Requirements and Courses

In order to moderate, all students must take four courses cross-listed with the Asian Studies Program. Prior to moderation, students focusing on Chinese and Japanese studies are expected to have taken at least one year of Chinese or Japanese language and at least two courses cross-listed with Asian Studies, one of which should be in their field of future disciplinary interest. Students focusing on other regions or traditions, including South Asia, should take four subject courses chosen in consul­tation with the adviser.

For graduation, Asian Studies students should complete:

• A minimum of 40 credits in Asian Studies
• Four credits (one course) must be an Asian Studies core course treating an aspect of Asia in comparative perspective
• A Senior Project (topic may be specific to a particular culture or may be comparative)

Students in Chinese and Japanese studies focusing on language and literature must have a minimum of 44 credits. They should complete at least three years of language study in either Chinese or Japanese and four courses cross-listed with Asian Studies. Of these, at least two courses should be on the literature of the student’s primary region, one course on the literature of another part of East Asia, and one course in non-Asian literature, preferably oriented toward literary theory.

For students in Chinese or Japanese studies focus­ing on the arts and/or social studies, 40 credits are required, including at least two years of lan­guage study in the relevant language and five sub­ject courses cross-listed with Asian Studies. Of these, at least two courses should be in the pri­mary discipline and region. At least one other course should be on the primary region of interest, plus one course in the primary discipline that con­siders an area outside of Asia.

For students focusing on other regions, traditions, or topics, including South Asia, 40 credits are required, including five subject courses to be selected in consultation with the adviser to constitute a coherent program of study centered around a particular theme and methodological approach. Of these, one should be a core course that covers multiple regions of Asia or the Asian diaspora in comparative perspective. Students who wish to pursue a second focus in Asian Studies must complete a minimum of 20 credits in the program, of which at least 8 must be in non-language courses.