Asian Studies minor approved; open house scheduled for April

A new minor in Asian Studies has been approved and will launch in the fall, Chapman University sources say, and will be introduced with an open house event this April.

On Wednesday, April 27 at 3 p.m., the Asian Studies Minor Open House in the Bush Conference Center, Beckman Hall 404, will feature a keynote talk, “Asian Studies in an Era of Shape-Shifting Disciplines,” by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Ph.D., UC Irvine professor of history and editor of the
Journal of Asian Studies
.  This will be followed by a panel discussion on the current status and future of Asian studies at Chapman, featuring a group of Chapman’s own Asian Studies faculty: Alex Bay, Catherine Li, Rei Magosaki, Nancy Martin, Noel Murray, Susan Paterno and Richard Turner, moderated by Wenshan Jia.

Chapman’s new minor in Asian Studies will provide students with a background in the history, religions, social and cultural values, and arts of Asia.  Students pursuing the Asian Studies minor may take courses in a broad range of subject areas, including history, art, communications, business, political science, film, literature, religion, Chinese and Japanese languages.

This interdisciplinary study aims to provide students with “an array of methodological approaches to facilitate comparative analysis and intercultural understanding and communication,” according to the program description.   The minor will require a total of 21 credits, of which at least 12 must be upper-division, and a senior project will be required.  An international experience in Asia – study travel or an international internship – will be strongly encouraged.