Residential neighborhood
Hanoi, Vietnam
Photograph by Stephan Woo
Asian languages presently taught at Berkeley include Chinese, Hindi-Urdu, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Malay-Indonesian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese. Intensive summer language institutes in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Hindi are held at Berkeley, providing the equivalent of two semesters of study during the academic year. Catalogs and application forms are available from the Office of Summer Sessions, 22 Wheeler Hall. Summer language institutes in Southeast Asian languages rotate among several universities. Further information about languages and levels offered can be obtained from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and that of South and Southeast Asian Studies on the Berkeley campus.
The various libraries at the university house over eight million book volumes. Of particular importance to the study of Asia is the East Asian Library, which contains over 840,000 volumes and periodicals. A research library of materials on contemporary China (with particular emphasis on the social sciences and humanities) consisting of more than 65,000 volumes and an extensive microfilm collection is maintained by the Center for Chinese Studies. The South and Southeast Asia Library supplements the General Library holdings, including a total of over 600,000 items related to South and Southeast Asia.
The Center for Chinese Studies, the Center for Japanese Studies, and the Center for Korean Studies (all under the Institute of East Asian Studies), the Center for South Asian Studies, and the Center for Southeast Asia Studies facilitate research by faculty members and visiting scholars. Although they do not offer courses or award degrees, the centers sponsor publication series, seminars, lectures, and colloquia, which are of interest to graduate students.
The Berkeley East Asia National Resource Center and the Berkeley South Asia National Resource Center, both funded by the U.S. Department of Education, facilitate interdisciplinary language and area studies for faculty and students at Berkeley.
The University of California Intercampus Exchange Program for Graduate Students allows students to study at any of the other U.C. campuses and to receive official course credit for the courses they complete as exchange students. An exchange program with Stanford University is also available for graduate students in any of the four regional specializations. Through this program, students enrolled at Berkeley may simultaneously take courses at Stanford.