Major Requirements – Asian Studies

A total of 66 credits:

I. 18 credits in a disciplinary–based department: Art History, Asian Languages, History, Political Science/International Relations, Religion, and Sociology and Anthropology which must include:

at least 12 credits in courses related to Asia
6 credits in an appropriate methodology course:

ARTH 298: The History of Art History
CAMS 330: Cinema Studies Seminar
CCST 245: Meaning and Power: Introduction to Analytical Approaches in the Humanities
HIST 298: Junior Colloquium
POSC 230: Methods of Political Research
RELG 300: Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion
SOAN 330: Sociological Thought and Theory
SOAN 331: Anthropological Thought and Theory

II. 42 additional credits in Asia-related courses (including appropriate off-campus credits, excluding ASST 400 and language-department courses below 228 or their equivalents); these must include:

at least 6 credits in each of three distribution areas: Literary/Artistic Analysis, Humanistic Inquiry, and Social Inquiry
a maximum of 18 credits at the 100 level
a minimum of 24 credits at the 200 level or above

III. 6 credits of Senior Integrative Exercise (ASST 400), normally taken during winter term of the senior year.

The Senior Integrative Exercise normally is a research paper of 30 pages or more that delves into some aspect of the student’s focal region. The project normally is developed by the student during the fall term, and proposed to and approved by the Asian Studies Committee, which assigns two faculty members as readers and advisers for the project. The first draft of the exercise is due by the end of the ninth week of winter term, and a final draft by the end of the fourth week of spring term. The student defends the project before the two readers, and presents the research publicly to interested members of the community.

IV. A regional focus: East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet), or Central Asia (Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iran, the Islamic former Soviet republics, Manchuria, inner and outer Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang) involving:

at least 48 credits (exclusive of the Senior Integrative Exercise) related to one’s focal region
at least 6 credits related to an Asian region different from one’s focal region.

Courses by regional focus, subdivided by distribution area:

EAST ASIA:

SOUTH ASIA:

CENTRAL ASIA:

ECON 240: Microeconomics of Development
ECON 241: Growth and Development · not offered in 2024-25
HIST 254: Migration in Asia-Pacific History · not offered in 2024-25
HIST 265: Central Asia in the Modern Age · not offered in 2024-25
HIST 267: Muslims and Modernity · not offered in 2024-25
HIST 360: Muslims and Modernity · not offered in 2024-25
RELG 122: Introduction to Islam
RELG 153: Introduction to Buddhism
RELG 257: Asian Religions and Ecology · not offered in 2024-25

V. One year of study of an appropriate Asian language, or its equivalent

For languages offered at Carleton, this will involve completion of a language through 103, or its equivalent. For languages not offered at Carleton, which may be studied through off-campus programs, summer study, or special arrangement at Carleton, it will involve completion of the equivalent of 103. Language (as opposed to literature) courses may not be applied to the major. The following courses do not count towards the 66 credits needed for the Asian Studies major.

CHIN 101, 102, 103 Elementary Chinese
CHIN 204, 205 Intermediate Chinese
JAPN 101, 102, 103 Elementary Japanese
JAPN 204, 205 Intermediate Japanese

Languages available at Carleton through special arrangement may include: Uzbek (Adeeb Khalid), Tamil (Kristin Bloomer).

VI. Normally, at least one term of off-campus study in Asia Students interested in studying in Asia may apply to one of a number of overseas programs. Carleton College has several of its own term-long off-campus studies programs. The Carleton program in Political Economy and Ecology of Southeast Asia provides opportunities for students to learn about social and ecological changes in Thailand, Lao PDR and Myanmar. The Carleton program, India: Globalization and Local Responses, focuses on social structures and institutions in India and the intersections with development, sustainability and gender relations. The Buddhist Studies in India, one of Carleton’s Global Engagement Programs, introduces students to the diversity of Buddhist traditions as lived in Bodh Gaya, a unique pilgrimage center in northern India.

Carleton also cooperates with several other colleges to sponsor the Associated Kyoto Program, which takes 50 students and seven faculty members to Japan for an academic year. Carleton also participates in a one-year program at Waseda University sponsored by the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). Opportunities to study in Asia also are available through a variety of non-Carleton programs and non-consortial programs.

Courses taken on off-campus programs may be applied to the major. Because of the paucity of Carleton courses in South Asian languages or on many aspects of Central Asia, off-campus programs generally form an important component of the major for those who focus in those two Asian regions.