering Wangmo Dhompa (Columbia University Press)

"In the Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan" by James Lin (University of California Press, 2025)

In the Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan by James Lin (University of California Press)

"Ethnic Minority Cinema in China’s Nation-State Building" by Kwai-Cheung Lo (University of Michigan Press, 2025)

Ethnic Minority Cinema in China’s Nation-State Building by Kwai-Cheung Lo (University of Michigan Press)

In 2025 Columbia University Press released the following two titles in the Weatherhead Books on Asia series. Click on the cover images to learn more about each book.

"The Running Flame" by Fang Fang (Columbia University Press, 2025)

The Running Flame: A Novel by Fang Fang
Translated by Michael Berry

"Soft Burial: A Novel" by Fang Fang, translated by Michael Berry

Soft Burial: A Novel by Fang Fang
Translated by Michael Berry