The Asian Studies Minor at Kent State University provides students with the opportunity to explore Asia from a multidisciplinary perspective so they can better understand the social, cultural, political, and historical currents that shape this region. Students may fulfill the requirements of the minor by completing 16 credit hours of approved coursework. They can also earn a certificate by combining language training with their interdisciplinary study of Asia. Students may select from a wide range of courses and disciplines, including political science, geography, history, art, and anthropology. To help students study about Asia, the Asian Studies Minor offers introductory and intermediate language courses in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. In addition, students are able to take Japanese language courses in legal, commercial, literary, and diplomatic translation.

The Faculty

The Asian studies faculty members are currently teaching courses and actively conducting research on East, Southeast, or South Asia. The Asian Studies faculty have authored numerous books, articles, and conference papers on a wide range of topics such as national identity, Japanese translation and linguistics, politics in North and South Korea, environmental issues in East Asia, gender issues, construction of national memory, and US-Chinese foreign relations. Our faculty present and publish their research both in the US and around the world.

The faculty have sponsored a number of workshops, speakers, and film screenings on Asia over recent years. They have participated in research and teaching grants from such organizations and agencies as the U. S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Association for Asian Studies, Northeast Asia Council, National Council for Teaching Asian Studies, the Academy of Korean Studies, and many others.

Our faculty are also actively engaged in the scholarship of teaching. Included among their many teaching accomplishments are: Who’s Who Among American Teachers, Distinguished Teacher Award for the College of Arts and Sciences, Distinguished Teacher Award for the Stark Campus, University Teaching Scholar, and an OYTF Teaching Fellowship. Asian Studies faculty also sponsor and lead study tours to Korea, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. During the spring of 2007, Kent State faculty are leading the National Consortium on Teaching About Asia (NCTA) in Wooster, Ohio. The NCTA is sponsored by the Freeman Foundation and provides school teachers in grades K through 12 with information and instruction on teaching about Asia.

 For more information contact Dennis Hart or James Tyner, or snail mail Dr. Hart at Asian Studies, 6000 Frank Road N.W., Kent State University, Canton, Ohio 44720.