This December the Department will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary with a banquet to be held at the Renissance Hotel downtown, join us for a night of more...
Each year the department offers a variety of topics under the course numbed 360B. This year we are offering courses in Modern Japanese Literature, Cultures of Manga and Anime More...
Majors and Minors
The courses offered at the undergraduate level fall into two categories:
Category 1: Courses on the contemporary and historical cultures of South, Southeast, and East Asia, which do not require knowledge of an Asian language (these are listed under the heading Asian Studies); and
Category 2: Courses in language, including advanced reading courses, which introduce the student to literary, philosophical, and historical works in their original language (these courses are listed under the specific language headings).
Courses in category 1 (see above) are open to all students in the Faculty of Arts.
Courses in category 2 (see above) are designed to provide the essential training for those who wish to proceed to further scholarly studies in the field of Asian Studies at the graduate level. However, in the more elementary courses, language training at the appropriate level is also provided for those who wish to obtain some knowledge of Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, or South Asian languages (Hindi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Urdu) as part of their general education or with a view to later practical use.
Study of the necessary languages should begin as early as possible in a student's academic career. A good foundation in language studies is a prerequisite for admission to graduate studies. Those who do not have the necessary preparation when they apply will be asked to make up this deficiency. Credit is not normally given to graduate students for such preparatory work.
Please note, most of our language courses are not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading although you must verify this information by going through the SIS.
PLEASE NOTE:
1. You need a total of 42 credits in your Major field, of which at least 30 have to be from classes numbered 300 or above. This also applies if you are a language Major who started at the 300 level in your language classes.
2. You should take no more than 60 credits from the Department of Asian Studies. That means, we do not permit double majors (e.g., Chinese and Japanese) when both majors are in the Department of Asian Studies. Nor do we permit a student with a Major in the Department of Asian Studies to take a Minor in this Department as well (For example, no Chinese Major and Asian Area Studies Minor is allowed.)
3.You may not take a language course after you have already taken a course for which it is a prerequisite (for example, you will not be given credit for CHIN 302 after you have taken CHIN 322), nor may you get double credit for taking the same course twice (CHIN 320 and CHIN 322, for example).
4. Asia Area Studies Majors should be sure that at least 15 of their upper-division credits applied toward their major are from non-language courses.
3.You may not take a language course after you have already taken a course for which it is a prerequisite (for example, you will not be given credit for CHIN 302 after you have taken CHIN 322), nor may you get double credit for taking the same course twice (CHIN 320 and CHIN 322, for example).
4. Asia Area Studies Majors should be sure that at least 15 of their upper-division credits applied toward their major are from non-language courses.
Major in Asian Area Studies
48 total credits of course work on Asia are required, of which at least 30 credits must be from courses numbered 300 or above which focus on ASIA. Those 48 credits must include:
ASIA 100 and 101
six credits from ASIA 200, 208, 209 and 250.
at least 12 credits of one language taught in the Department of Asian Studies.
At least six credits from upper-division courses on Asia taught in one other department.
No more than 12 credits from courses taught in other departments can be applied to a major in Asian Area Studies. The following courses are pre-approved:
- ANTH 315(3/6), 402 (3/6), 410 (3/6)
- ARTH 358 (3), 359 (3), 360 (3), 361 (3), 364 (3), 365 (3), 366 (3), 367 (3)
- ECON 341(3), 342 (3), 343 (3)
- FILM 338 (3)
- GEOG 380 (3)
- HIST 380 (6), 381 (6), 382 (6), 383 (6), 384 (6), 385 (6), 386 (6), 387 (3), 388 (3), 389 (6)
- PHIL 378 (3), 388 (3)
- POLI 321 (3/6), 322 (3), 323 (3/6), 324 (3/6), 330 (3), 331 (3), 365 (3/6), 368 (3)
- RELG 354 (6), 364 (3), 365 (3), 366 (3), 367 (3), 368 (3)
- SOCI 315 (3/6)
Other courses may be approved under advisement from the Department.
- At least 15 upper-division credits from courses offered in the Department of Asian Studies. No more than six of those credits can be from CHIN, HINU, INDO, JAPN, KORN, PUNJ, SANS, or SOAL courses.
- Three credits from an ASIA course at the 400 level to be completed at UBC.
The Major does not allow for double-majoring within the Department. The Minor cannot be combined with the Major in Asian Area Studies.
Majors in Asian area studies that go on exchange for two semesters will be required to take a minimum of one 3-credit 400-level AISA course upon their return.
Please note, most of our language courses are not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading although you must verify this information by going through the SIS.
Minor in Asian Area Studies
The Minor in Asian Area Studies requires:
- 12 credits of one Asian language at the appropriate level
- 18 credits of upper-level ASIA courses. As many as six of these 18 units may be from courses on Asia taught in one other department.
The Minor cannot be combined with the Major in Asian Languages and Cultures.
Please note, most of our language courses are not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading although you must verify this information by going through the SIS.
Major in Asian Language and Culture
Students who wish to major in Asian Language and Culture must have an overall UBC average of at least 64% before they declare their major.
The major requires 42 credits, of which at least 30 must be from courses numbered 300 or above.
Those 42 credits must include:
- Between 12 and 18 credits of upper-division credit in one language taught in the Department of Asian Studies, which must include at least six credits at the 400 level:
a. If Chinese is the language of specialization, CHIN 431 (one term only) (heritage learners) or ASIA 389 - 399 (two terms) (non-heritage learners).
b. in the case of South Asian languages, 12-18 credits of upper-level courses in Sanskrit-Hindi-Urdu or Sanskrit-Punjabi are required.
c. Students with little or no prior knowledge of the language they wish to focus on may be required to earn up to 24 credits in that language before they take any 300 level language courses. However, they will still be required to earn 30 upper-division credits in addition to those 24 lower-division credits.
d. Between 12 to 18 upper-division ASIA credits, of which at least three credits must be from an area beyond that of the language of specialization.
e. three credits from a 400-level ASIA course to be completed at UBC.
No more than six credits of courses on Asia taught in other departments may be applied toward the requirements for an Asian Language and Culture major.
In order for students to advance from one level of classes in one language to the next level in that same language, they must earn at least an average of 60% in the classes in that language at the level immediately below the level they wish to advance into. This would apply to all the students in our language classes, not just the language majors.
The Major does not allow for double-majoring within the Department. The Minor cannot be combined with the Major in Asian Languages & Cultures.
Majors in Asian languages and culture that go on exchange for two semesters will be required to take a minimum of one 3-credit 400-level ASIA course upon their return.
Please note, most of our language courses are not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading although you must verify this information by going through the SIS.
Minor in Asian Languages and Culture
A total of 30 credits of coursework, as follows:
- 12 credits of coursework in one language taught in the Dept. of Asian Studies.
- six to 12 credits of the same language at the upper level.
- six to 12 credits of ASIA courses at the upper level, of which as many as six may be from courses on Asia taught in one other department.
The Minor cannot be combined with the Major in Asian Area Studies.
Please note, most of our language courses are not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading although you must verify this information by going through the SIS.
Honours Program in Asian Area Studies and Asian Language and Culture
The Honours Program in Asian Area Studies and Asian Language and Culture requires the successful completion of 60 credits.
- Included among the 48 upper-level credits, at least 12 credits must be in language, via study abroad at an approved UBC Exchange program (note: this option may require a fifth year of study), or
- Included among the 48 upper-level credits, at least 6 credits of Classical Chinese or Japanese for students using one of these as the language of specialization; and, at least 6 additional credits of a fourth-year (400-level) content course on Asia. Students who wish to apply for an Honours degree in either Asian Area Studies or Asian Language and Culture must have an overall UBC average of at least 74%. To apply, please come to the Asian Centre office in room #403 to pick up an application form.
Please note, most of our language courses are not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading although you must verify this information by going through the SIS.