Interdisciplinary Major & Minor

Major Requirements

ASIA 150: Asia: An Introduction Offered every fall. This is the foundation course for the Asian Studies major, and students considering this major are advised to take it as early as possible.

At least one other course, other than an advanced language course or honors thesis course, taken within the Department of Asian Studies. Study Abroad courses may not be substituted for this requirement, and chosen from the following list:
ARAB 150, 151, 250, 253, 321, 337, 338, 350, 434, 443, 452, 453, 462;
ASIA 52, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 72, 89, 106, 122, 124, 126, 151, 152, 163, 228, 229, 231, 233, 252, 262, 332, 333, 358, 431, 453, 522;
ASIA 350/AMST 352;
ASIA/CMPL 256, 258, 261, 359, 442;
ASIA 427/CMPL 527/PWAD 427;
ASIA 331/HIST 335/PWAD 331;
ASIA/JWST 53, 60, 436;
ASIA/JWST/PWAD 235, 425;
ASIA 357/JWST 357/PWAD 362;
ASIA/MUSC 164;
ASIA/PWAD 69, 435;
ASIA/RELI 382, 383;
ASIA/WGST 56, 127, 329, 471;
CHIN 150, 231, 232, 242, 244, 252, 255, 342, 346, 354, 356, 361, 367, 463, 464, 531, 551, 552, 562, 563;
HNUR/RELI 592;
JAPN 150, 160, 161, 261, 277, 375, 451, 482;
JAPN 231/HIST 271,
JAPN 246/HIST 247;
JAPN 363/HIST 370;
JAPN/WGST 381, 384;
KOR 150, 151, 327;
KOR/CMPL 232;
KOR 346/CMPL 246;
KOR 447/CMPL 547;
KOR/WGST 237.

At least one major course each from any two other departments, see course list below

At least one major course numbered 400 or above , may not be a language course

At least two major courses each from any two of these six geographic regions: China, Japan, Korea, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia. See course lists below.

Additional Requirements

Any Asian language through level 4, 101, 102, 203, and 204; or CHIN 111 and 212. This requirement can also be met by placement.

The major in Asian studies consists of eight courses. The same courses can be used to fulfill multiple requirements within the major. The following courses can be counted for the Asian studies major:

China Courses:
AAAD 301: Contemporary China-Africa Relations
ANTH/ASIA 365: Chinese Diaspora in the Asia Pacific
ANTH/ASIA 545: The Politics of Culture in East Asia
ANTH/ASIA 574: Chinese World Views
ANTH/ASIA 682: Contemporary Chinese Society
ARTH/ASIA 468: Visual Arts and Culture in Modern and Contemporary China
ASIA 52: First-Year Seminar: Food in Chinese Culture
ASIA 55: First-Year Seminar: Kung-Fu: The Concept of Heroism in Chinese Culture
ASIA/WGST 56: First-Year Seminar: Writing Women in Modern China
ASIA 65: First-Year Seminar: Philosophy on Bamboo: Rethinking Early Chinese Thought
ASIA 453: Global Shangri-La: Tibet in the Modern World
HIST/ASIA 133: Introduction to Chinese History
HIST/ASIA 282: China in the World
RELI 288/ASIA 303: Chinese Religions
CHIN 150: Introduction to Chinese Civilization
CHIN 231: Chinese Literature in Translation through the T’ang
CHIN 232: Chinese Literature in Translation since the Sung
CHIN 242: Chinese Qin Music
CHIN 244: Introduction to Modern Chinese Culture through Cinema
CHIN 252: Introduction to Chinese Culture through Narrative
CHIN 253: Chinese Language and Society
CHIN 255: Bandit or Hero: Outlawry in Chinese Literature and Films
CHIN 342: The Rise of China: A Global and Multidisciplinary Approach
CHIN 346: History as Fiction or Fiction as History? Early Chinese History in Film and Literature
CHIN 354: Chinese Culture through Calligraphy
CHIN 356: Chinese Environmental Literature
CHIN 361: Chinese Traditional Theater
CHIN 367: Illustration and the Animation of Text
CHIN 463: Narrative Ethics in Modern China
CHIN 464: The City in Modern Chinese Literature and Film
CHIN 531: The Chinese Zither in Poetry and Painting
CHIN 551: Chinese Poetry in Translation
CHIN 552: Chinese Prose in Translation
CHIN 562: Post-Mao Chinese Urban Culture and Arts
CHIN 563: Post-Mao Chinese Literature in Translation
GEOG 270: Geography of Contemporary China
HIST 284: Late Imperial China
HIST 285: Twentieth-Century China
HIST 550: Gender in Chinese History
POLI 237: The Politics of China
SOCI 418: Contemporary Chinese Society

Japan Courses:
ANTH/ASIA 330: Melancholy Japan: Myth, Memory, and Everyday Life
ANTH/ASIA 586: The Gardens, Shrines, and Temples of Japan
ASIA 54: First-Year Seminar: The American Life of Japanese Women
ASIA 58: First-Year Seminar: Chasing Madame Butterfly
ASIA 63: First-Year Seminar: Japanese Tea Culture
ASIA 67: First-Year Seminar: Japanese Fashion: History and Culture
ASIA 233: Drugs, Sex, and Sovereignty in East Asia, 1800-1945
CMPL/ASIA 379: Cowboys, Samurai, and Rebels in Film and Fiction
CMPL/ASIA 380: Almost Despicable Heroines in Japanese and Western Literature
CMPL/ASIA 481: Rhetoric of Silence: Cross-Cultural Theme and Technique
CMPL/ASIA 483: Cross-Currents in East-West Literature
CMPL/ASIA 486: Literary Landscapes in Europe and Japan
HIST/ASIA 281: The Pacific War, 1937-1945: Its Causes and Legacy
HIST/ASIA 287: Japan’s Modern Revolution
HIST/ASIA 288: Japan in the 20th Century
RELI 286/ASIA 301: Premodern Japanese Religions
RELI 287/ASIA 302: Japanese Religions after 1868
RELI/ASIA 487: Mountains, Pilgrimage, and Sacred Places in Japan
RELI/ASIA 488: Shinto in Japanese History
RELI/ASIA 489: Animals in Japanese Religion
JAPN 150: Introduction to Japanese Culture
JAPN 160: Introduction to Japanese Literature in Translation
JAPN 161: Geisha in History, Fiction, and Fantasy
JAPN 162: Japanese Popular Culture
JAPN 231/HIST 271: Premodern Japanese History and Culture
JAPN 246/HIST 247: Early Modern Japanese History and Culture
JAPN 261: Japanese Theater
JAPN 277: Empire of Sex: Eroticism, Mass Culture, and Geopolitics in Japan, 1945-present
JAPN 363/HIST 370: Samurai, Monks, and Pirates: History and Historiography of Japan’s Long 16th Century
JAPN 375: The Culture of Modern, Imperial Japan, 1900-1945
JAPN/WGST 381: Women and Work in Japan
JAPN/WGST 384: Women Writers in Japanese Society
JAPN 451: Swords, Tea Bowls, and Woodblock Prints: Exploring Japanese Material Culture
JAPN 482: Embodying Japan: The Cultures of Beauty, Sports, and Medicine in Japan
JAPN/LING 563: Structure of Japanese
RELI 73: First-Year Seminar: From Dragons to Pokémon: Animals in Japanese Myth, Folklore, and Religion
RELI 586: Women and Gender in Japanese Religions

Korea Courses:
ASIA 72: First-Year Seminar: Transnational Korea: Literature, Film, and Popular Culture
KOR 150: History, Memory, and Reality in Contemporary Korea
KOR 151: Education and Social Changes in Contemporary Korea
KOR 327: Korean Diasporas
KOR/CMPL 232: Imagining the City in Modern Korea: Text, Image, Space
KOR 346/CMPL 246: Body Politics in Modern Korean Literature
KOR 447/CMPL 547: Documenting Diasporas: Korean Diasporas in Films and Documentaries
KOR/CMPL/WGST 237: Rebel, Lover, Martyr: Gender and Sexuality in North and South Korean Screen Cultures

Middle East Courses:
ARAB 150: Introduction to Arab Cultures
ARAB 151: Survey of Arabic Literature
ARAB 250: Introduction to the Languages of Morocco
ARAB 253: Contemporary Moroccan Literature
ARAB 321: Visions of Emancipation in Modernist Arab Thought
ARAB 337: Borders and Walls in the Arab World
ARAB 338: Borders and Walls in the Arab World – Experiential
ARAB 350: Women and Leadership in the Arab World
ARAB 434: Modern Arabic Literature in Translation
ARAB 443: Dissident Voices in Arab Cultures
ARAB 452: Imagining Palestine
ARAB 453: Film, Nation, and Identity in the Arab World
ARAB 462: Global Perspectives on Arab Cultures and Societies
ARTH/ASIA 154: Introduction to Art and Architecture of Islamic Lands, 8th-16th Centuries CE
ARTH/ASIA 251: Art in the Age of the Caliphs
ARTH 351: Crusader Art
ARTH/ASIA 458: Islamic Architecture and the Environment
ARTH/ASIA 561: Arts of the Islamic Mediterranean
ASIA/JWST 53: First-Year Seminar: Israeli Popular Culture: The Case of Music
ASIA/JWST 60: First-Year Seminar: Israeli Culture and Society: Collective Memories and Fragmented Identities
ASIA 64: First-Year Seminar: Arab World Photography
ASIA 70: First-Year Seminar: Narrating the Self: Autobiographies of Arab Intellectuals
ASIA 106: Israeli Popular Culture: The Case of Music
ASIA 122: Introduction to Iranian Culture
ASIA/JWST/PWAD 235: Israeli Cinema: Gender, Nation, and Ethnicity
ASIA/WGST 329: Middle East Women Writers
ASIA 357/JWST 357/PWAD 362: The Arab-Jews: Culture, Community, and Coexistence
ASIA 358: Religion and Tradition in Israeli Cinema, TV, and Literature
ASIA/CMPL 359: Literary Diasporas of the Middle East
ASIA/JWST/PWAD 425: Beyond Hostilities: Israeli-Palestinian Exchanges and Collaborations in Cinema and Literature
ASIA/PWAD 435: The Cinemas of the Middle East and North Africa
ASIA/JWST 436: Language, Exile, and Homeland in Zionist Thought and Practice
ASIA/CMPL 442: Postcolonial Literature of the Middle East
ASIA/WGST 471: Gender and Sexuality in Middle Eastern Literature
FREN 617: Framing Identities: Franco-Arab Transvisual Transcultural Contexts
GEOG/ASIA 447: Gender, Space, and Place in the Middle East
GEOG 448: Transnational Geographies of Muslim Societies
HIST/ASIA 138: History of Muslim Societies to 1500*
HIST/ASIA 139: History of Muslim Societies since 1500*
HIST/ASIA 276: The Modern Middle East
HIST/ASIA 277: The Conflict over Israel/Palestine
HIST/ASIA 536: Revolution in the Modern Middle East
HIST/ASIA 537: Women in the Middle East
HIST/ASIA 538: The Middle East and the West
RELI/CLAR/JWST 110: The Archaeology of Palestine in the New Testament Period
RELI/ASIA 180: Introduction to Islamic Civilization
RELI/ASIA  181: Modern Muslim Societies
RELI 185: Women/Gender/Islam
RELI/JWST 503: Exploring the Dead Sea Scrolls
RELI/ASIA  584: The Qur’an as Literature
RELI 585: Religion and Culture of Turkey
RELI/ARAB/ASIA 681: Readings in Islamicate Literatures
SOCI 60: First-Year Seminar: Sociology of the Islamic World
SOCI 419: Sociology of the Islamic World

South Asia Courses:
ANTH 361: Community in India and South Asia
ARTH/ASIA 153: Introduction to South Asian Art
ARTH/ASIA 266: Arts of Early and Medieval Asia
ARTH/ASIA 273: Arts under the Mughal Dynasty in India
ARTH/ASIA 456: Art and Visual Culture of South Asia
ASIA 59: First-Year Seminar: Media Masala: Popular Music, TV, and the Internet in Modern India and Pakistan
ASIA 61: First-Year Seminar: India through the Lens of Master Filmmakers
ASIA/PWAD 69: First-Year Seminar: Wars and Veterans: Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan
ASIA 122: Introduction to Iranian Culture
ASIA 124: Iranian Post-1979 Cinema
ASIA 126: Introduction to Persian Literature
ASIA/WGST 127: Iranian Women Writers
ASIA 152: Survey of South Asian Cultural History
ASIA 163: Hindi-Urdu Poetry in Performance
ASIA/MUSC 164: Music of South Asia
ASIA 228: Contested Souls: Literature, the Arts, and Religious Identity in Modern India
ASIA 231: Bollywood Cinema
ASIA/CMPL 256: Love in Classical Persian Poetry
ASIA/CPML 258: Iranian Prison Literature
ASIA/CMPL 261: India through Western Eyes
ASIA 262: Nation, Film, and Novel in Modern India
ASIA 331/HIST 335/PWAD 331: Cracking India: Partition and Its Legacy in South Asia
ASIA 332: The Story of Rama in India
ASIA 333: The Mahabharata: Remembered and Reimagined
ASIA/RELI 382: The Story of Rama in Indian Culture – Experiential
ASIA/RELI 383: The Mahabharata: Remembered and Reimagined – Experiential
ASIA 431: Persian Sufi Literature
ASIA 453: Global Shangri-La: Tibet in the Modern World
ASIA 522: The Beauty and the Power of the Classical Indian World
GEOG/ASIA 267: South Asia
HIST 74: First-Year Seminar: Emperors, Courts, and Consumption: The Mughals of India
HIST/ASIA 135: History and Culture of Hindus and Muslims: South Asia to 1750
HIST/ASIA 136: History of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh: South Asia since 1750
HIST/ASIA 272: Contemporary India , Pakistan, and Bangladesh
HIST 331/ASIA 304: Sex, Religion, and Violence: Revolutionary Thought in Modern South Asia
HIST/ASIA 440:Gender in Indian History
HIST 442/ASIA 441: Religion, Coexistence, and Conflict in Medieval India
HIST/ASIA 557: Bandits, Rebels, and Storytellers: Fiction and History in India
HNUR/RELI 592: Religious Conflict and Literature in India
RELI/ASIA 280: Hindu Gods and Goddesses
RELI 283/ASIA 300: The Buddhist Tradition: India, Nepal, and Tibet
RELI/ASIA 381: Religions of South Asia
RELI/ASIA/COMM 386: Dance and Embodied Knowledge in the Indian Context
RELI/ASIA/WGST 482: Sex, Gender, and Religion in South Asia
RELI/ASIA 582: Islam and Islamic Art in South Asia
RELI/ASIA 583: Religion and Culture in Iran, 1500-Present

Southeast Asia Courses:
ANTH 52: First-Year Seminar: Asian Cultures, Asian Cities, Asian Modernities
ANTH/ASIA 375: Memory, Massacres, and Monuments in Southeast Asia
ANTH/ASIA 429: Culture and Power in Southeast Asia
ASIA 151: Literature and Society in Southeast Asia
ASIA 252: Popular Culture in Modern Southeast Asia
GEOG 64: First-Year Seminar: Vietnam
GEOG 266: People and Environment in Southeast Asia
HIST/ASIA 131: Southeast Asia to the Early 19th Century
HIST/ASIA 132: Southeast Asia since the Early 19th Century
HIST/ASIA 539: The Economic History of Southeast Asia
HIST/ASIA 570: The Vietnam War
LING/ASIA 260: Languages of Southeast Asia
MUSC/ASIA 240: Performance in Southeast Asia: Gongs, Punks, and Shadow Plays
RELI/ASIA 285: The Buddhist Tradition: Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka

Other Courses, these count for the major but not for any geographic region:
ARTH/ASIA 158: Introduction to East Asian Art and Architecture
ASIA 57: First-Year Seminar: Dis-Orienting the Orient
ASIA 89: First-Year Seminar: Special Topics
ASIA 150: Asia: An Introduction
ASIA 229: Breakdancers, Vocaloids, and Gamers: East Asian Youth Cultures
ASIA 241: Asian Literature/Study Abroad Program
ASIA 242: Asian Fine Arts/Study Abroad Program
ASIA 243: Asian Societies/Study Abroad Program
ASIA 244: Asian History/Study Abroad Program
ASIA 350/AMST 352: The Asian American Experience
ASIA 427/CMPL 527/PWAD 427: Cold War Culture in East Asia: Transnational and Intermedial Connections
ASIA 692H: Senior Honors Thesis II
CMPL/ASIA 255: The Feast in Film, Fiction, and Philosophy
DRAM 291: Re-playing Shakespeare in East Asia
ECON/ASIA 469: Western and Asian Economic Systems
ENGL 79: First-Year Seminar: Globalization/Global Asians
ENGL 270: Studies in Asian American Literature
ENGL/ASIA 360: Contemporary Asian American Literature and Theory
ENGL 371: The Place of Asian Americans in Southern Literature
FREN 383: Franco-Asian Encounters
GEOG/ASIA 265: Eastern Asia
GLBL 484: History and Politics of Central Asia
HIST/ASIA 134: Modern East Asia
HIST 163: Modern Central Asia
HIST 274: History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923
PHIL 213: Asian Philosophy
RELI/ASIA 183: Asian Religions
RELI 184: East Asian Religions: The Religions of East Asia and the Environment
RELI/ASIA 284: The Buddhist Tradition: East Asia
RELI/ASIA 387: Disciplining the Body and Mind: The Martial Arts of East Asia in Religion, History, and Culture
RELI/ASIA 445: Asian Religions in America
RELI/ASIA 581: Sufism
RELI/JWST 103: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Literature
RELI/JWST 106: Introduction to Early Judaism
RELI/JWST 107: Introduction to Modern Judaism
RELI/JWST 206: Prophecy and Divination in Ancient Israel and Judah
RELI/JWST 343: Introduction to American Judaism
RELI 480: Modern Muslim Literatures
RELI/PWAD 481: Religion, Fundamentalism, and Nationalism
RELI/CLAR/JWST 512: Ancient Synagogues
RELI/JWST 602: What is Scripture? Formations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Canon

One language course beyond level 4, or a course at level 2 or above in a second Asian language, may count as a major course.

ASIA 122 may be counted for either the Middle East or South Asia region, but not both simultaneously.

ASIA 453 may be counted for either the China or South Asia region, but not both.

No more than one first-year seminar may be counted among the eight major courses.

With the approval of the associate chair of Asian Studies, a student may substitute a course in directed readings (ASIA 496) for one of the major courses. To register for ASIA 496, a student must obtain the approval of the associate chair and the faculty member who will supervise the project.

Of the eight major courses, at least six must be passed with a grade of C (not C-) or better. No major course may be taken Pass/D+/D/Fail.