Asian Area Studies

Asian Studies uses multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches to study Asian societies and cultures, past and present. UBC’s Department of Asian Studies focuses on approaches to Asia based in the Humanities (language, literature, history, culture, religion, philosophy, gender studies, performance, visual culture) and features strong coverage of East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) and South and West Asia (India, Pakistan, and the Persianate world). It is one of the leading programs of its kind in the world. You can learn Mandarin Chinese, Classical Chinese, Japanese, Classical Japanese, Korean, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu, Sanskrit, or Persian.

Graduates will value diversity and command a valuable and rare combination of Asia-relevant linguistic and inter-cultural competencies. Graduates become able to contribute to Canada’s evolving relationship with Asia in informed, original, and culturally appropriate ways.|Asian Studies majors are strongly urged to broaden and deepen their engagement with Asia by participating in a Go Global-sponsored study abroad experience, taking Asia-related courses in other Faculty of Arts departments, enrolling in the Arts Co-op and Internship Programs, as well as taking advantage of the many alumni, lecture, and other events sponsored by the department.|The Asian Library has the largest collection of Asian materials in Canada. Its holdings include the Puban collection of over 45,000 books and unpublished manuscripts and a serial collection of nearly 1,000 Chinese periodicals and newspapers. Among the library’s treasures is the oldest book in the UBC Library system, published in China in 986 AD. The collection also includes a 50,000-volume Indic languages collection with materials in Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Gujarati.