International & Global Studies

Concentrations

About the Concentration

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Asian Studies is a regionally focused interdisciplinary concentration at the major and minor levels of the Special Program in Liberal Studies/International & Global Studies (SPLS/IGS). It is intended for undergraduate students with a keen interest in studying Asia (broadly defined as encompassing mainland and maritime East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia) in multiple historical contexts and from a variety of complementary perspectives. Courses focusing on Asian politics, social and human rights issues, history, geography, economics and development, religions, cultures, and the arts (including the plastic, performing, literary, and cinematic arts) are especially suitable for this major.

Major in SPLS/IGS with a concentration in Asian Studies. Students pursuing the major-level concentration in Asian Studies complete 30 semester hours of course work to include:

6 s.h. of course work, at the 300-level or higher, on one of the foreign languages of Asia (especially Chinese and Japanese; other Asian languages may be approved by the Director);
6 s.h of IGS core courses: IGS 200: “Introduction to International and Global Studies” or IGS 210: “Introduction to Asian Studies” (preferred); and IGS 400: “Capstone Seminar in International and Global Studies*;
* Students with this concentration will develop their end-of-major capstone research project for IGS 400 around a topic inspired by an issue of concern in present-day Asia.
18 s.h. of Additional Course work (at least 9 s.h. of which must be at the 300-level or higher) on international and/or global topics corresponding to the four content categories of IGS: Society and Politics; Economics and Development; Arts and Literature; Belief Systems and Cultures.** At least 12 s.h. must comprise course work whose content focuses 51% or more on Asia; 6-9 s.h. of these Asia-focused courses must be at the 300-level or higher.
** To ensure category breadth, no more than 9 s.h. may come from a single category; after that, no more than 6 s.h. may come from any other category.
International/Global Experience Requirement: Starting fall 2014, new majors must complete a qualified study abroad experience by the end of their studies. Asian Studies majors will complete this requirement in an Asian country (other sites and options subject to approval by the Director).

Second major in SPLS/IGS with a concentration in Asian Studies. The second major must meet the same requirements as the Major, with at least 12 s.h. taken outside the student’s first major.

Minor in SPLS/IGS with a concentration in Asian Studies. The minor must complete 18 s.h., including the IGS modern foreign language requirement (6 s.h.), an Intro Core course (IGS 200 or IGS 210 [preferred]) (3 s.h.), and 3 Additional Courses whose content focuses 51% or more on Asia (9 s.h.), with at least 2 courses (6 s.h.) at the upper-level and representing at least 2 program categories.

Recommended Courses

Download All Courses for this Concentration

2014 – 15 Undergraduate Bulletin

The following list contains the recommended concentration-specific “Additional Courses” for IGS majors who pursue the concentration in Asian Studies. It reflects the preferred selections made by students since the major-level concentration was established in fall 2008, and in all cases the course content must have a 51% or greater focus on Asia, broadly understood to include the geographical regions of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, both mainland and maritime. Other courses that meet concentration requirements are provided on the “Additional Courses Guide” for Asian Studies.

Note: IGS-marked offerings taught in a given semester appear in the Course Schedules (consult the “IGS” category listing) published by the University Registrar’s Office. This Guide and the Registrar’s Course Schedules are subject to change as courses are added to or deleted from the curriculum. Final IGS credit decisions are subject to approval by the Director of IGS or a designated Program advisor.

A. 200-LEVEL COURSES

CATEGORY 1: SOCIETY & POLITICS (S&P)

HIS 215 (GPM)    The Civilizations of Asia
HIS 216 (GMO)    The Civilizations of Asia

CATEGORY 3: ARTS & LITERATURE (A&L)

CHI 210                  Masterworks of Chinese Literature in Translation
CHI 220                  Modern Chinese Literature and Culture
JNS 230                  Women in Japanese Literature and Film

CATEGORY 4: BELIEF SYSTEMS & CULTURES (BS&C)

CHI 220                Modern China
JNS 220                Modern Japan
REL 218                Chinese Religion
REL 220                Japanese Religion
REL 221                Buddhism
REL 223                Hinduism

B. UPPER-LEVEL COURSES

CATEGORY 1: SOCIETY & POLITICS (S&P)

HIS 384                 The Modern Transformation of China: 1800 to Present Day
HIS 386                 Creating Modern Japan, 1867 to the Present
HIS 387                 History of the Chinese Frontier
JNS 306                Current Issues in Japan

CATEGORY 2: ECONOMICS & DEVELOPMENT (E&D)

GEO 306               World Economic Geography
GEO 340               Geography of East Asia

CATEGORY 3: ARTS & LITERATURE (A&L)

BLS 327              Contemporary Asian Literature
MUS 343              Music Cultures of the World (also BS&C)
MUS 354              Modern Asia through Its Music

CATEGORY 4: BELIEF SYSTEMS & CULTURES (BS&C)

CHI 305                Topics in Chinese Culture
JNS 305                Topics in Japanese Culture
JNS 306                Current Issues in Japan
MUS 343              Music Cultures of the World (also A&L)
MUS 354              Modern Asia through Its Music
REL 366                Religions of China: Selected Topics
REL 367                Religions of Japan: Selected Topics

Faculty

Roberto Campo, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania) is a Professor of French, Director of International and Global Studies, and Director of French Graduate Study. His specialties are 16th century French literature, poetic and aesthetic theory of antiquity and the Renaissance, laughter theory, and orientalism. Dr. Campo is a published author and recipient of UNCG’s University Alumni Teaching Excellence Award.

Dr. Campo’s international experience has been substantial, both in the context of his work as a professor of French and in his capacity as Director of IGS, a position to which he was appointed in fall 2006 after serving seventeen years on the INS Program Advisory Committee. His ability to administer the Project is further attested by his achievements since assuming directorship of IGS, his ongoing work in assessing IGS within WEAVE, 18 years of language program assessments as a faculty member in the Department of Romance Languages, and his leadership roles in developing the ACTFL standards for cultural proficiency and in peer outreach through the NC-American Association of Teachers of French

James Anderson, Ph.D. (University of Washington) is Associate Professor in the Department of History at UNCG. An historian specializing in pre-modern China and Vietnam, Anderson joined the UNCG faculty in 1999. A graduate of Harvard College, he holds Master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Washington.

During the 2006-07 academic year Anderson was a Fulbright fellow at the Institute of History in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing (PRC). From February to August 2004, he was a Luce Fellow in the John W. Kluge Center for International Studies at the Library of Congress (Washington, DC). Anderson’s current book is titled The Rebel Den of Nung Tri Cao: Loyalty and Identity Along the Sino-Vietnamese Frontier(University of Washington Press, 2007). He reads and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese with near-native proficiency.

Gavin Douglas, Ph.D. (University of Washington) joined the UNCG School of Music in 2002 and teaches courses on World Music, Asian Music, and American vernacular music. His research interests include nationalism, politics, globalization and cross-cultural aesthetics.

Dr. Douglas’ ongoing fieldwork in Burma (Myanmar) focuses on the state patronage of traditional music and the role it plays in the political processes of the ruling dictatorship. He has presented his research throughout the U.S. and Canada and in Great Britain, Sweden, Singapore, and Japan. His writings can be found in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The World of Music, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, The Chinese Journal of Ritual, and Burma at the Turn of the 21st Century and elsewhere.

Gregory Grieve, Ph.D. (University of Chicago) is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies specializing in South Asian and Himalayan religions. The core of his scholarly work, published in a variety of American and international journals, is the ethnographic study of lived religion in Nepal, with a focus on what he calls “prosaic religion”—those everyday occurrences that are concerned with material worldly affairs.

Drawing upon a broad range of theory and methodologies, Dr. Grieve uses such everyday accounts to reflect upon the nature of religion. He argues that to accurately address the phenomenon of religion, one needs to focus upon the common physical dimension of day-to-day practice.

Stephen Sills, Ph.D. (Arizona State University) is Assistant Professor in UNCG’s Sociology Department, teaching in the Global Social Problems concentration. His scholarship includes research on the feminization of labor migration, transnational identity, and social networks. Specifically he has been investigating transnationalism, transnational ties, and female migration among Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan.

Dr. Sills’ research agenda includes current projects focusing on immigrant access to safe and affordable housing, access to social and health services, and the protection of labor rights for migrants in the United States and elsewhere.

Chiaki Takagi is the Director of Japanese Studies in the Department of German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese Studies at UNCG. She has been teaching at UNCG since Spring 2000 and has designed courses including “Modern Japan” and “Women in Japanese Film and Literature.” She is also the organizer of Japanese Film Series and J-Day as well as the faculty advisor to J-Club and Aikido Club.

She received a M.A in African American Literature from North Carolina A & T State University and a PhD in postcolonial theory from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research focuses on comparative analysis of contemporary Japanese literature. In addition, she holds a North Carolina teaching license in Japanese with 10 years of experience in the Guilford County Schools.