Interested in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean? We have language and culture classes regardless of your starting level, and separate major and minor tracks for each culture. Interested in Hindi-Urdu and the films and literatures of India? You can major in South Asian Studies or minor in the Hindi-Urdu language. Interested in the Arab World? You can major in Arab Cultures or minor in Arabic. We also have minors in Hebrew, Persian, or Middle Eastern Languages, and in addition offer language courses in Turkish and Vietnamese. Perhaps our most flexible option is the Interdisciplinary major and minor, which allows you to mix-and-match and explore comparisons across cultures. 

What can you do with a major in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies? Read about some of our alums, like Erin Posas (2016), doing graduate work in Environment and Sustainability with a concentration in Environmental Justice at the University of Michigan, and Matt Coss (2016), doing his PhD in Second Language Studies at Michigan State University. Or Sarah Mackenzie, who graduated in 2020 with a minor in Arabic, who won a Rhodes Scholarship! Or Will Powers (2008), who appeared on the reality TV show The Tester and had a career at Sony. Or Faith Virago (2020) who won a spot at Peking University’s Yenching Academy after completing her senior honors thesis in DAMES! Or Rashad Hauter (2007), who is now a District Court Judge at Wake County District Court! Or Jason Mortimer(2006) who lives in Japan and works for Nomura Asset Management! Find many more stories of DAMES students, faculty, staff, and alumni on our blog: https://asianstudies.unc.edu/blog/

To learn more, talk to your instructor or reach out to our Student Services Coordinator, Ash Barnes, who is also a DAMES alum! You can easily make a virtual appointment with her right now:  https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/AshsOfficeHours@admin.live.unc.edu/bookings/.

I am also happy to meet in person or virtually, or to answer questions by email: mpitelka@unc.edu. 

Join us in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies!

-Morgan Pitelka, Chair

The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (DAMES) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is accepting applications for its Fall 2022 Master’s program.

• Priority deadline—December 14, 2021
  • NOTE: If you want to be considered for FLAS and university scholarships/fellowships, you need to submit all application materials by December 14.
• Final deadline—June 14

Why Study with Us?

• The DAMES M.A. offers humanistic training to students in one of two tracks: either the broad, interdisciplinary area of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, or the more focused field of Chinese studies.
• Our program provides the chance to improve proficiency in one or more languages designated “critical” to the future of America by the State Department (Chinese, Japanese, Korea, Vietnamese, Hindi-Urdu, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish), as well as significant expertise in the culture of a country or region in Asia or the Middle East.
• Our students develop advanced skills beyond those already mastered as undergrads to enhance future careers in higher ed, politics, international organizations and non-profits, journalism, the military, and business and finance.
• Reach out to us with questions! We include scholars of literature and environmental humanities, experts in critical theory, historians of culture, specialists in film and visual culture, anthropologists of medicine, and experts in language teaching among other topics.

Please visit our website (https://asianstudies.unc.edu/ma-program/) for more information about our faculty, financial information, funding opportunities, and applying. If you have questions, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies at damesdgs@unc.edu.

Here’s a little bit about Samir, one of the students in the first DAMES graduate program cohort!

Tell us about yourself!

I graduated from North Carolina State University last year with a Bachelor’s in History and a Middle East studies minor. My initial plan had been to stick with History in my graduate studies, but I kind of fell in love with Middle East studies, so here I am! Studying Arabic is a big part of my field, so I was pleased to be part of the CLS (Critical Language Scholarship) Program over the summer.  It was supposed to be in Ibri, Oman, but due to COVID, we did it online. It was still a great experience, and I really feel like it took my Arabic abilities to the next level. In my free time, I enjoy reading/watching sci-fi (go see the new Dune movie!), playing chess, and spending time with my partner and our lazy cat.

What program track did you choose?

I chose the Interdisciplinary track and intend to focus primarily on Middle East studies

What are you hoping to gain from your experiences here in DAMES and at UNC?

I was thrilled to be accepted into the DAMES program here at UNC because I tend to shy away from academic overspecialization, and the program’s commitment to a humanist approach to the decidedly complex issues that accompany Asian and Middle East Studies really resonated with me . I look forward to improving my language abilities, making connections with other departments, and interacting with my fellow DAMES students.

Here’s a little bit about Caroline, one of the students in the first DAMES graduate program cohort!

Tell us about yourself!

I’m from Cumming, Georgia, and I graduated from the University of Georgia in May 2021 with a BA in History and a BA in International Affairs (go dawgs!). A fun fact about me is that I grew up on a farm, and during my time at UGA, I participated in the Disney College Program and spent a semester working at Disney World. I also completed a (virtual – thanks, 2020) summer study abroad with the University of Oxford. I’m already loving it here in Chapel Hill and am so excited to be a Tar Heel!

What program track did you choose?

Here in DAMES, I’m on the interdisciplinary track, focusing on the Middle East. I’m currently studying Arabic, and my research interests lie in gender and security studies, especially in Egypt.

What are you hoping to gain from your experiences here in DAMES and at UNC?

Through my experience at UNC, I hope to gain new perspectives for analysis in my field. I’m already enjoying my classes and finding new points of interest, and I’m sure DAMES is going to offer me many more valuable connections!

Here’s a little bit about Kun, one of the students in the first DAMES graduate program cohort!

Tell us about yourself!

I am Kun Meng, an incoming graduate of UNC at Chapel Hill. I am from the People’s Republic of China, a beautiful country which is growing and flourishing in its own way. I obtained my bachelor’s degree (BFA) in Sha’anxi Normal University and my master’s degree (MFA) in East China Normal University. During both experiences, I have majored in studies of traditional Chinese painting. After graduating from ECNU, I engaged myself to be a volunteer of Shanghai Library. Plus, I got a job as a teacher of Asian culture!

What program track did you choose?

I chose the Chinese track to be my program, specifically transcultural and political studies of ancient China.

What are you hoping to gain from your experiences here in DAMES and at UNC?

I think I will improve my ability of writing and analyzing in this program. Also, I hope I can acquire the knowledge of research methods of Western countries, to examine and judge the ancient Chinese cultures from a different perspective.

Here’s a little bit about Muziah, one of the students in the first DAMES graduate program cohort!

Tell us about yourself!

Hi, my name is Muziah Kargbo, a first-year grad student from Huntersville, NC. I graduated from UNC last year with a BA in Asian and Korean Studies with a dash of Japanese. Nice to meet you all.

What program track did you choose?

I’m taking the interdisciplinary Track with a focus on Korean and Japanese courses.

What are you hoping to gain from your experiences here in DAMES and at UNC?

I hope that by the time I graduate from DAMES, I will be more fluent and adept in Japanese and Korean so I can use both in my future career and endeavors whether that be translating, writing/journalism, or researching and educating myself and others about the entertainment industry in both countries (which I hope I can find an internship or work in!) But ultimately, I hope to gain the confidence, skills, and connections for post-grad life and my future.

Here’s a little bit about Rania, one of the students in the first DAMES graduate program cohort!

Tell us about yourself!

I come from the Midwest, born, raised, and schooled, so the flora of North Carolina has had me enthralled since I stepped off the plane. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, where I filled many waking hours playing, singing, and writing music, taking theatre classes, and being an old-time radio buff. Ask me about The Saint. On second thought, maybe don’t. (I can also sing 1940s cigarette jingles from memory, just saying, it’s a neat party trick you don’t see every day.) From Oberlin College and Conservatory, just outside of Cleveland, Ohio, I have a Bachelor of Music in Composition and a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Studies. I also did a math minor there, for which I got to take a très cool applied seminar in using math to make art. I’m passionate about the connective power of art and I hope to get involved soon in collaborative, community-minded art projects here in Chapel Hill! When I’m not doing that, you’ll find me buried nerd-deep in the study of popular Hindi cinema — which is the area of my thesis work.

What program track did you choose?

Interdisciplinary track – I’m interested in popular Indian cinema as a site of multicultural, national, and international discourse, as well as comparisons between Indian and Korean stardom.

What are you hoping to gain from your experiences here in DAMES and at UNC?

A regional studies-specific master’s program is a great opportunity to focus on language acquisition and immerse in the context of history, literature, etc. I don’t have coming from a background in film studies and music. I’m looking forward to being in a department that bridges the whole continent of Asia and the Middle East, with chances to make expected and unexpected connections across what peers are studying and passionate about.

Here’s a little bit about Sophie, one of the students in the first DAMES graduate program cohort!

Tell us about yourself!

I graduated from Davidson College in 2020 where I majored in English and East Asian Studies. After graduation I had planned to teach English in Japan through the JET Program, but due to COVID, I ended up staying in North Carolina and worked as a college adviser this past year.

I’m interested in pre-modern Japanese art history, as well as East Asian history as a whole. When I’m not studying, I love taking care of my excessive number of house plants.

Which track in our grad program are you studying?

Interdisciplinary!

What are you hoping to accomplish here in DAMES, and here at Carolina?

I hope to increase my grasp of Japanese, do lots of research, and make connections with other people in the Carolina community.

Have you ever wondered what DAMES alums are up to? Now you can know! Here are updates from DAMES alums Erin Posas and Matt Coss, both 2016 grads!

Fun fact: This picture of Matt and Erin was taken at another class of 2016 DAMES alumnus’s (James Williams) wedding!

After nearly five years as a consultant working first with the public sector and then, for the last six months, working in the firm’s global office to improve her company’s internal sustainability efforts, Erin will be starting a Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability with a concentration in Environmental Justice at the University of Michigan.

Erin said of her plans: “I want to spend my career driving racial and socioeconomic equity in environmental policy and planning across the private and public sectors, both locally and internationally. At my time at UNC, the Asian Studies department afforded me irreplaceable opportunities, from language study to study abroad, which helped me become a world citizen. The Asian Studies department aided me again recently with a recommendation for my graduate studies applications (thank you so much, Dr. Visser!). I continue my journey now toward becoming a citizen of the planet, able to pair science with multilingual and intercultural abilities in pursuit of a greener, more just world.”

Matt completed a master’s degree in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland and worked for four years at the National Foreign Language Center developing materials for learners and teachers of critical languages (including Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Farsi, etc.). During and after his MA, Matt taught Chinese at both Georgetown and (currently) George Washington University, where he has also successfully proposed and taught three new courses and is actively involved in both undergraduate and MA programs. Matt will be starting his PhD in Second Language Studies at Michigan State University, focusing on instructed (classroom-based) second language acquisition—learning, teaching, and assessment of second languages! After graduation, Matt hopes to take an academic job where he can combine his passions for language teaching (Chinese and Spanish!) and Applied Linguistics/Second Language Acquisition research.

“I continue to be so grateful to the Asian Studies department at UNC for helping build the foundation on which I’ve built my academic and professional career,” Matt said. “I am still frequently in touch with Professor Zhou (we have even collaborated on curriculum design and professional development events these past two years!), and frequently see other members of the Chinese faculty at conferences and other events, which is always so nice. I look forward to continued conversations and collaborations with Asian Studies and the Carolina Asia Center as I work through my PhD!”