Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Ajit Singh Rye (1926–2020)

Former Professor and Dean of the Asian Center, Ajit Singh Rye passed away on 2 January 2020. He was 93.

He was the Dean of the Asian Center from 1986 to 1991. Specializing in South Asian Studies, he is the author of The Indian Community in the Philippines: A Profile, which was published in Asian Studies in 1981 and is the editor of Contemporary Asia: A Factual Survey, which was published by the Institute of Asian Studies, later the Asian Center, in 1967.

Other publications include:

  • Present Trends in International Relations: Their Impact on International Cooperation and Understanding (co-authored with Serafin Talisayon, 1991)
  • A Survey of Philippine-India Relations in the Post-Independence Period (1968)

Through these works, Dean Rye was one of the first Filipino scholars to map Philippines-India relations. He also wrote a brief introduction to the Final Communique of the Preparatory Meeting of Ministers of the Second Asian-African Conference. 

Dean Rye "served as Officer for Student Relations (1970-1971), Overseer of the Library Museum (1973), Program Development Associate (1978), Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Secretary (1980) and Director of the Asian Studies Program (1982). He was the Executive Director of the Jubilee Secretariat for the UP Diamond Jubilee Committee (1982-1983) and a member of various committees constituted by the UP President such as the University Curriculum Committee" (UP Diliman).

The Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D.  program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. The Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded atthe journal's website. For other news and upcoming events at the Asian Center, click here.