Disciplines and areas of study
Asian studies
Program Coordinator: Dr Kaori Okano.
Students in the Asian Studies Program may complete a three-year major in one of the languages (Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Sanskrit) offered by the program. Hindi is also offered at first and second year levels. The Asian Studies Program offers a Bachelor of Asian Studies degree and offers a major in Asian studies as part of the Bachelor of Arts degree. The program also offers a number of units, taught in English, which may be taken towards either of these degrees. These units are listed at the end of the Asian studies section.
| Teaching period | Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|---|
| First year units (15 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Introduction to Asia: Japan and Indonesia | AST1IJI |
| TE-SEM-1 | Introduction to Asian Culture and Traditions | AST1BCE |
| TE-SEM-2 | Introduction to Asia: China and India | AST1ICI |
| Second and third year units (20 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Goddesses, Sexuality and Liberation: India and beyond | AST2GSL/AST3GSL |
| TE-SEM-1 | Introduction to Buddhism | AST2INB/AST3INB |
| TE-SEM-1 | Love and Eroticism in Asian Literature 1 | AST2LEA/AST3LEA |
| TE-SEM-2 | Introduction to Hinduism 1 | AST2INH/AST3INH |
| TE-SEM-2 | Popular Asian Cinema1 | AST2PAC/AST3PAC |
| TE-SEM-2 | Society and State in Japan and China | AST2EAS/AST3EAS |
- Key: 1 Not available in 2008.
Asian studies in the Bachelor of Arts
A major in Asian studies may be taken through approved combinations of units from the disciplines of anthropology, archaeology, Chinese, cinema studies, economics, English, Hindi, history, Indonesian, Japanese, linguistics, politics, religious studies, Sanskrit, and sociology.
Programs of study
To qualify for a degree with a major in the Asian studies area of study:
- a student must complete 130 credit points from the Asian studies units listed below. These 130 credit points should include 60 credit points at third year level, drawn from at least two separate disciplines (one of which may be an Asian language), and
- at least 110 credit points of the total 360 credit points for the degree must be in a single discipline. These 110 credit points may be in either Asian or non-Asian units and may include the Asian studies units used to fulfil the above requirement. While not required, it is recommended that students include some non-Asian content in the study of this discipline.
The study of an Asian language, while not required as part of the Asian studies major, is highly recommended. All units are offered subject to the availability of appropriate staff and minimum enrolments.
Important notice: Not all of the units listed below will be available every year. See the unit lists for the specific disciplines, where units unavailable in 2008 will be noted.
| Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|
| First year units (15 credit points) | |
| Beginning Hindi 1A | HND1BEA |
| Beginning Hindi 1B | HND1BEB |
| Chinese Advanced 1A | CHI1ADA |
| Chinese Advanced 1B | CHI1ADB |
| Chinese Beginners 1A | CHI1BEA |
| Chinese Beginners 1B | CHI1BEB |
| Chinese Dialect Speakers 1A | CHI1DSA |
| Chinese Dialect Speakers 1B | CHI1DSB |
| Culture and Globalisation: introduction to anthropology | ANT1CAG |
| Our Global Village: introduction to anthropology | ANT1FET |
| Indonesian Advanced 1A | INM1ADA |
| Indonesian Advanced 1B | INM1ADB |
| Indonesian Beginners 1A | INM1BEA |
| Indonesian Beginners 1B | INM1BEB |
| Introduction to Asia: China and India | AST1ICI |
| Introduction to Asia: Japan and Indonesia | AST1IJI |
| Introduction to Asian Culture and Traditions | AST1BCE |
| Japanese Advanced 1A | JPN1ADA |
| Japanese Advanced 1B | JPN1ADB |
| Japanese Beginners 1A | JPN1BEA |
| Japanese Beginners 1B | JPN1BEB |
| Long-term Economic Change | ECO1LEC |
| Sanskrit Beginners 1A | SAN1BEA |
| Sanskrit Beginners 1B | SAN1BEB |
| The Nature of Language and Communication A | LIN1NLA |
| The Nature of Language and Communication B | LIN1NLB |
| Second year unit (15 credit points) | |
| Economic Growth and Development | ECO2EGD |
| Second year units (20 credit points) | |
| Beginning Hindi 2A | HND2BEA |
| Beginning Hindi 2B | HND2BEB |
| Chinese Advanced 2A | CHI2ADA |
| Chinese Advanced 2B | CHI2ADB |
| Chinese Beginners 2A | CHI2BEA |
| Chinese Beginners 2B | CHI2BEB |
| Chinese for Professional and Academic Purposes A | CHI2APA |
| Chinese for Professional Purposes A | CHI2PPA |
| Indonesian Advanced 2A | INM2ADA |
| Indonesian Advanced 2B | INM2ADB |
| Indonesian Beginners 2A | INM2BEA |
| Indonesian Beginners 2B | INM2BEB |
| Japanese Advanced 2A | JPN2ADA |
| Japanese Advanced 2B | JPN2ADB |
| Japanese Beginners 2A | JPN2BEA |
| Japanese Beginners 2B | JPN2BEB |
| Sanskrit Beginners 2A | SAN2BEA |
| Sanskrit Beginners 2B | SAN2BEB |
| Translation and Discussion A (Japanese) | JPN2TDA |
| Second or third year units (20 credit points) | |
| Archaeology of East Asia | ARC2AEA/ARC3AEA |
| Australian Foreign Policy | POL2AAW/POL3AAW |
| Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition | LIN2BSA/LIN3BSA |
| Childhood and Culture | ANT2CAC/ANT3CAC |
| Chinese Classical Texts | CHI2CCT/CHI3CCT |
| Chinese Modern Texts | CHI2CMT/CHI3CMT |
| Cross-cultural Communication | LIN2CCC/LIN3CCC |
| Development, Globalisation and Culture | ANT2DGC/ANT3DGC |
| Emergence of Chinese Civilisation | ARC2ECC/ARC3ECC |
| Goddesses, Sexuality and Liberation: India and beyond | AST2GSL/AST3GSL |
| India in English | ENG2IIE/ENG3IIE |
| International Relations: the Cold War and the great powers | POL2INR/POL3INR |
| Introduction to Buddhism | AST2INB/AST3INB |
| Introduction to Ethnographic Research | ANT2MQA/ANT3MQA |
| Introduction to Hinduism | AST2INH/AST3INH |
| Language in Asia | LIN2LIA/LIN3LIA |
| Love and Eroticism in Asian literature | AST2LEA/AST3LEA |
| Popular Asian Cinema | AST2PAC/AST3PAC |
| Society and state in Japan and China | AST2EAS/AST3EAS |
| South-East Asian Politics: change and conflict | POL2SEA/POL3SEA |
| Translation and Discussion A (Indonesian) | INM2TDA/INM3TDA |
| Translation and Discussion B (Indonesian) | INM2TDB/INM3TDB |
| Third year unit (15 credit points) | |
| Asia in the World Economy | ECO3AWE |
| Third year units (20 credit points) | |
| Chinese Advanced 3A | CHI3ADA |
| Chinese Advanced 3B | CHI3ADB |
| Chinese Beginners 3A | CHI3BEA |
| Chinese Beginners 3B | CHI3BEB |
| Chinese for Professional and Academic Purposes A | CHI3APA |
| Chinese for Professional Purposes A | CHI3PPA |
| Indonesian Advanced 3A | INM3ADA |
| Indonesian Advanced 3B | INM3ADB |
| Indonesian Beginners 3A | INM3BEA |
| Indonesian Beginners 3B | INM3BEB |
| Japanese Advanced 3A | JPN3ADA |
| Japanese Advanced 3B | JPN3ADB |
| Japanese Beginners 3A | JPN3BEA |
| Japanese Beginners 3B | JPN3BEB |
| Readings in Contemporary Chinese Prose A | CHI3CPA |
| Readings in Contemporary Chinese Prose B | CHI3CPB |
| Sanskrit Beginners 3A | SAN3BEA |
| Sanskrit Beginners 3B | SAN3BEB |
| Translation and Discussion B (Japanese) | JPN3TDB |
Honours
The Asian Studies Program manages three quite distinct honours programs in Asian studies:
- the honours program for students completing a Bachelor of Arts with an Asian studies language major, with a strong language emphasis
- the honours program for students completing a Bachelor of Arts with an Asian studies area of study major, which has an Asian studies or disciplinary emphasis
- an honours program for students completing a Bachelor of Asian Studies.
This entry is concerned only with the second of these, the Asian studies area of study honours program. For information on Asian language programs, see the separate entries under Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese. For information on honours in the Bachelor of Asian Studies, see the separate entry under Bachelor of Asian Studies.
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Asian studies (area of study)
Students who have qualified for a degree by taking a major in the Asian studies area of studies may apply to enter a fourth year to complete their degree with honours. In addition, students who qualify for admission to honours in another discipline and who wish to develop their skills in Asian languages or studies in their fourth year may apply to the Asian Studies Program for admission into the Asian studies area of study honours program. In all cases, students wishing to enrol in fourth year Asian studies should apply to the program coordinator by October of the third year of their course.
Students entering fourth year honours in Asian studies are normally required to have proficiency in an Asian language equivalent to that attained after two years of successful study at tertiary level. Students enrolling in Asian studies with a view to the eventual completion of an honours degree should therefore plan their course with this possible requirement in mind. Enquiries should be directed to the program convenor or to an adviser of studies.
In the fourth year, students are required to complete additional studies in the area of their specialisation and to write a minor thesis on an approved topic of between 10000 and 15000 words, depending on the weighting of coursework and thesis components.
A full description of these units (including the unit name, unit code, credit points, campus/location, unit coordinator, class requirements, assessment, prerequisites, and readings) appears at the end of each discipline entry. A full description of AST units appears below. For the most recent descriptions of all units, please access the unit database at www.latrobe.edu.au/udb_public.