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