POLICY STATEMENT

NUMBER: 79-26
FILE: Degree

SUBJECT:  MAJOR IN ASIAN STUDIES FOR THE BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE

The following policy statement, recommended by the Academic Senate at its meeting of May 18, 1978, approved by the President on May 24, 1978, was approved by the Chancellor on

Asian Studies is administered through the Asian Studies Program, but is taught largely through the academic offerings of eleven cooperating departments.  Thus, it provides a framework for the exploration of one or more Asian societies from an interdisciplinary perspective.  The program encourages students to integrate the study of Asian peoples across the Pacific with that of Asian American communities in the U.S. and to support the study of culture and society with language training.

Students choosing an Asian Studies major are advised to select one of the three options for the degree.  They may emphasize area studies, a social science and humanities based study of one or more specific Asian societies, such as China, Japan or India. They opt for Asian American studies, and combine the study of Asian Americans as an ethnic minority with supporting investigation of the countries of their historical origin.  Or they may specialize in one or more Asian languages, supported by the appropriate area studies.

REQUIREMENTS:

 Lower Division
 I. Required of all students:
  Asian Studies 100 and 101 (6 units)
Three semesters (9-12 units) of an Asian language, chosen from among the following:  Chinese 221A, 221B, 331A; Japanese 221B, 321A; Sanskrit 331, 332, 341*.

II. Students choosing the Asian American Studies option must take the following additional lower division course: Asian American Studies 102 or 220.

Upper Division

In addition to the previous requirements students should select one of the following three options:

I. Area Studies Option
Twenty-one units of upper division work, selected from the list of approved electives with the following provisions: 1) no more than nine units shall be taken in a single discipline, such as art or history; 2) courses shall concentrate upon two geographic areas of Asia, chosen from among the following: China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Americas (Asians in America).  No more than six units of courses on the Americas can be applied toward this requirement.

II. Asian American Studies Option
Twenty-one units of upper division work, selected from the list of approved electives with the following provisions: 1) 12 units of upper division Asian American studies shall be required including ASAM 310 and ASAM 345.  2) of the remaining upper division units, no more than six shall focus on one geographical area of Asia, chosen among the following: China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia.

III. Asian Languages Option
In addition to the three semesters of basic language requirements, 13 additional upper division units of a single Asian language (Chinese or Japanese, excluding courses in calligraphy).  IN addition, 12 units of supporting work are required, focused on the geographical area(s) represented by the student's language concentration.  These units should include courses from at least two disciplines, such as history or Asian American Studies.  A second Asian language may be substituted for one of the disciplines.

*Note on the Asian Studies Language requirement:  Asian language courses with a 300 level number carry upper division credit.

Effective:  Immediately