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Understanding what it is to be human is a question explored across all cultures and societies. As we engage with this question on an international stage, we seek to learn collaboratively and engage with an array of voices at Yale, in New Haven, and across the globe. Through the study and teaching of disciplines such as language, arts, history, philosophy, religion, literature, and the various social sciences, we seek to inspire the next generation to never lose sight of the wonder and scope of human potential across the world. In our interdisciplinary translation work, we leverage essential literary, social, political, economic, legal, technological, and medical dimensions that are increasingly central to the workings of the contemporary world.

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MacMillan Center
Yale Alumni Magazine

Every summer, ten middle school students from Nihonmatsu, Japan, file into New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery with their chaperones and a dignitary or two from their town—sometimes the mayor. They find the grave marker they’re looking for, lay flowers in front of it, and observe a reverent moment of silence. This ritual has been going on since 1991, except for an interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. The students, chosen for the trip by a competitive process, are there to pay tribute to Kan-ichi Asakawa 1902PhD (1873–1948), a native of Nihonmatsu who spent his last 42 years in New Haven.

Photo of Asakawa
Close-up of the colorful architecture of a Korean temple and cherry blossoms against the sky

Program spotlight

The Buddhist Studies Initiative

Brings together individuals and units at Yale interested in the scholarly study of Buddhism and coordinates scholarly events, courses, conferences, and outreach activities.

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The MacMillan Center fosters connections throughout Yale that enable our scholars to advance their work.

Promoting understanding of the world and in the world