"The distinctive interdisciplinary and multicultural focus of the College’s academic program seeks to foster both the fulfillment of individual aspirations and a deeply rooted commitment to the public good."

No department at Oxy is more fundamentally devoted to both interdisciplinary and multicultural studies than the Asian Studies department. We include scholars from the disciplines of art history, comparative literature, ethnic and American studies, history, linguistics, political science, and religious studies. Asian Studies majors take classes from multiple departments and learn to analyze complex global problems using a variety of methods.

Three main themes of the College's dynamic planning over the years, "international," "interdisciplinary," and "Los Angeles/community," are also strongly represented in the curriculum and faculty of the Asian Studies department. Our majors learn important languages like Chinese and Japanese. They live abroad for part of the junior year. They engage with local communities through classes on Asian American history and culture, and through Community Based Learning projects such as the recent collaboration with the Japanese American National Museum.

Our majors also enjoy great success after graduation. Many return to Asia to teach English or to work in the rapidly growing business sector. Companies involved in Asia here in the U.S. and around the world are generally more interested in specialized knowledge of an Asian language and culture than in narrow training in business. Others attend graduate school or become k-12 teachers. Asian Studies majors therefore have many career options open to them.

The Asian Studies Department offers five areas of emphasis: China, Chinese Language, Japan, Japanese Language, and Comparative. The first four are self-explanatory; if you want to study Chinese language, literature, history, and culture, and live in China or Taiwan during your junior year, then you should choose the China emphasis. If you have advanced language skills, the Chinese Language emphasis might suit you. Likewise with the Japanese and Japanese Language emphasis for those interested in Japanese language and culture.

If, however, you are interested in a specific topic or issue in Asian Studies, OR a language and culture that is not strongly represented at Oxy such as Korean, then you should choose the comparative emphasis. For example, a student with native fluency in the Korean language, for example, might choose a comparative emphasis on the historical relationship of Korea with China and Japan. Or, a student interested in women's rights might choose a comparative emphasis on women's and gender studies in Asia. Please consult with a member of the Asian Studies faculty if you have questions about this process.

A good place to begin is with Introduction to Asian Studies, ASN101. This is the gateway course into the major and also into the broad, interdisciplinary study of Asia at Oxy.

Please click the links to the left or at the top of the page for more information.