Global Studies Major, Global Asias Concentration
Program Requirements
- Total Units Required: 36
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 3000 level or above, including courses across a minimum of three academic disciplines.
- Students must complete at least 6 units at the 4000 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 coursework 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 coursework:
- 3 units of introductory coursework (1000-2000 level)
- 3 units of core course: GLOBAL 3020 Global Futures
- 3 units of core coursework: GLOBAL 4897 Global Asias
- 6 units of multiethnic, diaspora, transnational, or transregional Asia-related coursework (at least 3 units at the 3000-4000 level)
- 21 units of advanced Global Asias coursework (3000-4000 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 3000- or 4000-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:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| AMCS 2003 | Doctors and Terrorists: The Fictions of South Asian America | 3 |
| ARTARCH 1111 | First Year Seminar: Beijing and the Forbidden City | 3 |
| ARTARCH 1510 | Introduction to Asian Art | 3 |
| CHINA 2270 | Chinese Civilization | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1102 | First-Year Seminar: The Vietnam Wars | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1104 | First-Year Seminar: Chinatown: Migration, Identity, and Space | 3 |
| GLOBAL 2000 | Crossing Borders: An Introduction to Institutions and Concepts in Global Studies | 3 |
| HISTORY 1099 | First-Year Seminar: Silk Roads and Empires | 3 |
| HISTORY 1124 | First-Year Seminar: The Meaning of Pakistan: History, Culture, Art | 3 |
| JAPAN 2260 | Japanese Civilization | 3 |
| JIMES 2100 | Introduction to Islamic Civilization | 3 |
| KOREA 2230 | 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 3000 or 4000 level:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| AMCS 2003 | Doctors and Terrorists: The Fictions of South Asian America | 3 |
| AMCS 2025 | The Immigrant Experience | 3 |
| ANTHRO 3102 | Topics in Anthropology: Vibrant Matter: Social Ecology of the Asia-Pacific | 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 |
| ARTARCH 1109 | FYS: Collecting Art/Excluding People: The Contradictions of Chinese Art in U.S. Museums | 3 |
| ARTARCH 4320 | East, Meet West: Asia Encounters Europe | 3 |
| CHINA 3300 | Topics in Chinese Literature and Culture | 3 |
| CHINA 3500 | U.S.-China Relations from 1949 to the Present | 3 |
| CHINA 4590 | Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: History and Fictionality in East Asian Cinema | 3 |
| COMPLIT 3300 | Topics in Comp Literature: Finding China: From Sojourners to Settlers in Chinese Diaspora and Chinese American Literature | 3 |
| EALC 3340 | Topics in East Asian Religions: The Lotus Sutra in East Asia: Buddhism, Art, Literature | 3 |
| EALC 3800 | EALC Seminar: Kitchen, Studio, Factory: Making in East Asia | |
| ELIT 3106 | Topics in Asian American Literature: Gender and Sexuality in American Asian Lit | 3 |
| ELIT 3111 | Topics in English Literature: Asian American Fictions: Space, Place, and the Makings of Asian America | 3 |
| FILM 4430 | Memory, Tears, and Longing: East Asian Melodrama Film | 3 |
| FYP 1119 | Mediterranean Migration: Dynamics and Consequences on the EU and MENA | 3 |
| FYP 1133 | Legacies of the Silk Road | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1101 | Migration in the Global World | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1102 | First-Year Seminar: The Vietnam Wars | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1104 | First-Year Seminar: Chinatown: Migration, Identity, and Space | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1105 | East Asia in the World | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1106 | Geographies of Globalization and Development | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1107 | Global Migration and Transnational Cultures in Modern Times | 3 |
| GLOBAL 1109 | First-Year Seminar: Mapping the World: Introduction to Human Geography | 3 |
| GLOBAL 2100 | Sophomore Seminar: The Public Servant and Other Heroes: A History of Japan through Film | 3 |
| GLOBAL 3512 | "Model Minority": The Asian American Experience | 3 |
| GLOBAL 3822 | From McDonald's to K-pop: New Movements in East Asia | 3 |
| GLOBAL 3860 | Empire in East Asia: Theory and History (WI) | 3 |
| GLOBAL 4036 | Children of Immigrants: Identity and Acculturation | 3 |
| HISTORY 1099 | First-Year Seminar: Silk Roads and Empires | 3 |
| HISTORY 2102 | Sophomore Seminar: Where Do We Come From? Families, Ancestors, and Genealogies in World History | 3 |
| HISTORY 3006 | Historical Methods: Decolonization in the 20th Century | 3 |
| HISTORY 3049 | Chinese Diasporas | 3 |
| HISTORY 3085 | 19th Century China: Violence and Transformation | 3 |
| HISTORY 3289 | Economic History of China: From the Silver Age to Reform and Opening, 1500-1990 | 3 |
| HISTORY 3295 | Modern South Asia | 3 |
| HISTORY 3296 | Environment and Empire | 3 |
| HISTORY 3315 | Historical Methods-Transregional History | 3 |
| HISTORY 3458 | Cultural Encounters: China and Eurasia Since the Middle Ages | 3 |
| HISTORY 3951 | Imperialism and Sexuality: India, South Asia, and the World (WI) | 3 |
| HISTORY 4070 | Advanced Seminar: Japan in World War II-History and Memory | 3 |
| HISTORY 4804 | Advanced Seminar in History: Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan | 3 |
| HISTORY 4871 | Colonial Cities and the Making of Modernity | 3 |
| HISTORY 5377 | Science and Technology in East Asia | 3 |
| JIMES 2100 | Introduction to Islamic Civilization | 3 |
| JIMES 3510 | Muhammad: His Life and Legacy | 3 |
| JIMES 3540 | Anthropological and Sociological Study of Muslim Societies | 3 |
| WGSS 3740 | Imperialism and Sexuality: India, South Asia and the World: Writing-Intensive Seminar | 3 |
| WGSS 4153 | Decolonization to Globalization: How to End an Empire | 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.
- *
Students may submit a request to add a course by following the instructions for the Petition Process.
Anthropology
- ANTHRO 3102 Topics in Anthropology: Vibrant Matter: Social Ecology of the Asia-Pacific
- ANTHRO 3163 Archaeology of China: Food and People
- ANTHRO 3313 Women and Islam
- ANTHRO 3285 Warriors, Merchants, Monks and Courtesans: Ancient Narratives of Globalization in Google Earth
- ANTHRO 3775 Ancient Eurasia and the New Silk Road
- ANTHRO 4033 Culture, Illness and Healing in Asia
Art History
- ARTARCH 3155 Japanese Art
- ARTARCH 3160 Early Chinese Art: from Human Sacrifice to the Silk Road
- ARTARCH 3180 Classical to Contemporary Chinese Art
- ARTARCH 3181 Modern & Contemporary Chinese Art
- ARTARCH 3200 Chinese Painting, Then and Now
- ARTARCH 4265 The Forbidden City
- ARTARCH 4296 Japanese Prints: Courtesans, Actors and Travelers
- ARTARCH 4320 East, Meet West: Asia Encounters Europe
Chinese
- CHINA 3160 Historical Landscape and National Identity in Modern China
- CHINA 3210 Contemporary Chinese Popular Culture
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Chinese Cities in the Global Context
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Poets, Musicians and Revolutionaries: CHINA 3300 Modern Chinese Poetry
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Screen Culture in the Sinophone World
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Stories & Storytelling in Late Imperial China
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Stranger Things: Tales of the Supernatural in Chinese Literature
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: The Art of War & Peace: Modern Reception of the Three Kingdoms Story
- CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: The Cultural Lives of the Environment in China, 1949-Present
- CHINA 3410 Early and Imperial Chinese Literature
- CHINA 3420 Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature
- CHINA 3500 US-China Relations: from 1949 to the Present
- CHINA 4240 Culture and Politics in the People’s Republic of China: New Approaches
- CHINA 4390 Topics in Chinese Lit & History: Literary Representation of Colonial Modernity: Taiwan & East Asia
- CHINA 4390 Topics in Chinese Lit & History: Writing Women of the Late Imperial and Early Republican Periods
- CHINA 4510 Urban Culture in Modern China
- CHINA 4590 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Chinese Cities in the Global Context
- CHINA 4590 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Commentary, Philology, & Theories of Reading in East Asian History
- CHINA 4590 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: History and Fictionality in East Asian Cinema
- CHINA 4590 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Jingju (Beijing/Peking Opera)
- CHINA 4670 The Chinese Theater
- CHINA 4790 Reading Seminar in Modern Chinese Lit: Envisioning a New China: The May Fourth Era, 1919-1949
- CHINA 4800 Reading Seminar in Chinese Popular Lit & Culture
- CHINA 4890 Topics in Modern Chinese Literature
- CHINA 4905 Guided Readings in Chinese
Comparative Literature
- COMPLIT 3300 Topics in Comp Literature
- COMPLIT 3300 Topics in Comp Literature: Finding China: From Sojourners to Settlers in Chinese Diaspora and Chinese American Literature
- COMPLIT 3300 Topics in Comp Literature: The Asian Experience: Negotiating the In-Betweeness
- COMPLIT 3300 Topics in Comp Literature: The Trope of "China" in the Imagination of the Chinese Diaspora
- COMPLIT 4492 Topics in Comp Literature: Writing from the Periphery: The Question of Chineseness
East Asian Languages and Cultures
- EALC 3250 Topics in Early Modern Korea: Guns, Tobacco, and Sweet Potato: A History of Material Culture
- EALC 3340 Topics in East Asian Religions: The Lotus Sutra in East Asia: Buddhism, Art, Literature
- EALC 3400 Writing New Horizons: Explorers, Envoys, and Other Encounters in Korean Travel Narratives
- EALC 3510 Pleasure, Amusement, and Play: Entertainment Culture in Premodern China
- EALC 3600 US-China Relations from Conflict to Engagement, 1949-2016
- EALC 3610 US-China Relations, 2017-present
- EALC 3750 Imagined Pasts: Traditional Korea through Film
- EALC 3800 EALC Seminar
- EALC 3800 EALC Seminar: East Asian Buddhism
- EALC 3800 EALC Seminar: East Asian Buddhism: Chan/Son/Zen
- EALC 3800 EALC Seminar: Kitchen, Studio, Factory: Making in East Asia
- EALC 3800 EALC Seminar: Screening East Asia: From Scroll Painting to Haptic Interface
- EALC 4200 Nature, Technology and Medicine in Korea
- EALC 4240 Culture and Politics in the People’s Republic of China: New Approaches
- EALC 4250 Topics in Religion and Culture in East Asia: Women, Confucianism and Buddhism in East Asia
- EALC 4300 Topics in Chinese Media Culture: Charting Identity in the Digital Age
- EALC 4510 Urban Culture in Modern China
- EALC 4710 Topics in Japanese Culture
- EALC 4710 Topics in Japanese Culture: Daily Life in Early Modern Japan
- EALC 4710 Topics in Japanese Culture: Reminiscences of Childhood and Youth
- EALC 4750 Worldviews, World-Building, and World Literature: New Approaches to Chinese Literature
- EALC 4930 Guided Readings in EALC
English Literature
- ELIT 3104 The Writing of the Indian Subcontinent
- ELIT 3106 Topics in Asian American Literature: Gender and Sexuality in American Asian Literature
Environmental Studies
- ENST 4527 IPCC: Governance, Policy and Science
Film and Media Studies
- FILM 3260 Samurai, Rebels, and Bandits: The Japanese Period Film
- FILM 3410 Transnational Cinema(s): Film Flows in a Changing World
- FILM 4310 Renegades and Radicals: The Japanese New Wave
- FILM 4430 Memory, Tears, and Longing: East Asian Melodrama Film
- FILM 4580 Major Film Directors: Oshima Nagisa and the Japanese New Wave
- FILM 4850 Visualizing Orientalism: Art, Cinema and the Imaginary East 1850-2000
Global Studies
- GLOBAL 3006 Global Health and Language
- GLOBAL 3008 Topics in Global Studies: Understanding Today’s Russia
- GLOBAL 3020 Global Futures (required core course)
- GLOBAL 3248 Intercultural Communication
- GLOBAL 3512 "Model Minority": The Asian American Experience
- GLOBAL 3641 Anarchism: History, Theory and Praxis
- GLOBAL 3822 From McDonald’s to K-Pop: New Movements in East Asia
- GLOBAL 3860 Empire in East Asia: Theory and History
- GLOBAL 3890 Furies and Die-Hards: Women in Rebellion and War
- GLOBAL 4007 Global Studies Research Methods Proseminar and Assistantship
- GLOBAL 4036 Children of Immigrants: Identity and Acculturation
- GLOBAL 4414 Gender Analysis in International Affairs
- GLOBAL 4644 The Indochina Wars
- GLOBAL 4897 Global Asias (required core course)
Hindi
- HINDI 3050 Religion and Culture in South and Southeast Asia
- HINDI 3090 Understanding Indian Literature Through Visual Media
History
- HISTORY 3006 Historical Methods: Decolonization in the 20th Century
- HISTORY 3018 Hot Peace: US-Russia Relations Since the Cold War
- HISTORY 3039 Islamic History: 600-1200
- HISTORY 3047 Early Modern China
- HISTORY 3049 Chinese Diasporas
- HISTORY 3085 19th Century China: Violence and Transformation
- HISTORY 3137 Socialist and Secular? A Social History of the Soviet Union
- HISTORY 3174 Heroes and Saints in India: Religion, Myth, History
- HISTORY 3214 Religion and Politics in South Asia
- HISTORY 3277 Hinduism and the Hindu Right
- HISTORY 3287 A History of Modern China
- HISTORY 3289 Economic History of China: From the Silver Age to Reform and Opening,1500-1990
- HISTORY 3295 Modern South Asia
- HISTORY 3296 Environment and Empire
- HISTORY 3315 Historical Methods: Transregional History
- HISTORY 3322 Japan Since 1868
- HISTORY 3458 Cultural Encounters: China and Eurasia Since the Middle Ages
- HISTORY 3608 Science and Society Since 1800
- HISTORY 3682 The Cold War, 1945 – 1991
- HISTORY 4057 Advanced Seminar in History: Medicine, Disease and Empire
- HISTORY 4070 Advanced Seminar in History: Japan in World War II – History and Memory
- HISTORY 4150 Advanced Seminar in History: Incredible India!
- HISTORY 4150 Advanced Seminar in History: Inventing India
- HISTORY 4804 Advanced Seminar in History: Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan
- HISTORY 4871 Colonial Cities and the Making of Modernity
- HISTORY 5376 Science and Technology in East Asia
Japanese
- JAPAN 3240 The User’s Guide to Japanese Poetry
- JAPAN 3260 Topics in Modern Japanese Literature
- JAPAN 3260 Topics in Modern Japanese Lit: Japanese Horror Cinema
- JAPAN 3260 Topics in Modern Japanese Lit: Mirrors and Masks: Gender and Sexuality in Japanese Literature
- JAPAN 3320 Japanese Literature: Beginnings to 19th Century
- JAPAN 3330 The Modern Voice in Japanese Literature
- JAPAN 3460 Japanese Literature in Translation: Mystery Fiction
- JAPAN 4310 Topics in Japanese Literature & History
- JAPAN 4450 Topics in Modern Japanese Literature
- JAPAN 4450 Topics in Modern Japanese Lit: Memories of Childhood and Youth in Japanese Literature
- JAPAN 4450 Topics in Modern Japanese Lit: Postwar Fiction
- JAPAN 4450 Topics in Modern Japanese Lit: Sense and Sensuality in the Novels of Tanizaki Junichiro
- JAPAN 4455 Japanese Fiction: Meiji Women Writers (Writing-Intensive Seminar)
- JAPAN 4490 Modern Japanese Women Writers
- JAPAN 4495 Modern Japanese Women Writers: Writing-Intensive Seminar
- JAPAN 4910 Guided Readings in Japanese
Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
- JIMES 3510 Muhammad: His Life and Legacy
- JIMES 3510 Muhammad in History and Literature
- JIMES 3540 The Anthropological and Sociological Study of Muslim Societies
- JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam
- JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Islam and Human Rights
- JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Islam and the West
- JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Islam in the Indian Ocean
- JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Islam in the Modern World
- JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Religious Authority in Modern Islam
- JIMES 3730 Topics in Near Eastern Cultures: Freedom in the Middle East
- JIMES 4450 Topics in Islam: Readings in Islamic Political Thought and Practice
Korean
- KOREA 3520 Literature of Modern and Contemporary Korea
- KOREA 3550 Topics in Korean Literature and Culture
- KOREA 3550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture: Buddhist Culture of Korea
- KOREA 3550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture: From King Sejong to Global K-Pop
- KOREA 3550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture: Introduction to K-pop: Korean Popular Music and Society
- KOREA 3550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture: Power, Miracles and Self-cultivation in Korean Buddhism
- KOREA 3550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture: Sexing Korea: Gender & Sexuality in Korean Popular Culture
- KOREA 3550 Topics in Modern Korean Literature: The Korean Wave: Reading Korea through Popular Culture and Media
- KOREA 3700 When Tigers Smoke: Songs and Stories from Traditional Korea
- KOREA 4037 Contemporary Korean I: Language, History, and Musical Culture
- KOREA 4037 Contemporary Korean I: History, Literature, and Popular Culture
- KOREA 4037 Contemporary Korean I: Topics in Korean Lit & Culture
- KOREA 4038 Contemporary Korean II: Language, Text and Screen
- KOREA 4038 Contemporary Korean II: Topics in Korean Lit & Culture
- KOREA 4550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture
- KOREA 4550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture: Gender in Korean Literature and Film
- KOREA 4550 Topics in Korean Lit & Culture: Global Korean Music through a Cultural Lens
- KOREA 4920 Guided Readings in Korean
Political Science
- POLSCI 3320 Topics in Politics: Terrorism & Counterterrorism
Religious Studies
- REST 3635 Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
- WGSS 3555 Caste: Sexuality, Race and Globalization
- WGSS 3740 Imperialism and Sexuality: India, South Asia, and the World (WI)
- WGSS 4153 Decolonization to Globalization: How to End an Empire
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 3000 or 4000 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 3000 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 graduate with an overall grade point average of 3.65 or higher to qualify for Latin Honors.
- Students must submit an intent form and be accepted for candidacy.
- Students should enroll in GLOBAL 4985 during the fall of senior year and in GLOBAL 4986 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.
Please see the FAQs on the Global Studies website for more information.
Contact Info
| Contact: | Toni Loomis |
| Phone: | 314-935-5073 |
| Email: | aloomis@wustl.edu |
| Website: | https://globalstudies.wustl.edu |