加州大学-伯克利

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 12 languages: Hindi, Sanskrit, Indonesian, Telugu, Urdu, Filipino, Khmer, Thai, Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi, and Vietnamese.

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:

• Students should have mastered the grammar (included complex grammatical features) of at least one South and Southeast Asian language (Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Punjabi, and Bengali, Telugu for South Asia and Indonesian, Thai, Tagalong, Vietnamese, Khmer for Southeast).
• They should be able to read stories, newspapers, and the like in the modern language in which they specialize. They should be able to speak and get about using the language (if relevant) and to write simple prose in the modern language.
• For classic languages such as Sanskrit, students should have 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 on-line resources. They are also expected to be able to engage critically with the pertinent secondary sources relevant to the texts being read. They should have a sound knowledge of one culture or area of South or Southeast Asia.
• They should have a broad general acquaintance with either South or Southeast Asia

Goals for the Civilization Track:

• Students should have a thorough understanding of the histories and culture of either South or Southeast Asia.
• 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.
• They should specialize in a particular national tradition and/or in a particular approach to the region (historical, literary, art, performative).

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 SSEASN H195 course based on student's area of study. Students who wish to participate must choose a thesis topic in consultation with their major adviser and apply for admission to the program through the departmental office no later than the first week of spring semester in their senior year.