School History

The Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies is founded on a long history of excellence in language and area studies, international law, and policy. The milestones below highlight the establishment of the departments, centers, and institutes that form our school.

1820:

• State Seminary established in Bloomington (renamed Indiana University in 1838)

1836:

• Modern language instruction begins with the first French course

1842:

• International law is an explicit part of the original law curriculum

1943:

• U.S. Army Specialized Training Program created for training in Eurasian languages (precursor to the Department of Central Eurasian Studies)

1951:

• Summer Language Workshop established

1956:

• Program in Uralic and Altaic Studies established (precursor to Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center)

1958:

• Russian and East European Institute established (IU's first Title VI National Resource Center, now known as the Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute)

1961:

• Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures established (precursor to the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures)
• African Studies Program established

1963:

• Latin American Area Studies established (precursor to the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies)

1965:

• Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures established (precursor to the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures)

1966:

• Western European Studies established (precursor to Institute for European Studies)

1970:

• East Asian Studies Program established (precursor to East Asian Studies Center established in 1979 as a National Resource Center)

1975:

• Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures established

1977:

• Polish Studies Center established

1989:

• Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace established (precursor to the Center for the Study of Global Change)

1993:

• Department of Central Eurasian Studies established

1999:

• National African Language Resource Center established

2002: 

• Center for Languages of the Central Asian Regions (CeLCAR) established as Title VI Foreign Language Resource Center

2003:

• Program in International Studies established (precursor to the Department of International Studies)

2008:

• Chinese Language Flagship undergraduate program established

2010:

• Swahili Flagship program established

2011:

• Center for the Study of the Middle East established
• February 2, 2011: Chinese Flagship graduate program established
• October 6, 2011: IU chosen for first Turkish Flagship Program

2012:

• School of Global and International Studies approved by Board of Trustees

2013:

• January 2013: Former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton and former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar join faculty
• April 2013: Official groundbreaking for the School of Global and International Studies building
  
• December 2013: Former Ambassador Lee Feinstein named founding dean

2014:

• May 2014: First diplomas awarded from the School of Global and International Studies 
• July 2014: Founding Dean Lee Feinstein starts
  
• Southeast Asian and ASEAN Studies established
  

2015:

• School of Global and International Studies Building opened for fall semester
• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry  attends School of Global and International Studies building dedication
• Institute for Korean Studies established

2016:

• First America’s Role in the World (ARW) conference held
• Arabic Language Flagship established
• Swahili Language Flagship closes

2017:

• Randall L. and Deborah F. Tobias Center for International Development established

2018:

• April 19, 2018: 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative established
  
• August 22, 2018: Russian Language Flagship established in the College of Arts and Sciences, making IU the only school to have four language flagship programs
• August 27, 2018: The School of Global and International Studies awarded $18.8 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program
  
• October 3, 2018: School named in honor of former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton and former Rep. Richard G. Lugar

2019:

• April 28: Death of Sen. Richard Lugar, one of the school’s namesakes

2020: 

• June 30, 2020: Turkish Language Flagship concludes

2022:

• January 31, 2022 Dean Lee Feinstein concludes deanship to assume presidency of McLarty Associates
• February 1, 2022 Nick Cullather named interim dean
  
• Fall 2022 Global Indigenous Studies Network launched

2024:

• March 1, 2024 John Ciorciari begins role as dean