Graduate Certificate in Asian Studies

BUCSA is pleased to offer the Graduate Certificate in Asian Studies. Graduate students in any Boston University graduate or professional program can earn the certificate by fulfilling the following requirements while also fulfilling the requirements of their degree programs. The Graduate Certificate in most cases can be completed without taking courses beyond the number required for the student’s degree. The certificate will be awarded only upon completion of the degree program.

Requirements of the Graduate Certificate Program:

1. Students must successfully complete at least 16 credits of coursework (4 standard courses) in courses primarily focused on Asia, with a minimum grade of B in each course.

2. Concentration requirement:  At least three of the four courses must focus on a subregional  (e.g. East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia)  or substantive (e.g. comparative government, cultural/archeological preservation, Buddhism) area.

3. Courses must be chosen from at least two different departments or schools.

4. No more than 4 credits can be earned through directed study or research, except with written permission of the Director or Associate Director of BUCSA.

5. Students must complete a piece of significant Asia-related independent work such as an M.A. or M.F.A. thesis, doctoral dissertation, or two substantial research papers in graduate-level seminars.

6. Students must demonstrate reading knowledge of an Asian language relevant to the course of study.  This will be demonstrated by passing the language proficiency test of the student’s own department where it is required. For students in schools or departments that do not offer language proficiency testing, BUCSA will arrange an assessment of reading proficiency based on a dictionary-aided, timed translation of a professionally-relevant scholarly (or equivalent) document.

7. Students are very strongly encouraged to consult with the Director or Associate Director of BUCSA at the beginning of their studies in order to ensure that their planned courses will fulfill the goals of the certificate program. At the very latest, however, students must inform the Pardee School’s Manager of Graduate Affairs of their intention to earn the Graduate Certificate in Asian Studies by the same deadline as their Intent to Graduate Forms are due (i.e., late Sept. for January graduation, late January for May graduation, and late May for September graduation). As they near completion of the Certificate requirements, they should schedule a meeting with the BUCSA Director or Associate Director to confirm that all requirements have been met. Following approval of completion by the Director or Associate Director of BUCSA and the student’s departmental faculty advisor, the certification form is submitted by the Pardee School’s Manager of Graduate Affairs to GRS in late April for processing before Commencement.

Pre-Approved Courses

(Important note: Other courses may be applied to the Graduate Certificate in Asian Studies with the permission of the Director or Associate Director of BUCSA)

CAS AH 504 Religious Architecture in Islam
CAS AH 527 B1 Istanbul: From Imperial Capital to Global City
CAS AH 527 B1 Mountains and Waters: Chinese Landscape Art
CAS AH 530 Chinese and Japanese Calligraphy: History, Theory, and Practice
CAS AH 531 Japan on Display
CAS AH 532 Japanese Print Culture
GRS AH 726 Colloquium in Japanese Art

CAS AN 505 Asian Development: The Case of Women
CAS AN 547 Muslim Societies and Islamic Civilizations
CAS AN 548 Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
CAS AN 563/IR 563 Public Religion and Politics Across Cultures
CAS AN 573 The Ethnography of Taiwan and China
GRS AN 706 Comparative Family Systems in Asia
GRS AN 707 Turkey and Middle East Perspective
GRS AN 717 Power and Society in the Middle East
GRS AN 718 Southeast Asia: Tradition and Development
GRS AN 719 Anthropology of Muslim Cultures and Politics
GRS AN 720 Women in the Muslim World
GRS AN 725 Hinduism, Globalization and World Politics
GRS AN 744 Modern Japanese Society: Family, School, and Workplace
GRS AN 747 Afghanistan
GRS AN 750 Asians in America
GRS 775 Culture, Society, and Religion in South Asia

GRS AR 790 The Archaeology of Southeast Asia
GRS AR 795 Politics, Nationalism, and Archaeology
GRS AR 905/906 Directed Research in Old World Prehistoric Archaeology (if topical focus is Asia)
GRS AR 913/914 Directed Research in Archaeological Heritage Management (if topical focus is Asia)

GRS EC 721 Topics in Development Economics (if topical focus is Asia)
GRS EC 722 Topics in Economic Development II (if topical focus is Asia)

CAS HI 549 Nationalism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
CAS HI 589 Nature’s Past: Histories of Environment and Society
CAS HI 591 Making of Modern Middle East
CAS HI 594/HI 780 The Armenian Genocide
CAS HI 596 Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
GRS HI 689 History of International Relations, 1900-1945
GRS HI 690 History of International Relations Since 1945
GRS HI 889 Early Chinese History
GRS HI 890 Modern Chinese History
GRS HI 892 The Middle East
GRS HI 906 Directed Study: East Asian History
GRS HI 975 Directed Study: Middle Eastern History
GRS HI 977 Directed Study: Islamic History
GRS HI 978 Directed Study: South Asian History

CAS IR 501 (PO 554) Conflict and Cooperation in Asia
CAS IR 503 (PO 503) The U.S. in the Middle East
CAS IR 504 (PO 577) Seminar: The Persian Gulf/Arabian Peninsula
CAS IR 506 India and the World: The Foreign Policy of a Rising Power
CAS IR 507 Islam and Politics
CAS IR 511 The Middle East Today
CAS IR 515 Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
CAS IR 520/PO 562 The State and Public Purpose in Asia
CAS IR 527/PO 527 Political Economy of China
CAS IR 570/PO 569 Politics and Social Change in Postwar Japan
CAS IR 577/PO 578 Foreign Policy of the People’s Republic of China
CAS IR 579/PO 579 Japan in International Politics
CAS IR 582 (PO 553) Taiwan: Politics and Transformation
CAS IR 585/PO 558 Problems and Issues in Post-Mao China
CAS IR 586 Islam in South Asia Politics
GRS IR 706 The Iranian Revolution and Its Impact on the Middle East
GRS IR 758/PO 785 Comparative Political Economy of China and India
GRS IR 764/PO 764 Seminar on China in the Contemporary World
GRS IR 765/PO 759 Japanese Political Economy
GRS IR 788/PO 789 International Relations of Asia-Pacific

CAS LC 951, 952 Directed Study in Chinese
CAS LJ 951, 952 Directed Study in Japanese
CAS LK 951. 952 Directed Study in Korean
CAS LN 951, 952 Directed Study in Hindi-Urdu
CAS LZ 951, 952 Directed Study in Persian
CAS XL 742 Travel Writing and the Muslim World
CAS XL 743 Alexander the Great in the East
CAS XL 951, 952 Directed Study in Comparative Literature

GRS PH 647 Asian Philosophy

CAS RN 526 Topics in Religion and Literature in East Asia
CAS RN 563 Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
GRS RN 612/STH TX 802 Buddhism in America
GRS RN 616/STH TX 856 Modern Islam
GRS RN 640/ STH TX 853 The Quran
GRS RN 643 Islam in a Global Perspective
GRS RN 645/ STH TX 845 Islamic Law
GRS RN 648/ STH TX 881 Rumi and Persian Sufi Poetry
GRS RN 660 Daoist Religion
GRS RN 662 Chinese Medicine
GRS RN 664/ STH TX 878 Buddhist Literature
GRS RN 665 Art, Media, and Buddha
GRS RN 675/AN 775/STH TX875 Culture, Society and Religion in South Asia
GRS RN 724/PH 647/ STH TT 902 Core Texts and Motifs of World Religions: East
GRS RN 687/AN 784/STH TX 887 Anthropology of Religion
GRS RN 688/AN 726 Oral Tradition as Verbal Art
GRS RN 724/PH 647/ STH TT 902 Core Texts and Motifs of World Religions: East
GRS RN 725 Topics in South Asian Religion
GRS RN 735/STH TX 836 Women, Gender, and Islam
GRS RN 753/STH TX 893 Gender, Sexuality, and Buddhism

CFA MH 563 World Music and Culture (if topical focus is on Asia)

GMS MA 620 World Religions and Healing
GMS MA 682 Islamic Medicines and Healing
GMS MA 684: Social History of Chinese Medicine and Healing Traditions

GSM IM 834 Competing in China
GSM IM 842 Business in Asia-Pacific
GSM IM 845 Asian Field Seminar
GSM IM 853 India Field Seminar

MET AD 667 Innovation, Global Competitiveness, and National Economic Development
MET AD 753 International Commerce: Pacific Basin and East Asia
MET ML 634 Culture and Cuisine of China

SPH IH 790 Leading Organizations to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals for Health
SPH GH 885 Global Trade, Intellectual Property and Public Health

STH TA 711: Music of the World’s Religions II: The Asian Traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikkhism)
STH TM 835 Asian Christianity
STH TM 935 Asian Christianity
STH TS 837 Comparative Religious Ethics
STH TS 862 Global Ethics in Cultural Contexts
STH TS 962 Global Ethics in Cultural Contexts
STH TT 812 Eastern Religions
STH TT 815 Introduction to Chinese Religion
STH TT 838/TX 852 Mysticism: East and West
STH TT 841 Christian Encounters with Hinduism
STH TT 895 Rise of Neo-Confucianism
STH TT 902: Core Texts and Motifs of World Religions: East
STH TT 945 Spirituality, Medicine and Health