The Asian Studies major affords students the opportunity to study various regions of Asia from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on courses and faculty from various departments in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. The program is built around training in the East, Southeast, and South Asian languages, but courses cover many aspects of Asian history, literature, and cultures. Other courses cover the cultures and experiences of Asian Americans and the Asian diaspora
communities.

Students can focus on any aspect of Asia and/or Asian America and are strongly encouraged to select a disciplinary focus in Anthropology, Art History, History, Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages, Ethnic Studies, Music and Culture, Media and Cultural Studies, or Religious Studies. Students may choose to focus on the historical interactions and cultural similarities and differences among East, Northeast, South, Southeast, West, and Central Asia peoples, including those constituting transnational and/or diaspora communities throughout the world. Students interested in Asian diaspora communities are also urged to consider a secondary disciplinary focus in Ethnic Studies, leading to a minor in Asian American Studies.

Asian Studies faculty members have excellent publications records and a wide range of research projects, ranging from printing in Imperial China and Javanese gamelan to Vietnamese film and modern Indonesian literature. The Asian Studies program is particularly strong in performance, film, and media studies with participating faculty from the departments of Anthropology, Comparative Literature and Languages, Ethnic Studies, History, Religious Studies, and Philosophy.

Finally, Asian Studies majors are well prepared either to enter graduate school or to pursue one of many professions that require knowledge of Asia, including careers in business, governmental service, and international affairs.