Major in Asian and Asian American Studies
Major | Minor

The major has a common core and three tracks:

  • Asian American
  • Asian specialization
  • Asian comparative

The major requires 11 courses, 6 of which must be at the 300- or 400-level

All majors must fulfill the three course common core requirements:

Asian Studies regional/continental -- one of the following:

 

Asian Art and Architecture (ARTH 104/AAAS 104)

Contemporary Asian Societies (SOC 369/AAAS 369)

East Asian Civilizations (HIST 106/AAAS 106)

  • Asian American Studies -- either:
  • Asian Americas (ENG 371x/AAAS371) or
  • Asian American History (HIST 267/AAAS267)

AAAS Majors seminar (AAAS 496) -- an annual seminar for junior and senior majors that would have a different topical focus each year but would also try to theorize and address themes that are common to Asian and Asian American studies. There would be an instructor of record, but various faculty from the program would participate. [Because this is for upper class majors, it would not be offered until 2004-05].

The tracks for the major provide students with the opportunity to focus their study in one of three ways. In the Asian American Studies track, students concentrate on the social, cultural and historical aspects of the experience of Asian Americans and, more broadly, Asians in the Americas. The Asian Specialization track allows students to focus their study on the language, culture and historical experience of a particular Asian country or region. The Asian Comparative track emphasizes courses that approach Asia comparative, through courses that deal with two or more countries.

Asian American Studies track:

  • Four additional Asian American studies courses (ARTH 387D, ENG 371X, HIST 267, SOC 278, AAAS 395*, plus Asian American courses to be developed by new faculty.
  • AAAS 395 (Community Internship). A new course in which students undertake internships with established institutions or agencies (pre-screened by AAASP) that work with Asian communities in the U.S. It will involve a Community Theory/Praxis workshop with AAASP faculty mentors before interning, a site supervisor's assessment, a written report by the student, and a presentation to the full program faculty and interested members of the larger community. Prerequisite for this course is: completion of ENG 371X or HIST 267 with a minimum grade of B+ and a strong recommendation from the instructor.

Asian Specialization track:

  • Two intermediate courses (203-204) of an Asian language or demonstrated language proficiency at the 204 level.
  • Four courses relating to the culture/society of their chosen region or culture.
  • Electives of any substantive AAASP courses bringing the total number of courses to 11.

Asian Comparative track:

  • Four comparative courses on Asia treating more than one Asian country (ANTH 368, ECON 414, GEOG 259, HIST 106/AAAS106, HIST 473, HIST 484A, SOC 369, plus future courses to be developed by new faculty or through curriculum development grants).
  • Four electives selected from any substantive AAASP courses.

The Program will offer an honors thesis. See the Director for details.

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Minor in Asian and Asian American Studies

    *The minor in Asian and Asian American Studies allows students to supplement their major through participation in a cross-disciplinary program. In order to qualify for the minor, students will need to complete at least six courses distributed as follows:

  • Two courses in Asian and Asian American Studies at the introductory level (8 credits),
  • Three other courses in Asian and Asian American Studies (12 credits) at least two of which must be at the 300 level and above
  • AAAS 496, Major Seminar or another 400 AAAS seminar (4 credits).
  • All students must take at least one course each in Asian studies and Asian American studies.
  • Up to two Asian language courses may be counted.

     

    No more than one course may be taken Pass/Fail. Students must complete at least four of the courses (24 credits) at Binghamton University. Although the Asian and Asian American Studies program views the grade of D as passing, a grade of C- or better is necessary for a course to count towards the minor.

 

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This page was last updated or reviewed on: 12/04/03