• Offering a great variety of courses in many different departments across campus, the award-winning Augustana Asian studies program provides each student with a truly integrated, interdisciplinary, and specialized education.

|Programs| |Awards| |Languages| |Business| |Curriculum| |Study Abroad| |Catalog|

The Program
The Augustana Asian Studies program has a two-fold mission. First, it desires to enrich the background of all Augustana students from a full range of majors, giving them a sense of a very important part of the world.   Secondly, it provides an opportunity for those students with special interests in Asia to pursue studies in an area of choice.  With many different courses and experiences available, students focus on both modern and traditional Asian cultures and societies, contemporary Asian politics, economic links between the U.S. and other Pacific Rim nations, and global environmental issues.  The Asian Studies program offers a major and a minor, both of which include a capstone senior research project to be done during a student's senior year.  To strengthen and complement their Asian studies experience, some students combine their major or minor with courses in either Chinese or Japanese language, courses in the Business Administration department,  in other liberal arts programs like Art History, History, Political Science, Geography, Sociology and Anthropology, or the Augustana academic overseas term in East Asia, India, or Vietnam.  Graduates majoring or minoring in Asian Studies pursue many diverse careers, such as international business, government service, education, and research.
 

Awards

·         Selection of Professor Marsha Smith to participate in the 2005 Pearl River Delta Faculty Development Program co-Sponsored by ASIANetwork & the Hong Kong-America Center and funded by the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program and the U. S. Department of Education

• Recognition in 1997 when the East Asian Overseas Term was identified as the model program for other undergraduate colleges by the Freeman Foundation in a major $250,000 grant to ASIANetwork, a consortium of more than 130 quality liberal arts colleges.  This grant will allow Augustana to introduce this program to fifteen other consortium colleges in College in Asia Summer Institutes on-site in East Asia in 1998-2000.

• Recognition in 1997 when the United Board for Christian Higher Education selected Augustana as one of five liberal arts colleges to send two graduates each year over a three-year period to teach English at a Chinese University.

• Selection of Professor Robert Tallitch as one of ten United Board faculty for the China faculty development program in 1997-1998.

• Selection of Professor Marsha Smith and Ms. Jane Tiedge for ASIANetwork Freeman Foundation student-faculty fellows program in 1998 (only ten pairs were selected nationwide).

• Selection by the United Board as one of seventeen schools to host one to two visiting scholars  from Asian Universities every year since 1997.

Chinese and Japanese Languages

The intense study of a culture's language is the key to that culture.  Beyond being a means for communication, language is also a key to literary and cultural history.  Augustana offers four years of instruction in standard Chinese and two years of Japanese languages. Asian Studies majors are required to take at least one year of courses in an Asian language.  With three or four years of Chinese at Augustana, students earn a minor and are well  qualified for graduate programs in Asian studies or for employment with businesses or agencies in China, Taiwan, Singapore.  For serious students in Asian languages or for study abroad in Asia, please contact Dr. Van Symons, Friestat Chair and Chair of History, Dr. Kim Tunnicliff, Director of the International Office or Dr. Marsha Smith, Coordinator of Asian Studies for information and possible funding opportunities.

Asian Studies and Business

Many students majoring in business or economics at Augustana find Asian Studies classes to be particularly helpful and useful.  Japan has been and will continue to be a strong competitor with the U.S., and China's role as the largest market of U.S. exports and its rate of economic growth position it to be among the world leaders of the 21st century.  In order to better inform students about the roles of these nations in the business world, Augustana's business curriculum includes specific coursework within the Asian Studies program and a focus on Asia in many courses in the economics and business administration departments.  In taking the Asian Studies and business courses relating to the Asian culture and economy, students are able to expand their focus to include adaptability and sensitivity to Asian people and cultures.   This cross-cultural perspective gives them better chances of success in today's international business world.  For more information about the business administration major at Augustana, visit the Augustana Business Administration site. 

Opportunities Abroad

Academic Terms
 

At Augustana, international study is an important part of the liberal arts curriculum, expanding the student's world views and cross-cultural understanding.  For over twenty years, Augustana has encouraged its students to study on one of the annual overseas terms in East Asia, Europe, or Latin America.   Augustana began its East Asian overseas program in 1974, and when China opened its borders to more foreign visitors in 1977, Augustana was one of the first undergraduate schools to bring student groups to that country.  Since 1977 Augustana has sponsored an East Asian overseas fall term every three years.  For ten weeks six faculty members and 70-80 students from many different majors study in Japan, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the People's Republic of China, include the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.  The East Asia Overseas Term was most recently be offered in the fall of 2007, featuring courses from the departments of Chinese, History, Business/economics, and Sociology.  In addition to providing a rich cultural experience, participation in the East Asia Overseas Term also satisfies the learning community and global general education requirement plus other assorted learning perspectives.  

Augustana College also offered its inaugural India Spring Focus term abroad in March of 2007. Courses there included Literature, Biology, and Sociology. In the winter of 2008 the first Vietnamese program will be launched including courses in Literature, Business/economics, and Political Science.

In addition to Augustana-supported study abroad programs, the college has an exchange program with Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Every year two students from Lingnan spend the fall term in the U.S. and two students from Augustana will study in Hong Kong.

Overseas Teaching Opportunities

Augustana's student and faculty exchange program with Huazhong Normal University in China, begun in 1988, allows seniors or recent graduates to study mandarin Chinese and teach English for one year on the campus in Wuhan, a major city in central China.  Through this annual program, Augustana also hosts a visiting professor from Huazhong to assist with language instruction on campus.  For those interested in teaching in Japan, each year the renowned Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program and the AEON program accept approximately five Augustana graduates to teach English in Japanese junior or senior high schools, local government offices, or at private corporations in Japan.  For more information about the JET program, visit the JET site. 

Interested?  Questions?
Go ahead and contact us!

Dr. Marsha Smith, Professor of Sociology, Co-Director, East Asia Overseas Program. 
Phone: (309) 794-7270.  Email: MarshaSmith@augustana.edu