The Founding of ICWAR
Information Center ForWorldwideAsia Research (shortened as ICWAR, or termed the Center in this text), is an academic research institute, co-founded by Beijing Foreign Studies University and the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies (shortened as KFAS) on 2 Dec. 2007, the only research institute around the world focused on the “collection of Asia research information.”
Mission
To collect information on the dynamics and research results in the field of Asia research from around the world, to build a platform of information in Asia research, to construct a website of academic resources and an information databank on Asia Research, to provide information services for scholars and institutions in this field, and to promote the development and prosperity of worldwide Asia research.
Favorable Conditions for Development
BFSU, co-founder of the Information Center for Worldwide Asia Research, is a national public key university under the Ministry of Education. One of the first universities of “Project 211”, BFSU is a university of its kind in China with the longest history, the largest number of language programs offered, and the most comprehensive types of tertiary education.
Currently, the University runs 13 schools, seven independent departments, 40 research institutes (or centers), one key research base in humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education, two non-major language undergraduate elites nurturing bases under the Ministry of Education. Among its academic disciplines, foreign languages and literatures take the main scene, being a special feature of the University and having traditional advantages; arts, law, economics and management develop in coordinated harmony. Currently, the University offers 49 foreign language programs, 15 of which are the only programs offered in China. Altogether 62 specialties (majors) are offered, in arts, law, economics, management, and engineering. There are four national key disciplines, and six Beijing Municipal Key Disciplines. The overall literature collected in the University runs up to about 1,122,000 copies, plus 280,000 digital volumes in Chinese and foreign languages, approximately 1200 kinds of newspapers and journals in Chinese and foreign languages, over 10,000 items of audio and video resources, nearly 27,000 full-text electronic journals in Chinese and foreign languages, 44 databanks in Chinese and foreign languages, 4 self-constructed databanks with special features, and its library collections span language, literature, and culture studies. The University owns Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP), China’s largest publisher of foreign language books, and audio and video and digital products, which publishes in over 30 languages, compiles and distributes such core journals as Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Foreign Literature, International Forum, and magazines of English Learning, Russian Learning, Wir lernen Deutsch, APPRENDRE LE FRANCAIS.
The Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies (KFAS) has provided strong support for the founding and development of ICWAR. The Foundation was established in 1974, the largest and oldest non-profit public welfare legal entity focused on education in the Republic of Korea. Within ROK, the Foundation mainly supports social sciences, having created KFAS Library, and with the financial support under its scholarship programs, hundreds of young scholars have pursued their PhD degrees in famous universities overseas and thousands of South Korean students have studied within ROK. KFAS mainly supports higher education, especially humanities and social sciences, aiming to promote academic exchanges and sponsor students in their growth into world-renowned scholars, paying attention to the development of culture and education in Asia. Many academic research institutes and international academic conferences in numerous institutions of higher education depend on the financial support of KFAS. Its Academic Research Assistance program has supported hundreds of Asian scholars in their research in ROK, and spawned the founding of a wave of Asia research centers. Beijing Forum, Shanghai Forum, and other international academic conferences supported by KFAS, exert a far-reaching influence in Asia..
With the financial support of KFAS, on the basis of the unique advantages of the 49 foreign language programs offered in BFSU, and its strong academic, research, and advisory ranks, by utilizing the successful experience of world’s renowned Asia research institutions, and by close cooperation and ties with fraternal centers sponsored by KFAS, ICWAR shall undertake the noble and challenging responsibility of “uniting worldwide Asia research forces, promoting the development of Asia research, and transmitting Asian civilizations”, and make its contribution to the prosperity of worldwide Asia research.