South and Southeast Asian Studies

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

The major is a flexible, interdisciplinary program offering opportunities for both wide, comparative study of South and Southeast Asian cultures, literature, religion, and history. The department teaches the following 13 languages: Bengali, Burmese, Filipino, Hindi, Indonesian, Khmer, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

Declaring the Major

There are prerequisites to declaring the major: one semester of language work with a grade of B or higher AND one completed lower division/gateway course (SASIAN 1A, SASIAN 1B, SEASIAN 10A or SEASIAN 10B) with a grade of C or higher.

Honors Program

To be eligible for admission to the honors program, a student must attain a 3.5 grade- point average or higher in courses completed in the major, and a 3.3 grade-point average in all courses completed at the University. An honors thesis is required, as is registration in an SSEASN H195 course based on the student's area of study. Students who wish to participate must choose a thesis topic in consultation with their major advisor and apply for admission to the program through the departmental office no later than the first week of spring semester in their senior year.

Minor Program

Requirements:  One gateway course from SASIAN 1A, SASIAN 1B, SEASIAN 10A or SEASIAN 10B

 AND five additional letter-graded upper-division courses (20 units) with a 2.0 minimum GPA

• Only one course from outside the department will be accepted
• No more than two upper division language courses will be accepted

For further information regarding how to declare the minor, please contact the department.

Visit Department Website

The mission of the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies is to enable students to learn about the cultures and civilizations of South and Southeast Asia. The department teaches 13 languages and is an indispensable resource for programs in many other departments and areas.

For undergraduate majors, the department stresses an interdisciplinary approach and expects students to specialize in one of three areas"literature, religion, or cultural history. To this end, there are two tracks for majors"one that emphasizes the study of civilization and does not require language and one that requires the students to do four semesters of language work in addition to more general studies. UC Berkeley has an extraordinary number of experts in many areas of South and Southeast Asian Studies, and students are encouraged to take advantage of relevant courses in departments such as history, music, political science, ethnic studies, art history, linguistics, gender and women's studies, and English. Qualified undergraduates are also encouraged to participate in graduate seminars.

Learning Goals for the Major

There are two tracks in the South and Southeast Asian Studies major"one that emphasizes the study of civilization and does not require language, and one that requires the students to do four semesters of language work in addition to more general studies. Within each track, students specialize in an area (South or Southeast Asia).

Goals for the Language Track

1. Students should have mastered the grammar (included complex grammatical features) of at least one South and Southeast Asian language (Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu for South Asia and Indonesian, Thai, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Khmer for Southeast). They should be able to read stories, newspapers, and the like in the modern language in which they specialize.
2. They should be able to speak and get about using the language (if relevant) and to write simple prose in the modern language.
3. For classic languages such as Sanskrit, students should have the basic facility in reading a variety of different genres in the original, and they should be comfortable using standard resource materials such as dictionaries, traditional grammars, and online resources. They are also expected to be able to engage critically with the pertinent secondary sources relevant to the texts being read.
4. They should have a sound knowledge of one culture or area of South or Southeast Asia.
5. They should have a broad general acquaintance with either South or Southeast Asia including a good knowledge of cultural history, literature, and/or religion.

Goals for the Civilization Track

1. Students should have a thorough understanding of the histories and culture of either South or Southeast Asia.
2. In lieu of acquiring detailed knowledge of one of the cultural/linguistic areas of South or Southeast Asia, they are expected to deepen their mastery of cultural history or religion of South or Southeast Asia.
3. They should specialize in a particular national tradition and/or in a particular approach to the region (historical, literary, art, performative).

• finish secondary school and
• earn a certificate of completion, which allows admission to a university in their home country or country of graduation

In addition:

Students who have completed the IGCSE or O-level exams have not yet met the requirements for admission at UC Berkeley. The university requires further study, either completion of the two-year A-level program with a minimum of three academic exams, the IB diploma program, or another similar academic curriculum.

Students from countries requiring entry into military service upon completion of secondary education should not submit an application until the obligation has been met. UC Berkeley cannot defer admission to a later term.

Students may have to meet additional admission requirements and follow certain guidelines for filling out the undergraduate application, depending on country or educational system.

Apply to Berkeley by filling out the UC application. You can begin working on the application as early as August 1, and must submit the application November 1-30. You can apply to as many UC campuses as you like with one application, and each campus will receive your application and official test scores. If you have difficulties, contact the UC Application Center at [email protected] or (800) 207-1710.