Professor: Rachel Fell McDermott (Chair)
Associate Professors: David Moerman, Guobin Yang
Assistant Professor: Wiebke Denecke
Term Assistant Professors: Hossein Kamaly, Sun-Chul Kim
Other officers of the
University offering courses listed below:
John Mitchell Mason Professor Emeritus and Special Service Professor: William Theodore de Bary
Shincho Professor Emeritus and Special Service Professor: Donald Keene
Professors: Muhsin Al-Musawi, Paul J. Anderer, Peter J. Awn (Religion), Richard Bulliet (History), Pierre Cachia (Senior Scholars Program), Partha Chatterjee, Myron Cohen (Anthropology), Hamid Dabashi, Vidya Dehejia (Art History), Mamadou Diouf, Nicholas Dirks (Anthropology), Bernard Faure, Mason Gentzler (Senior Scholars Program), Carol N. Gluck (History), Jahyun Kim Haboush, Robert Harrist (Art History), John S. Hawley (Religion), Robert Hymes, Sudipta Kaviraj, Rashid Khalidi, Dorothy Ko (History), Le-ning Liu, Lydia Liu, Mahmood Mamdani, Brinkley M. Messick, Dan Miron, Timothy Mitchell, Sheldon Pollock, Frances Pritchett, Morris Rossabi, George Saliba, Conrad Schirokauer (Senior Scholars Program), Alan Segal (Religion), Haruo Shirane, Michael Stanislawski (History), Robert A.F. Thurman (Religion), Gauri Vishwanathan (English and Comparative Literature), Pei-yi Wu (Senior Scholars Program), Marc Van De Mieroop (History), Chun-fang Yu (Religion), Madeleine Zelin
Associate Professors: Gil Anidjar, Charles Armstrong (History), Aaron Andrew Fox (Music), Lisbeth Kim Brandt, Feng Li, Joseph Massad, Adam McKeown (History), Gregory Pfugfelder, Jonathan M. Reynolds (Art History), Wei Shang, Tomi Suzuki
Assistant Professors: Janaki Bakhle (History), Weihong Bao, Allison Busch, Uri Cohen, Michael Como (Religion), Theodore Hughes, Nanor Kenderian, Eugenia Lean, David Lurie, Noha Radwan, Nader Sohrabi, Wendy Swartz, Gray Tuttle
For a complete list of
faculty on leave see:
http://www.barnard.edu/provost/facleavelist.html
The primary aim of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures is to introduce major Asian civilizations and their works and values as a means of expanding knowledge of the varieties and unities of human experience. The general courses below are designed for any student, whatever her major interests, who wishes to include knowledge of Asian life in her education.
The satisfactory completion of one of the following courses offered in the departments of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Middle East Languages and Cultures satisfies the college requirements in the respective languages: Akkadian G 4113 Intermediate Akkadian; Arabic W 1215 Intermediate Arabic; Armenian W 1313 Intermediate Armenian; Bengali W 1202 Intermediate Bengali; Chinese C 1202 or F 1202 Intermediate Chinese (second stage); Hebrew W 1513 Intermediate Modern Hebrew; Hindi-Urdu W 1613 Intermediate Hindi-Urdu; Japanese C 1202 or F 1202 Intermediate Japanese (second stage); Iranian W 1713 Intermediate Modern Persian; Korean W 1202 Intermediate Korean; Sanskrit W 4813 Intermediate Sanskrit; Tamil 1202 Intermediate Tamil; Telegu W 1202 Intermediate Telegu; Tibetan W 4413 Intermediate Tibetan; or Turkish W 1913 Intermediate Turkish.
Students who wish to enter Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language courses above the introductory level must pass a language placement test before registering. Placement exams are given during the week before classes begin-contact the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures (407 Kent) for exact dates. For placement above the introductory level in Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Hindi-Urdu, Panjabi, Persian, Sanskrit, Tamil, Tibetan, or Turkish, contact the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures (602 Kent). All students wishing to enter the Hebrew language program or wishing exemption from the Hebrew language requirement must take a placement test. Contact the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures (602 Kent) for details.
A student who plans to major in Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures is advised to consult a member of the department in the spring term of her first year in order to be sure to plan for an appropriate sequence of language study.
Important note: Students majoring in any of the East Asian tracks (China, Japan, Korea) may only study abroad in the Spring of their junior year if they take Research in East Asian Studies V 3999 in the Spring of their sophomore year.
To major in Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, a student will choose to follow one of two tracks, East Asian or Middle East and South Asian.
The East Asian Track
The major requires a minimum of 10 courses (if a student has already satisfied the language requirement) or more (if she starts the language requirement from the beginning). The requirements include:
1) Language:
Three years of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, or the proficiency equivalent (to be demonstrated by a placement examination).
2) Core Courses:
Asian Humanities V 3400 Colloquium on Major Texts
Two of the following survey courses:
Asian Civilizations-East Asia V 2002 Introduction to Major Topics in Asian Civilizations: East Asia
Asian Civilizations V 2359 Introduction to the Civilization of China
Asian Civilizations V 2361 Introduction to the Civilization of Japan
Asian Civilizations V 2363 Introduction to the Civilization of Korea
Asian Civilizations V 2365 Introduction to the Civilization of Tibet
3) Disciplinary Courses: Three courses, to be chosen in consultation with the adviser. Because Asian studies is an area-study rather than an academic discipline, it is important that the student also develop competence in a particular discipline. She is therefore asked upon entering the major to choose from among the following: history, literature, philosophy, religion, art history, anthropology, political science, sociology, or economics. Typically, one of the courses taken in satisfaction of the disciplinary requirement will be a basic introductory or methodology course, and the other two will be in East Asia related courses in the discipline. Under certain circumstances the adviser may approve a combination of two basic courses and one East Asia-related course; courses in closely related disciplines may also be substituted with the approval of the adviser. However, if a student chooses one or two disciplinary courses that are not specifically Asia-related, these courses will be considered qualifying in terms of the disciplinary requirement, but not as counting toward the 10-course minimum for the major. Only those courses that are Asia-related are considered to count toward this 10-course minimum.
As their basic introductory disciplinary course, majors specializing in history should take Historiography of East Asia (East Asian W 4103), those specializing in literature should take Literary and Cultural Theory East and West (East Asian W 4101), and those specializing in the social sciences (anthropology, economics, political science, or sociology) should take Critical Approaches to East Asia in the Social Sciences (East Asian W 4102). These three courses are offered in the Spring term and should normally be taken in the junior year.
4) Elective Courses: Two courses related to East Asia, to be chosen in consultation with the adviser.
5) Research in East Asian Studies V 3999: To be taken in the junior year.
6) Senior Paper: Each student is expected to prepare a research paper or an annotated English translation of an East Asian text. The paper should be in the chosen disciplinary field and will be written in the Fall semester of the senior year in Senior Thesis (East Asian W 3901) in consultation with an appropriate faculty adviser. All students should enroll for the autumn term. Under special circumstances, with the adviser's approval, the senior paper may be written in conjunction with Asian Studies BC 3999, Independent Study. Note that in all East Asian language courses, the minimum grade required to advance from one level to the next is B-.
The Middle East or South Asian Track
A minimum of 13 courses is required, including:
Asian
Humanities AHUMV 3399x,y Colloquium on Major Texts
Middle
East & South Asia MDE W 3000x Theories of Culture: Middle East and South Asia
Two of
the following courses:
Asian
Civilizations-Middle East V 2001 Introduction to Major Topics in Asian
Civilizations: The Middle East and India
Asian
Civilizations-Middle East V 2003x Introduction to Islamic Civilization
Asian
Civilizations-Middle East V 2008y Contemporary Islamic Civilizations
Asian
Civilizations-Middle East V 2357x Introduction to Indian Civilizations
Asian Civilizations V 2365 Introduction to the Civilization of Tibet
Four to six courses of an appropriate language (Akkadian, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Hebrew, Hindi-Urdu, Panjabi, Persian, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu, Tibetan, or Turkish), selected in consultation with the adviser.
A minimum of five courses chosen as a concentration. The concentration may be in the languages and cultures of ancient Semitic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Indic, Iranian, Persian, or Turkish.
A senior thesis, to be written under the supervision of a faculty member chosen in consultation with the adviser. Students whose sole major is Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures should take two semesters of Independent Study (ASST BC 3999) with their adviser for the purposes of producing the thesis. Students who are double-majoring in a second department that requires a group seminar should enroll in that seminar and work with the AMEC advisor on the side.
The courses listed under Middle East and South Asia below represent a selection among those required in one or another of the concentrations. Students should consult the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department office in 602 Kent Hall for a complete list of course offerings. Graduate courses at the G4000-level may be taken with permission of the instructor. See GSAS catalog for course listings.
No minor is offered in Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures.