Asian Studies

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.