Councils & Programs

The study of Buddhism and Buddhist cultures has a long history at Yale stretching back to the nineteenth century. Several generations of scholars of Buddhism working at institutions around the world trained at Yale, and Yale has always been a global hub in the field of Buddhist Studies, generating innovative research, ideas, and conversations.

This cross-disciplinary center, headquartered at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center, spans the divide between the social sciences and humanities, bringing together a diverse complement of scholars to answer large questions that help us better understand the world we live in. Scholars learn from one another’s methodological expertise and substantive knowledge. CHESS’s key events are open to the public.

Yale has maintained close ties with Canada for nearly three centuries. Having established a tradition of scholarly and academic excellence in a range of Canadian topics early on, the University played a significant role in the development of Canadian Studies in the U.S.

Yale first accepted Canadian students in the early 18th century and has now graduated the second highest number of Canadians among American universities.

A research group that studies both violent and non-violent inter-group conflict, currently exploring how social identities shape individual behavior, how conflict affects identities, and which interventions can help reduce intergroup conflict in its various guises.

An interdisciplinary group that works to build resilience and health in communities afflicted by armed conflict or structural violence

Where students and faculty seek novel approaches to emerging issues in African Studies

For over sixty years, its mission has been to support scholarship of the highest level across the humanities and social sciences

Understanding of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula through collaborative efforts, meaningful partnerships and exchange of ideas and research

Council on Middle East Studies

A leading center of excellence for Middle East research and teaching on the local, national, and international levels

Council on Southeast Asia Studies promotes education, research, and intellectual exchange on the cultures, politics, history, and economies of Southeast Asia.

Promoting innovative research on Europe’s past and present in the context of regional and global interactions. The council is home to special programs in European Union Studies; Baltic Studies; the Hellenic Studies Program, and the Program in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

Promoting international scholarly exchanges and collaborations among the next generation of leaders

Founded in January 1998 to expand the work begun in 1994 by Yale University’s Cambodian Genocide Program, the Genocide Studies Program at Yale’s MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies conducts research, seminars and conferences on comparative, interdisciplinary, and policy issues relating to the phenomenon of genocide, and has provided training to researchers from afflicted regions, including Cambodia, Rwanda, and East Timor.

Investigating & disseminating knowledge concerning slavery & its legacies across all borders and all time.

The Program for Hellenic Studies under the umbrella of the European Studies Council at The MacMillan Center supports and coordinates the study of post-Antiquity Hellenic culture and civilization.

Inclusion Economics

A policy-engaged research initiative promoting inclusive institutions, economies, and societies.

The InterAsia Initiative is a collaborative multi-institutional group that aims to shift paradigms of how Asia is conceptualized by promoting collaborative research, scholarly networking, and public policy connections.

The Leitner Program promotes research and teaching about the interactions between politics and economics around the world.

The MacMillan Political Violence and its Legacies (PVL) workshop

An interdisciplinary forum for work in progress by Yale faculty and graduate students, as well as scholars from other universities.

An experimental, interdisciplinary effort to reshape how a new generation of scholars understands rural life and society

The South Asian Studies Council at Yale is committed to promoting a comprehensive understanding of historical and contemporary South Asia, encompassing Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

As human migration and globalization alter the manner and speed of language change, translation has become increasingly central to  the workings of the contemporary world.

Studying of the theory and practice of representative government in the Anglo-American tradition

The Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE) advances research on the effects of policy interventions when delivered at scale. While evaluation techniques for pilot-scale programs are well developed, complexities arise when we contemplate scaling up interventions to create policy change.