Program Requirements
Global Asias provides the means for students to study Asia transnationally and transculturally, thereby expanding the geographic concept of the region beyond a set of political entities occupying a specific world region. East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Asian diaspora are all part of this concentration, with the goal of recognizing that the flows of people, objects, ideas, and practices of Asia have spread across the region and around the globe.
Concentration Objectives
Drawing on a range of approaches, the Global Asias concentration provides the means to study Asia in its many manifestations — in the past and in the present — in our world today.
General Requirements
One semester of language must be completed before declaring the major.
- Students must complete a minimum of 36 units in Global Studies, including at least three courses focused on a world area.
- Students must complete at least 24 units at the 300 level or above, including courses across a minimum of three academic disciplines.
- Students must complete at least 6 units at the 400 level, no more than 3 of which may be directed research or independent study.
- In addition to the 36 units, students must complete a four-semester sequence of courses in one modern language appropriate to their concentration.
These requirements may be fulfilled only with college-level course work undertaken during a student's undergraduate enrollment. Courses must be taken for a grade, and a student must receive a grade of C+ or higher in all courses.
This concentration requires 36 units of course work:
- 3 units of introductory course work (100-200 level)
- 3 units of core course work: GS 3020 Global Futures
- 3 units of core course work: GS 4976 Global Asias
- 6 units of multiethnic, diaspora, transnational, or transregional Asia-related course work (at least 3 units at the 300-400 level)
- 21 units of advanced Global Asias course work (300-400 level; at least one course must focus on premodern Asias [pre-1850])
- East Asia, North Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Asian diaspora are the relevant areas for the Global Asias concentration. A student must complete one course in at least three of these areas or with a transregional focus.
- Students must fulfill the standard Global Studies language requirement with Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, or Urdu. Russian may be considered upon petition if a student is a native speaker of one of the listed languages or has tested into the fourth year of one of the listed languages.
- The study abroad location must be in a country relevant to this concentration area. Otherwise, the student will not meet the study abroad requirement and will need to complete an additional 300- or 400-level course on campus.
Note: A single course may satisfy more than one of the distribution requirements (i.e., disciplinary or regional). Some of these requirements may be completed while abroad.
Introductory Courses
Students choose one course from this list, for a total of 3 units:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Art-Arch 111 | Introduction to Asian Art | 3 |
| Art-Arch 146 | First Year Seminar: Beijing and the Forbidden City | 3 |
| AAS 200 | Doctors and Terrorists: The Fictions of South Asian America | 3 |
| Chinese 227C | Chinese Civilization | 3 |
| GS 111 | First-Year Seminar: The Vietnam Wars | 3 |
| GS 135 | First-Year Seminar: Chinatown: Migration, Identity, and Space | 3 |
| GS 207 | Crossing Borders: An Introduction to Institutions and Concepts in Global Studies | 3 |
| History 193 | First-Year Seminar: Silk Roads and Empires | 3 |
| History 2157 | First-Year Seminar: The Meaning of Pakistan: History, Culture, Art | 3 |
| Japan 226C | Japanese Civilization | 3 |
| JIMES 210C | Introduction to Islamic Civilization | 3 |
| Korean 223C | Korean Civilization | 3 |
Multiethnic, Diaspora, Transnational, or Transregional Asia-Related Courses
Students choose two courses from this list, for a total of 6 units; at least one course must be at the 300 or 400 level:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| AMCS 202 | The Immigrant Experience | 3 |
| Anthro 3102 | Topics in Anthropology: Sustainability in Extractive Communities | 3 |
| Anthro 3313 | Women and Islam | 3 |
| Anthro 3775 | Ancient Eurasia and the New Silk Roads | 3 |
| Anthro 4033 | Culture, Illness, and Healing in Asia | 3 |
| Art-Arch 144 | FYS: Collecting Art/Excluding People: The Contradictions of Chinese Art in U.S. Museums | 3 |
| Art-Arch 4494 | East, Meet West: Asia Encounters Europe | 3 |
| AAS 200 | Doctors and Terrorists: The Fictions of South Asian America | 3 |
| Chinese 330 | Topics in Chinese Literature and Culture | 3 |
| Chinese 350 | U.S.-China Relations from 1949 to the Present | 3 |
| Chinese 4891 | Topics in Chinese Literature and Culture | 3 |
| Comp Lit 375 | Topics in Comparative Literature: Representation and Memory in St. Louis Museums | 3 |
| Film 443 | Memory, Tears, and Longing: East Asian Melodrama Film | 3 |
| FYP 116 | Ampersand: Geographies of Globalization and Development | 3 |
| FYP 2243 | Ampersand: Mediterranean Migration: Dynamics and Consequences on the EU and MENA | 3 |
| GS 111 | First-Year Seminar: The Vietnam Wars | 3 |
| GS 1133 | Ampersand: Legacies of the Silk Road | 3 |
| GS 127 | Migration in the Global World: Stories | 3 |
| GS 135 | First-Year Seminar: Chinatown: Migration, Identity, and Space | 3 |
| GS 140 | East Asia in the World | 3 |
| GS 155 | First-Year Seminar: Mapping the World: Introduction to Human Geography | 3 |
| GS 280 | Sophomore Seminar: The Public Servant and Other Heroes: A History of Japan through Film | 3 |
| GS 3512 | "Model Minority": The Asian American Experience | 3 |
| GS 3822 | From McDonald's to K-pop: New Movements in East Asia | 3 |
| GS 386 | Empire in East Asia: Theory and History (WI) | 3 |
| GS 4036 | Children of Immigrants: Identity and Acculturation | 3 |
| History 193 | First-Year Seminar: Silk Roads and Empires | 3 |
| History 2062 | Sophomore Seminar | 3 |
| History 301T | Historical Methods-Transregional History | 3 |
| History 3165 | Chinese Diasporas | 3 |
| History 3167 | Economic History of China: From the Silver Age to Reform and Opening, 1500-1990 | 3 |
| History 3192 | Modern South Asia | 3 |
| History 3194 | Environment and Empire | 3 |
| History 3455 | Cultural Encounters: China and Eurasia Since the Middle Ages | 3 |
| History 39SC | Imperialism and Sexuality: India, South Asia and the World: Writing-Intensive Seminar | 3 |
| History 4154 | Decolonization to Globalization: How to End an Empire | 3 |
| History 4872 | Colonial Cities and the Making of Modernity | 3 |
| History 4914 | Advanced Seminar: Japan in World War II-History and Memory | 3 |
| | 3 |
| JIMES 210C | Introduction to Islamic Civilization | 3 |
| JIMES 351 | Muhammad: His Life and Legacy | 3 |
| JIMES 354 | Anthropological and Sociological Study of Muslim Societies | 3 |
| Re St 3090 | Chinese Thought | 3 |
| Re St 311 | Buddhist Traditions | 3 |
| Re St 403 | Topics in East Asian Religion and Thought | 3 |
Advanced Courses
Students choose seven courses from current, relevant, internationally focused course offerings in the following departments.* All courses must be approved by the student's Global Studies advisor in order to count for the major. Visit the concentration webpage and concentration course list for the full list of options.
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Anthro 3055 | Contemporary Chinese Culture and Society | 3 |
| Anthro 3102 | Topics in Anthropology: Sustainability in Extractive Communities | 3 |
| Anthro 3163 | Archaeology of China: Food and People | 3 |
| Anthro 3313 | Women and Islam | 3 |
| Anthro 376 | Warriors, Merchants, Monks, and Courtesans: Ancient Narratives of Globalization in Google Earth | 3 |
| Anthro 3775 | Ancient Eurasia and the New Silk Roads | 3 |
| Anthro 4011 | Popular Culture and Consumption in Modern China | 3 |
| Anthro 4033 | Culture, Illness, and Healing in Asia | 3 |
| Anthro 4041 | Islam and Politics | 3 |
| Anthro 4761 | The Pleistocene Peopling of Eurasia | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Chinese 3163 | Historical Landscape and National Identity in Modern China | 3 |
| Chinese 3211 | Contemporary Chinese Popular Culture | 3 |
| Chinese 330 | Topics in Chinese Literature and Culture | 3 |
| Chinese 3352 | China's Urban Experience: Shanghai and Beyond | 3 |
| Chinese 341 | Early and Imperial Chinese Literature | 3 |
| Chinese 342 | Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature | 3 |
| Chinese 350 | U.S.-China Relations from 1949 to the Present | 3 |
| Chinese 4242 | Culture and Politics in the People's Republic of China: New Approaches | 3 |
| Chinese 4510 | Urban Culture in Modern China | 3 |
| Chinese 467 | The Chinese Theater | 3 |
| Chinese 479 | Reading Seminar in Modern Chinese Literature:Envisioning a New China: The May Fourth Era (1919-1949) | 3 |
| Chinese 480 | Reading Seminar in Chinese Popular Literature and Culture | 3 |
| Chinese 489 | Topics in Modern Chinese Literature | 3 |
| Chinese 498 | Guided Readings in Chinese | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Comp Lit 375 | Topics in Comparative Literature: Representation and Memory in St. Louis Museums | 3 |
| Comp Lit 449 | Topics in Comparative Literature: Writing from the Periphery: The Question of Chineseness | 3 |
- East Asian Languages and Cultures
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| EALC 3250 | Topics in Early Modern Korea: Guns, Tobacco, and Sweet Potato: A History of Material Culture | 3 |
| EALC 3340 | Topics in East Asian Religions | 3 |
| EALC 340 | Writing New Horizons: Explorers, Envoys, and Other Encounters in Korean Travel Narratives | 3 |
| EALC 3510 | Pleasure, Amusement, and Play: Entertainment Culture in Premodern China | 3 |
| EALC 3750 | Imagined Pasts: Traditional Korea through Film | 3 |
| EALC 3900 | EALC Seminar: | 3 |
| EALC 420 | Nature, Technology, and Medicine in Korea | 3 |
| EALC 425 | Topics in Religion and Culture in East Asia: Women, Confucianism and Buddhism in East Asia | 3 |
| EALC 430 | Topics in Chinese Media Culture | 3 |
| EALC 4710 | Topics in Japanese Culture | 3 |
| EALC 4750 | Worldviews, World-Building, and World Literature: New Approaches to Chinese Literature (1500-1900) | 3 |
| EALC 496 | Guided Readings in East Asian Languages and Cultures | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| E Lit 307 | The Writing of the Indian Subcontinent | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| EnSt 4527 | IPCC: Governance, Policy and Science | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Film 326 | Samurai, Rebels, and Bandits: The Japanese Period Film | 3 |
| Film 341 | Transnational Cinema(s): Film Flows in a Changing World | 3 |
| Film 431 | Renegades and Radicals: The Japanese New Wave | 3 |
| Film 443 | Memory, Tears, and Longing: East Asian Melodrama Film | 3 |
| Film 458 | Major Film Directors | 3 |
| Film 485 | Visualizing Orientalism: Art, Cinema and the Imaginary East 1850-2000 | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| GS 3006 | Global Health and Language | 3 |
| GS 3020 | Global Futures | 3 |
| GS 318 | Learning to Use GIS in Development, Area Studies and International Affairs | 3 |
| GS 3248 | Intercultural Communication | 3 |
| GS 3512 | "Model Minority": The Asian American Experience | 3 |
| GS 364 | Anarchism: History, Theory, and Praxis | 3 |
| GS 3822 | From McDonald's to K-pop: New Movements in East Asia | 3 |
| GS 384 | Migration and Modernity in Russia and the (Former) Soviet Union | 3 |
| GS 386 | Empire in East Asia: Theory and History (WI) | 3 |
| GS 389 | Furies and Die-Hards: Women in Rebellion and War | 3 |
| GS 390 | Topics in Migration and Identity | 3 |
| GS 4007 | Global Studies Research Methods Proseminar and Assistantship | 3 |
| GS 4036 | Children of Immigrants: Identity and Acculturation | 3 |
| GS 4414 | Gender Analysis for International Affairs | 3 |
| GS 4976 | Global Asias | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Hindi 353 | Understanding Indian (Hindi/Urdu) Literature: Through Text and Images (Visual) | 3 |
- Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| IPH 3587 | From Genghis Khan to the Taliban: War and Peace in Central Asia | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Japan 324 | A User's Guide to Japanese Poetry | 3 |
| Japan 332C | Japanese Literature: Beginnings to 19th Century | 3 |
| Japan 333C | The Modern Voice in Japanese Literature | 3 |
| Japan 346 | Japanese Literature in Translation: Mystery Fiction | 3 |
| Japan 445 | Japanese Fiction: Meiji Women Writers (Writing-Intensive Seminar) | 3 |
| Japan 4451 | Topics in Modern Japanese Literature | 3 |
| Japan 449 | Modern Japanese Women Writers: Writing Intensive Seminar | 3 |
| Japan 4491 | Modern Japanese Women Writers | 3 |
| Japan 491 | Topics in Japanese Literature & History: | 3 |
| Japan 499 | Guided Readings in Japanese | 3 |
- Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| JIMES 351 | Muhammad: His Life and Legacy | 3 |
| JIMES 354 | Anthropological and Sociological Study of Muslim Societies | 3 |
| JIMES 3622 | Topics in Islam | 3 |
| JIMES 373 | Topics in Near Eastern Cultures: | 3 |
| JIMES 445 | Topics in Islam | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Korean 352 | Literature of Modern and Contemporary Korea | 3 |
| Korean 355 | Topics in Korean Literature and Culture | 3 |
| Korean 365 | Topics in Modern Korean Literature: The Korean Wave: Reading Korea through Popular Culture and Media | 3 |
| Korean 370 | When Tigers Smoke: Songs and Stories from Traditional Korea | 3 |
| Korean 437 | Contemporary Korean I: Language, History, and Musical Culture | 3 |
| Korean 438 | Contemporary Korean II: Language, History, and Musical Culture | 3 |
| Korean 455 | Topics in Korean Literature and Culture | 3 |
| Korean 497 | Guided Readings in Korean | 3 |
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| Pol Sci 3300 | Terrorism and Counterterrorism | 3 |
- Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| WGSS 366 | Caste: Sexuality, Race and Globalization. | 3 |
Additional Requirements and Information
Study Abroad
- We strongly encourage students to study abroad. For those who do not study abroad and receive credit toward the Global Studies General Requirements, an additional 3-unit course at the 300 or 400 level is required.
- We strongly prefer students to select a study abroad location and regional specialization consistent with their chosen language of study (e.g., if a student wishes to study in Latin America, they must satisfy their language requirement with either Portuguese or Spanish).
- Students may receive a maximum of 6 credits from a single semester, 12 credits from a year, or 3 credits from a summer term of study abroad.
- Study abroad credit only counts at the 300 level.
- Students may apply no more than 12 total credits to the Global Studies major from study abroad, the School of Continuing & Professional Studies, summer school at other U.S. universities, or any combination thereof.
- To receive credit for a summer course completed at another institution, a student should fill out the Approval for Non-WashU Course Credit form with Arts & Sciences to take the course for "general credit" and then petition to have the course count as an elective toward their Global Studies major.
- Students may not receive credit for January Intensive Term (J-Term) study abroad programs; these programs are too short in duration.
Latin Honors
- Students must confidently expect to graduate with an overall grade point average of 3.65 or higher to qualify for Latin Honors.
- Students should enroll in GS 485 Preparation for Global Studies Honors Thesis during the fall of senior year and in GS 486 Global Studies Senior Honors Thesis during the spring of senior year (under the corresponding section number of the faculty member overseeing the student's thesis).
Language Requirement
All Global Studies majors must satisfy a language requirement that entails both the successful completion of four semesters of a modern language for a letter grade and placement into the third year of that language.
Available modern languages include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili.
Students should consult the course listings for details about the language sequences. (On the "A&S IQ" tab, click on "Courses," and then toggle "Area Requirement" to "LS Language & Cultural Diversity-Language." Click "Search" to see a list of available language courses.)
Please see the FAQs on the Global Studies website for more information.