This article originally appeared in the Carolina Asia Center’s fall 2014 newsletter. Read the entire newsletter here.
Through the Jimmy and Judy Cox Asia Initiative Awards, the Carolina Asia Center awarded eight research travel grants and four conference travel awards to faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences for the 2014-15 academic year. The funding comes from UNC alumnus Jason Cox.
Cox named the fund after his parents, who encouraged him to take risks and travel and contributed to his success. Originally from Clayton, North Carolina, Cox is now working for the Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong. He first traveled to Asia as a Luce Scholar in South Korea, and the connections he established in Asia through UNC had a profound impact on Cox’s life and career. His interest in Asia led him to the desire to give professors opportunities to take on research, trips or projects in Asia that wouldn’t have been available to them otherwise.
This academic year, the Jimmy and Judy Cox Asia Initiative award enabled faculty members to carry out research in China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Korea and enabled others to present their research related to Asia with peers in Europe and Asia. The projects ranged from a trip to Korea to collect materials to develop an advanced level undergraduate course on Modern Korean Culture and Literature to traveling to Shanghai to work closely with research collaborators at Fudan University and attending the Shanghai Forum. The awards helped faculty to enhance teaching materials, publish research, strengthen collaborations with institutions in Asia and promote exchange and enhance each other’s knowledge of Asia.
For the 2015-2016 academic year, the CAC will provide up to five research travel grants to Asia for a maximum of $8,000 each and up to four conference travel awards of up to $1,500 each through the Cox Asia Initiative award program. The Call for Applications was released on November 14, 2014, and the deadline for the application is February 13, 2015. The application will be reviewed by a committee and awarded on academic merit. Visit https://carolinaasiacenter.unc.edu/grants/cox-asia-initiative/ for more information.