A total of 66 credits.

• I) 18 credits in a disciplinary base department: Art History, Asian Languages, History, Political Science/International Relations, Religion, and Sociology and Anthropology which must include:
  • a) at least 12 credits in courses related to Asia
  • b) 6 credits in an appropriate methodology course
    • ARTH 298 Seminar for Art History Majors
    • ENGL 200 Methods of Interpretation (for ASLN)
    • HIST 298 Junior-year History Colloquium
    • LCST 245 Introduction to Critical Methods: Structure, Gender, Culture (for ASLN)
    • POSC 230 Methods of Political Research
    • RELG 300 Issues 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:
  • a) at least 6 credits in each of three distribution areas: Arts and Literature, Humanities, Social Sciences
  • b) a maximum of 18 credits at the 100-level
  • c) 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 three faculty members as readers and advisors for the project. The first draft of the exercise is due in the ninth week of winter term, and a final draft in the fourth week of spring term. The student defends the project before the three readers, and presents the research publicly to interested members of the community.
• IV) A regional focus on 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:
  • a) at least 48 credits (exclusive of the Senior Integrative Exercise) related to one's focal region
  • b) 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:
      • Arts and Literature:
        
        • ARTH 164 Buddhist Art (not offered in 2009-10)
        • ARTH 165 Japanese Art and Culture
        • ARTH 166 Chinese Art (not offered in 2009-10)
        • ARTH 209 Chinese Painting (not offered in 2009-10)
        • ARTH 220 Gender and Genre in the Floating World: Japanese Prints
        • ASLN 111 Writing Systems (not offered in 2009-10)
        • ASLN 237 Tao of Wisdom in Asian Literature (not offered in 2009-10)
        • ASLN 260 Historical Linguistics
        • CHIN 115 The Taoist Way of Health and Longevity: Taichi and Other Forms
        • CHIN 206 Chinese in Cultural Context
        • CHIN 212 Tianjin Program: Chinese Culture (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 235 Beauty, Good, and Evil in Chinese Literature (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 240 Chinese Cinema (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 241 Twentieth Century Chinese Literature and Film in translation (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 282 Tianjin Program: Chinese Civilization (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 345 Advanced Readings in Chinese Literature: Selected Prose (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 346 Advanced Readings in Chinese Fiction (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 347 Advanced Readings in Contemporary Chinese Prose: Newspapers
        • CHIN 349 Advanced Chinese: Social Commentary (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 350 Advanced Chinese: Poems and Stories (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 355 Contemporary Chinese Short Stories and Film (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 356 Modern and Contemporary Women Writers (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 357 Advanced Chinese: Contemporary Social Issues (not offered in 2009-10)
        • CHIN 358 Chinese Idiom Stories
        • CHIN 360 Classical Chinese
        • JAPN 230 Topics in Pre-Modern Literature (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 231 Japanese Cinema
        • JAPN 232 Autobiography in Modern Japan (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 234 Modern Japanese Novel in translation: Mothers/Daughters; Fathers/Sons (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 236 Classical Japanese Fiction: The Tale of Genji and Its World (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 237 Literature and Arts of Japan 1333-1868 (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 240 Literature and Society of Modern Japan in Translation
        • JAPN 242 Japanese Poetry (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 345 Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese Literature: The Short Story (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 347 Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese Prose: Newspapers (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 348 Advanced Japanese Conversation and Composition
        • JAPN 349 Advanced Readings in Contemporary Japanese Prose
        • JAPN 351 Advanced Japanese through Documentary Film (not offered in 2009-10)
        • JAPN 352 Advanced Japanese through Manga & Contemporary Materials (not offered in 2009-10)
        • MUSC 182 or 282 Chinese Musical Instruments
      • Humanities:
        
        • HIST 110 Chinese Revolution of 1949
        • HIST 151 History of Modern Japan (not offered in 2009-10)
        • HIST 152 History of Imperial China
        • HIST 153 History of Modern China
        • HIST 200 The Zen of Asian and Western Woodworking (not offered in 2009-10)
        • HIST 253: Bureaucracy, Law, and Religion in East Asia (not offered in 2009-10)
        • HIST 254 Colonialism in East Asia
        • HIST 255 Press and Culture in East Asia
        • HIST 353 Intellectuals and the State Power in East Asia (not offered in 2009-10)
        • RELG 151 Religion in Chinese Culture
        • RELG 152 Religion in Japanese Culture
        • RELG 255 Social Engagement in Asian Religions
        • RELG 350 Emptiness (not offered in 2009-10)
        • RELG 358 Zen, Nationalism & Orientalism (not offered in 2009-10)
      • Social Sciences:
        
        • ECON 240 Microeconomics of Development
        • ECON 241 Growth and Development (not offered in 2009-10)
        • LING 180 Structure of Japanese (not offered in 2009-10)
        • POSC 237 Southeast Asian Politics (not offered in 2009-10)
        • POSC 239 The Diplomat’s Craft: Three Case Studies
        • POSC 253 Marxist Political Thought
        • POSC 264 China on the Rise: The Politics of Contemporary China
        • POSC 326 America’s China Policy (not offered in 2009-10)
        • POSC 329 Vietnam, Iraq and American Policy * (not offered in 2009-10)
        • POSC 345 Guerillas, Warlords and Bandits: The Art of Asymmetric War *
        • POSC 378 Beijing Program: Chinese Social and Political Institutions (not offered in 2009-10)
        • POSC 379 Beijing Program: Chinese Decision Making (not offered in 2009-10)
        • POSC 381 Beijing Program: Politics of Economic Development (not offered in 2009-10)
        • POSC 382 Beijing Program: Chinese Economy in Transition (not offered in 2009-10)
        • SOAN 284 Anthropology of China (not offered in 2009-10)
        • SOAN 286 Anthropology of East Asia (not offered in 2009-10)
    • SOUTH ASIA:
    • Arts and Literature:
      
      • ARTH 164 Buddhist Art (not offered in 2009-10)
      • MUSC 248 Music of India (not offered in 2009-10)
    • Humanities:
      • HIST 160 History of Classical India (not offered in 2009-10)
      • HIST 161 History of Modern India (not offered in 2009-10)
      • HIST 259 Women in South Asia: Histories, Narratives and Representation (not offered in 2009-10)
      • HIST 262 Post-Colonial South Asia, 1947-present (not offered in 2009-10)
      • HIST 266 History of Islam in India
      • RELG 122 Introduction to Islam
      • RELG 150 Religions of South Asia
      • RELG 251 Theravada Buddhism (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELG 253 Tibetan Buddhism (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELG 258 Women and Buddhism (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELG 259 Visual Cultures of South Asia (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELG 261 Beyond Hindu and Muslim: The Lives of Indian Saints (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELG 266 Islamic Conversations: The Muslim Presence in South Asia (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELG 350 Emptiness (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELIG 353 Hindu Hierarchies (not offered in 2009-10)
      • RELG 356 Buddhism and Ecology
    • Social Sciences:
      • ECON 240 Microeconomics of Development
      • ECON 241 Growth and Development (not offered in 2009-10)
      • SOAN 257 Culture and Politics in India
    • CENTRAL ASIA:
    • Arts and Literature:
      • ARTH 155 Islamic Art and Architecture (not offered in 2009-10)
    • Humanities:
      • HIST 254 Colonialism in East Asia
      • HIST 265 Central Asia in the Modern Age
      • HIST 360 Muslims and Modernity
      • RELG 122 Introduction to Islam
      • RELG 253 Tibetan Buddhism (not offered in 2009-10)
    • Social Sciences:
      • ECON 240 Microeconomics of Development
      • ECON 241 Growth and Development (not offered in 2009-10)
      • SOAN 256 Ethnography of Africa
      • SOAN 284 Anthropology of China (not offered in 2009-10)
  • 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 below 228 may not be applied to the major. Applicable courses:
      • CHIN 101, 102, 103 Elementary Chinese
      • CHIN 204, 205 Intermediate Chinese
      • CHIN 206 Chinese in Cultural Context
      • CHIN 207 Tianjin Program: Intermediate Chinese Language (not offered in 2009-10)
      • JAPN 101, 102, 103 Elementary Japanese
      • JAPN 204, 205, 206 Intermediate Japanese
    • Languages available at Carleton through special arrangement may include: Uzbek (A. Khalid); Sanskrit, Pali, and Classical Tibetan (R. Jackson).
• 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 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 ACM the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). The ACM Program in India consists of five months' stay in Pune, where students study Marathi, take academic courses centered on India, and investigate an independent study topic. The program in Hong Kong at the Chinese University, also for students from ACM institutions, normally lasts one year, though a semester-long program is also possible. The Carleton Seminar in Tianjin is a Chinese language and culture program at Nankai University. Students take courses in Chinese languages, civilization and society and culture including art, Taichi and other martial arts. Carleton, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Swarthmore, Grinnell, Holy Cross, and Whitman jointly sponsor the Intercollegiate Sri Lanka Education Program (ISLE), in which students and a faculty member study at the University of Peradeniya near Kandy, the old capital in the middle of the island. A triennial program emphasizing Political Economy was begun in 1990, in Beijing, China. Opportunities to study in Asia also are available through a variety of non-Carleton 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.