We study the languages, societies and cultures of major civilizations that stretch from the Arab World to Japan. Students expand their knowledge and challenge assumptions about this large and vital part of the world.
Students gain a sophisticated understanding of one of the four cultural areas—Japan, China, South Asia and West Asia—that make up our department.
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As part of the Five College Arabic Language Initiative, we offer a full sequence of courses in Arabic.
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We offer a coherent sequence of Mandarin Chinese courses from the elementary through the advanced.
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We teach Japanese using the “stage-step” method. Students learn to speak, read, write and listen in Japanese.
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Amherst has long ties with Japan’s Doshisha University, founded by Amherst graduate Joseph Hardy Neesima, the first Japanese man to earn a college degree from a Western institution.
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At weekly language tables, students share meals while speaking Chinese, Japanese or Arabic.
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Roughly translated as “Garden of Friendship,” the Yūshien is a contemplative garden in the Japanese style at Amherst. It has been ranked among the nation’s top Japanese gardens.
Learn MoreExplore the connections between contemporary politics and society in Turkey through the contested histories of space and place-making in Istanbul, with special attention to the architecture of the city.
Survey the architecture, painting, sculpture, textiles, decorative arts, and photography of South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan), from 2300 B.C., touching on the present.
Through primary, secondary and audiovisual sources, chart a history of Gandhi’s thought about nonviolence and its expression in civil disobedience and resistance movements both in India and around the world.
We award the Doshisha Asian Studies Prize for the best undergraduate honors thesis pertaining to Asia.