Asia at Berkeley

Academic Programs

Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) offers a comprehensive curriculum in the languages, literatures, and cultures of East Asia for undergraduate and graduate students. Faculty research and teaching interests range from pre-modern literary, artistic, and religious expression to contemporary writing, film, linguistics, and popular culture. Doctoral programs and undergraduate majors are offered in Chinese and Japanese, with minors in Korean and Buddhist Studies available as well. The department offers training in classical and modern East Asian languages during the academic year and through intensive courses offered through UC Berkeley Summer Sessions.

Group in Asian Studies
The Group in Asian Studies (GAS) administers an interdisciplinary MA program. Students focus on South, Southeast, or East Asia, and design programs of study that draw on campus-wide expertise pertinent to their interests. The Group in Asian Studies also offers a joint MA degree program with the Graduate School of Journalism. Undergraduates may pursue a focus in Asia through the Global Studies major.

Group in Buddhist Studies
The Group in Buddhist Studies, which is comprised primarily of faculty from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies offers an interdisciplinary program of study and research leading to a PhD degree in Buddhist Studies.

Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
The Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies (SSEAS) offers instruction in the cultures, literatures and peoples of South and Southeast Asia and supports an undergraduate major and a graduate degree program. The department also offers regular instruction in the languages of South Asia and of Southeast Asia (including Burmese, Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer, Thai, and Vietnamese).

Berkeley Study Abroad
Berkeley Study Abroad is the campus office of the University of California Education Abroad Program (EAP), which offers the opportunity for undergraduates from any University of California campus to spend a semester or academic year abroad as part of their academic program. For students interested in East and Southeast Asia, EAP currently offers study abroad options in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. 

Centers and Institutes

The Institute of East Asian Studies is home to a range of centers and initiatives concerning the countries of East and Southeast Asia, as well as a vibrant publications program. The Institute for South Asia Studies fosters programming primarily concerning India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. 

Publications

Asian Survey
The only academic journal of its kind produced in the United States, Asian Survey provides a comprehensive retrospective of contemporary international relations in Asia authored by leading American and foreign scholars. Journal coverage ranges in scope from diplomacy, disarmament, missile defense and the military,  to ethnicity, ethnic violence, economic nationalism, general elections, and global capitalism.

Berkeley Student Journal of Asian Studies
The Berkeley Student Journal of Asian Studies is an interdisciplinary student journal with the mission to broaden the study of Asia across disciplinary lines and expand the Asian Studies community by promoting leadership and scholarship of Asia.

Journal of Sino-American Affairs
The Journal of Sino-American Affairs is a student-led, student-run publication dedicated to providing a forum for young leaders to publish on and discuss political, economic, and cultural topics relevant to the U.S.-China relationship, and by extension global prosperity and security. 

University of California Press
A part of its publishing program, the University of California Press publishes an extensive list of books pertaining to Asia, and is recognized as a leading publisher of Asian Studies among university presses.

Museums and the Arts

Berkeley Art Museum
The Berkeley Art Museum contains over 1,000 hanging scrolls, screens, fans, and ceramics from China and Japan with rich holdings in Yangchow painting, Nanga painting and Japanese woodblock prints, as well as the Bernard-Murray Collection of Tibetan thangkas, painted mandalas, and bronze sculpture. The museum actively collects contemporary Asian art, with important recent acquisitions by Xu Bing, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, and Zhang Huan.

Pacific Film Archive
The Pacific Film Archive (PFA) has a longstanding commitment to the exhibition and collection of Asian film, and regularly programs major film series from the region. It houses one of the largest collection of Japanese films outside of Japan, with particular strengths in works from the 1950s and 1960s, including films by Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu and others. 

Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology
Founded in 1901, the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology preserves more than 6,000 items from China and Japan, represented by well-documented field collections, and smaller collections from Korea and Southeast Asia. The collections, which continue to grow through new acquisitions, include most varieties of regional artifact forms and media and are especially rich in textiles and ceramics. Other important holdings include jade and cloisonné from China, and netsuke and fans from Japan. The museum maintains public galleries for rotating exhibits and interpretive programs. Its collections are available by appointment to researchers.

Cal Performances
Cal Performances which is based at the university, frequently sponsors programs focused on East Asia. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has performed and participated in extensive residency activities with his Silk Road Ensemble. Programs have also highlighted the renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan as well as Japan's Kōdō drummers and Sankai Juku, a Butō dance company. 

Other Resources

The Vice Chancellor for Research maintains a list of all international and area studies centers and institutes on campus, as well as a directory of other relevant university resources for international studies.