Asian Studies

Coordinator: Dr. Wing Shan Ho

The World Languages and Cultures department offers an Asian Languages and Cultures major. Choosing from three concentrations (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean), majors will acquire the advanced language skills required to communicate effectively in the target Asian language. The interdisciplinary major serves students with strengths and interest in Asian languages and cultures, providing these students with communicative, critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills as well as the intercultural competency that employers seek, enhancing possibilities of working internationally.

Requirements of the Major

The Asian Studies minor can complement any of the undergraduate majors available at Montclair State University. This minor offers students the opportunity to focus a segment of their university training on Asia and to engage in this dynamic global and interdisciplinary field of study. Students will gain in-depth knowledge of the cultural, social, political, economic, and global components of issues faced by Asian nations and identities. They will also learn to appreciate and analyze complex cultural objects (text, art, symbols, ceremonies, etc.) and the traditions behind them. Through this course of study, students can better understand the complexity of Asian nations and cultures and the diversity of Asian political and economic systems while gaining insights into global cultural movements of people and ideas and into the global challenges posed by a dynamically changing region.

This minor helps students see, through the lens of literature, religion, philosophy, culture, and politics, how worlds of diverse and interconnected meanings are formed. By concentrating on Asia in the context of multidisciplinary and inter-regional courses, students will have the opportunity to build a comparative understanding of Asia as a discrete, yet complex reality as a critical, dynamic global force.

Requirements of the Minor

Career Opportunities

• Researcher
• Web Designer
• Museum Curator
• Filmmaker
• Teacher
• International Business Manager
• Marketing Executive
• IT Professional
• Government Analyst
• Non-Profit Program Associate
• Lawyer
• Social Worker