The Centre for Central and East Asian Studies brings together scholars working across the histories, economies, and languages of Central and East Asia. Anchored at UCL, department of History, and drawing on expertise from partner institutions across London, the Centre fosters interdisciplinary and cross-regional research on themes that span empire, mobility, knowledge exchange, and political economy from the early modern period to the present.
The Centre supports collaborative scholarship that bridges disciplinary boundaries and engages with multilingual source materials, with a particular emphasis on areas traditionally marginal to national narratives, such as borderlands, frontier zones, and transregional networks. We are especially committed to developing new methodological approaches, including the use of digital humanities tools, quantitative analysis, and the integration of non-European epistemologies.
Through workshops, reading groups, visiting speakers, and public events, the Centre provides a platform for critical exchange among historians, social scientists, and area specialists. It aims to support early career researchers and graduate students while contributing to a broader rethinking of the global dimensions of Central and East Asian pasts.
