The Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS) was founded in 1960 for the development of research and teaching on the countries of Southeast Asia - now covering Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam - and the region as a whole.
CSEAS promotes the expansion of Southeast Asian Studies on the UC Berkeley campus by facilitating faculty and graduate research, by funding language instruction, by presenting lecture series and cultural programs, by organizing public outreach and international conferences, and by hosting visitors and scholars.
CSEAS is a consortium U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center, with UCLA's Center for Southeast Asian Studies, one of five National Resource Centers for Southeast Asia in the country. The consortium helps students and faculty at each campus collaborate on particular programs (conferences, workshops, and speaker series), furthers the development of campus resources devoted to the field (such as library acquisitions) and promotes course development and improvements in the quality and accessibility of language instruction.