Welcome to the Center for Transcultural Asian Studies (CETRAS)

The Center for Transcultural Asian Studies (CETRAS) was established in the summer of 2013 and is one of 15 academic centers at the University of Freiburg.

CETRAS research fellows include faculty members of the University from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds who share common interests: in research on Asia, and with colleagues from the region.

The objective of CETRAS is to enhance the University’s status as an academic hub for the study of Asia in Germany and to function as a platform for the integration of research undertaken in Freiburg, Germany and various international institutions.

Using the term “transcultural” indicates that we do not see culture as a self-evident category, but stress the plasticity of boundaries, transnational connections and global transformations, as well as regional characteristics.

CETRAS aims to advance our understanding of Asian societies and cultures by:

• Reflecting the rapid change and dynamics of social, cultural, political, economic, health, law, land use and environmental systems in Asia and their entanglement in a globalized world;

• Consolidating and documenting the multitude of research activities concerning Asia in Freiburg;

• Promoting collaborative research on Asia at the University of Freiburg;

• Developing inter-departmental and inter-institutional collaboration in Asian Studies;

• Establishing international collaborative links in the form of research partnerships and online knowledge sharing with scientific institutions in Asia;

• Combining disciplinary-based and area studies perspectives on Asia;

• Applying mixed research methodologies with a focus on interdisciplinarity.