The Center has received support for a research project on “The Past and Future of Asian Universities”. Experts from 12 Asian countries will examine the past and future trends affecting universities in their countries. The countries involved include China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia. The research group will meet at Nagoya University in Japan in December, 2002, to discuss their findings and a book will be published based on this work. The project is done in cooperation with Prof. Toru Umakoshi of Nagoya University, and is supported by the Toyota Foundation, The Japan Foundation, and the Japanese Ministry of Education.

Work on our major reference handbook on African higher education has been completed and the book will be published by Indiana University Press at the end of 2002. Copies will be made available without cost to key research institutions in Africa. Damtew Teferra has been the main researcher on this project. Philip G. Altbach spent a month as a visiting professor at the Fondation Nationale d’Etudes Sciences Politique and the Centre de Sociologie des Organizations. While in Paris, he lectured at the OECD, Sciences Po, CSO, and others. Damtew Teferra, Center staff member, is participating in an Africa-focused study of information technology. He recently participated in a conference on African higher education at the University of Illinois. The Center welcomes Roberta Bassett, Jef Davis, Francesca Purcell, Alma Maldonado-Maldonado, and Robin Matross as graduate assistants for the fall semester, 2002.