Program Overview
Introduction to Asian Studies
The Department of Asian Studies is an essential part of Vanderbilt's growing global curriculum, established in 1967 as the Program in East Asian Studies. The mission of the department is to provide the foundation necessary for students to succeed in a career within the rapidly developing marketplace that is Asia or gain admission to top graduate programs in the field.
Program Overview
The department offers a robust curriculum in Asian American and Asian diaspora studies, with faculty who are leading scholars of Asian language and the interdisciplinary study of Asian cultures.
Majors and Minors
The Asian Studies department offers two majors:
- one in Asian studies with concentrations in China, Japan, Korea, and South Asia
- one in Asian American and Asian diaspora studies
The department also offers minors in:
- Asian studies
- Asian American and Asian diaspora studies
- Chinese language and culture
- Japanese language and culture
- Korean language and culture
- South Asian language and culture
Honors Program
Students with junior academic standing may apply to the Honors Program in Asian Studies.
Courses
The department offers a wide range of courses, including:
Language
- All levels of Chinese
- Chinese for Heritage Learners
- Calligraphy
- Readings in Modern Chinese Media
- Business Chinese
- All levels of Japanese
- Japanese through Manga
- Language through Japanese Food Culture
- All levels of Korean
- All levels of Hindi-Urdu
- Sanskrit
Humanities and Social Sciences
- Transnational South Asia
- Blood, Sweat, and Tears in Korean Literature
- Fashioning the Self: Coming of Age and Asian Modernities
- Play and Pleasure in Early Modern Japan
- Popular Culture in Modern Japan
- Explorations of Japanese Animation
- Tokyo: History and Image
- Contemporary Japan through Film and Fiction
- Japan Through Historical Fiction
- Martial Tradition in Chinese Literature
- Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature
- Romancing the Nation in Modern Chinese Literature
- Chinese Medicine
- The Chinese Political System
- Chinese Economic History
- Food and Family in Korean Pop Culture
- Cultural History of Korea
- Global Korean Cinema
- Modern East Asian History
- Premodern Chinese History
- Modern Chinese History
- China and the United States: Intertwined Histories
- Premodern Japanese History
- Modern Japanese History
- Modern South Asian History
- The East India Company
- The Body in Modern Japanese Culture
- Chinese Thought
- Crisis Simulation in East Asia
- Blackness and the Asian Century
- India and the Indian Ocean
- Images of India
- Arts of East Asia
- History of Asian Architecture
- Architecture and the Mapping of Empire in Asia
- Art & Ritual in Asia
- East Asian Architecture and Gardens
- Arts of China
- Arts of Japan
- Chinese Medicine
- Religions in China
- Taoist Tradition
- Buddhist Traditions
- Self-Cultivation in Ancient China
- Modern South Asian Literature in Translation
- The Sociology of Asian America
- Asian American Literature
Study Abroad
The department offers study abroad programs, including:
- CET in China, with locations in Beijing, Hangzhou, Harbin, and Shanghai, offering summer and academic-year programs
- CIEE in China, Japan, and Korea, offering semester-long programs in Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul
- Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS), offering a rigorous semester-long academic program in language and cultural studies in Kyoto
Faculty
The faculty's wide expertise spans the geography, culture, and language of Asia.