Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS)

The Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS) was initially founded as the Center for Educational Media (CEM) in 1992 at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.  CEM was one of the earliest educational outreach programs devoted to the use of technology for teaching about Asia.  In 1997, AEMS relocated to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with the mission of promoting understanding of Asian cultures and peoples and assisting educators at all levels – from elementary schools to colleges and universities – in finding resources for learning and teaching about Asia.  AEMS established itself as a leading resource for learning about Asia and identifying Asia-related media for instructional purposes.  AEMS was housed within the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies (CEAPS) but with dedicated staff.

The AEMS library included over 6,000 videos, films, audio materials, and curricular materials.  During the period of regular AEMS operation, the library’s holdings were available to the local community on a walk-in basis and through the Illinois Heartland Library System.  AEMS staff also regularly responded to reference requests, typically receiving over 100 per year.  With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, all materials stopped circulating.  In 2025, the AEMS Library holdings were integrated into the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library collection.

In 2003, AEMS launched the Asian Film Festival in Urbana-Champaign, which continued through 2010 and featured thematic programming and special guests.  In 2007, AEMS began free public screenings of documentary and independent films about Asia on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.  This series took on the name AsiaLENS in 2008.
The AsiaLENS series continues, now administered by CEAPS. Each film is accompanied by a local or visiting expert who leads the audience in a post-screening discussion. All screenings are free and open to the public.

Full film archives (since Fall 2008 ~) are available here.

Launched in 2011, the Digital Asia website is an online resource for educators presenting excerpts of documentaries about Asia by scholar-filmmakers together with original curriculum materials. Developed for the college and high school teacher for easy to use in the classroom, this website contains 3-5 minute excerpts of films, accompanied by free downloadable PDFs of curriculum materials, accessible film transcripts, background materials about each film, and a method for ordering the full length films.

AEMS first published AEMS News and Reviews in 1998.  For most of its lifespan, AEMS News and Reviews was published three times a year as an eight-page, full-color newsletter with film reviews and essays on teaching and learning about Asia.  Each newsletter was distributed to 4,000 individuals and organizations.  From 2003, AEMS also collaborated with the AAS journal Education about Asia (EAA) to produce a film-focused special section.

Newsletters from Spring 1998 to Spring 2016 are available here.

AEMS was supported by funding from The Freeman Foundation, The Luce Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center Grant, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.