The University of Oregon’s Asian Studies Program is an interdisciplinary instructional component of the College of Arts and Sciences. The program emphasizes study in Asian languages, history, society and culture, art and literature, politics and economics. Established in 1942, the Asian Studies Program is one of the oldest interdisciplinary programs in the United States to focus on Asia.

The Asian Studies Program is administered by the Asian Studies Faculty Committee, composed of faculty members with Asian specializations in over a dozen discipline areas. Degree programs offered include B.A. and M.A. programs that emphasize East Asia (particularly China and Japan) and, to a more limited extent, Southeast Asia (particularly Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). Both areas are supported by a strong faculty and on-going research activities.

Asian Studies students are required to complete two years of language training in addition to a rigorous program covering several disciplines and national traditions. Chinese and Japanese are taught through the fifth year through the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL). Also offered through EALL are the first two years of Korean.

Language acquisition and instruction are facilitated by the extensive collection of audio, video, and computer software media available to faculty members and students at the university’s Yamada Language Center.

Asian Studies students are eligible to participate in any of the exchange or study-abroad programs that the UO arranges with universities in Asia, through the university’s Office of International Affairs. Programs are available in China, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.