Calligraphy Brushes, San Francisco
Photograph by Peter Schurmann
The undergraduate major in Asian studies is a rigorous but flexible interdisciplinary program that is offered by a Faculty Group. It is designed to offer students access to the rich course offerings in the Asian field campus-wide in a way that is not possible through departmental major requirement structures. Each student's program is individually planned to assure deeper knowledge of one East Asian culture and language and also a broad range of inter-area and disciplinary perspectives. Students concentrate on either China or Japan and complete at least two years of the appropriate language.
Declaring the Major
In order to become an Asian Studies major, students will have to complete:
All required courses must be taken for a letter grade. After you have fulfilled the above pre-requisite courses, you will need to go see the major advisor at the Undergraduate Office, 101 Stephens Hall, on Mondays and Wednesdays between 10-Noon and 1-4. Your major advisor will give you the paperwork needed to declare the major and put together an academic plan.
Transfer Students
Transfer students will have to meet the same pre-requisites as listed above. If you have taken the equivalent of Asian Studies 10 or a lower-division Asia-focused History course, please send the syllabus to the major advisor at asianst@berkeley.edu. If the major advisor does not deem the courses equivalent, then you will have to take the pre-requisite courses at Cal. It is recommended that you finish these requirements your first semester, so that you can focus on upper-division course work. See above for steps on declaring the Asian Studies major.
Transfer students typically come in with one year of language study from their community or junior college. In order to continue your language study at Cal, you will need to take the placement exam administered by the East Asian Languages and Cultures department. Results of the exam will indicate which classes you are eligible to register for at Cal. For China-focused students, the Chinese language placement exam is administered online. For Japan-focused students, the Japanese language placement exam is usually offered the first week of classes. Exam dates/times are listed on the website. Since registration for classes usually begins far in advance of the exam, you should sign up for the course level that seems most compatible with your prior study. If necessary, the language course level can be adjusted according to the exam results during the first week of classes. Contact the EALC staff for additional details.