Prospective Students
Our faculty teach and conduct research in a broad range of fields, including Applied Linguistics, Art History, Classics, Comparative Literature, Economics, English, History, Religious Studies, and Political Science.
At the heart of the program's collective work is a commitment to incisive scholarship, rigorous thought, and the elaboration of the historical and contemporary forms of truth. We are committed to making connections across historical periods and geographic regions, and to conceptions of Asia that do not orient it solely towards a history dominated or determined by its modern encounter with Europe.
As of Fall 2010, pending departmental and university approval, Penn State will be offering dual-title PhD degrees in three fields: Applied Linguistics, Comparative Literature, and History. We may also (this is slightly less likely) offer a dual-title PhD in Political Science. If all goes well, all these programs will accept applications in Fall 2009. Please keep your eye on this space for updates.
To apply for a dual-title PhD in Asian Studies, you must apply to the home department appropriate to your undergraduate training and your professional goals. Please consult the websites of those departments for information on application and admission (Applied Linguistics, Comparative Literature, History). Once you are admitted by your home department, your application will be forwarded by that department to the Asian Studies graduate committee. Students already enrolled in the appropriate graduate programs at Penn State may also apply for a dual-title PhD in Asian Studies in their first year of graduate study.
We are currently working on establishing a dual-title PhD in Political Science and Asian Studies. Updates will appear here, though the earliest such a program would beginning considering applications would be in Fall 2010 (for enrollment in Fall 2011).
What are dual-title degrees?
Penn State dual-title degree programs give students a solid grounding in the fundamental methods and background of a single discipline, while allowing the student's work to be extended through participation in an interderisciplinary program that will connect students to faculty across the university, allow them to do creative, high-level scholarship, and make them compelling candidates on the academic job market.
Currently, students can pursue dual-title PhDs in the following programs: Applied Linguistics and Asian Studies, Comparative Literature and Asian Studies, and History and Asian Studies. Long-term goals include extending our programs to include PhD and MA degrees in other fields, including Applied Linguistics, Business, History, Political Science, Anthropology, Law, and International Affairs.
How do I apply for a dual-title PhD?
Aplicants to dual-title PhDs at Penn State must apply to the home department whose PhD they wish to earn. Successful applications to those departments are forwarded to the Asian Studies Graduate Committee, which reviews them and admits students to the dual-degree program.
Successful applicants will have some background in Asian Studies and knowledge of one or more Asian languages. Their statements of purpose should indicate an interest in pursuing research in Asian Studies, and articulate a clear direction for their scholarsihp.
Students who have been admitted to PhD programs at Penn State but did not apply for admission to the dual-title program in Asian Studies may apply for admission in their first year at Penn State, and will be considered alongside the regular applicant pool.
When will the dual-title PhD in Asian Studies accept applications?
The dual-title PhDs in Applied Linguistics, Comparative Literature, and History will, pending university and college approval, begin accepting applications in Fall 2009. Please check those departments for application information.
What will the degree requirements be?
Though requirements differ by department, all Asian Studies dual-degree candidates must meet similar basic qualifications in addition to the PhD requirements in their home departments.
Coursework: 15 credits of Asian Studies coursework at the 400 or 500 level. Nine of these credits will come from AS 501, 502, and 597; the remainder may come from AS or from the student’s home department.
Language requirement: Students should show strong all-skills proficiency in one Asian language and either two years’ college study (or equivalent knowledge) of another Asian language, or else an alternative proficiency appropriate to the student’s field.
Graduate committee, examinations, dissertation: A representative of the AS program will serve on the student’s committee, which will take departmental practice into consideration in determining how to include an appropriate AS component in the student’s candidacy and comprehensive examinations and in the dissertation.
For more detailed information please consult the guidelines for specific programs, which are listed below.
What is the Asian Studies Seminar?
The heart of the dual-degree PhD in Asian Studies will be the Asian Studies Seminar on Theories, Methods, and Archives. This yearlong seminar, which counts for 6 credits and covers AS 501 and AS 502, is offered once every two years and is required for all dual-degree candidates.
The seminar is divided into six five-week units. Each of these units is taught by a different faculty member in Asian Studies, and focuses on a theory, method, or archive of importance in that faculty member’s field. Over the course of the year the seminar allows students to develop a strong sense of the interdisciplinary possibilities of the field, and get to know a number of faculty in the program.
Topics for five-week units may include: The Silk Road; The East Asian Economic Miracle; The “Problem” of Translation; Christianity in China; Falling Empires; Asian American Popular Culture; Literature of the Axis Postwar; Historical Linguistics; Ecology and Environment; The Journey to the West; Architecture of the Indian City; The Politics of Democratic Reform; Chinese Islam; Science and Technological Development in China; Historicism and Formalism in Literary Criticism; World-Systems Theory; Shakespeare in China; Censorship and the Archive; The Legacy of Said’s Orientalism; Subaltern Studies and Indian Historiography; Writing Reform; The Grammar of Food, and others.
In the year following the Asian Studies Seminar, students in the course are given the opportunity to invite two scholars in Asian Studies to campus to give lectures and have lunch with the graduate students in the field. This opportunity allows students to remain connected to their classmates in the program, and to help create the intellectual life of the program.
Dual-Title PhD in Applied Linguistics and Asian Studies [in process]
Admissions information for graduate study in Applied Linguistics. Graduate faculty with expertise in Asian Studies include Susan Strauss (Japanese/Korean) and Xiaofei Lu (corpus linguistics).
Dual-Title PhD in Comparative Literature and Asian Studies [in process]
Admissions information for graduate study in Comparative Literature. Graduate faculty with expertise in Asian Studies include Jonathan Abel (Japan), Charlotte Eubanks (Japan), Reiko Tachibana (Japan), Eric Hayot (China), Alexander Huang (China), and Shuang Shen (China).
Dual-Title PhD in History and Asian Studies [in process]
Admissions information for graduate study in History. Graduate faculty with expertise in Asian Studies include David Atwill (China), Erica Brindley (China), Kumkum Chatterjee (India), Ronnie Hsia (China), On-cho Ng (China), Minnie Sinha (India), and Gregory Smits (Japan).
Dual-Title PhD in Political Science and Asian Studies [in process]
Admissions information for graduate study in Political Science. Graduate faculty with expertise in Asian Studies include Gretchen Casper (Southeast Asia, democratization), and Vineeta Yadav (starts Jan 2010--comparative political economy).
