Asian Studies
- Asian Studies is the second-fastest-growing interdisciplinary major on the New Paltz campus. The number of faculty has also expanded, with 12 active members in the program from multiple disciplines.
- The Friends of Asian Studies Endowment, a competitive award that supports study abroad plans for Asian Studies majors and student-faculty collaborative research, will grow further to mark the occasion of its 10th anniversary. The program’s recent membership in AsiaNetwork provides access to additional resources intended to facilitate research and field studies.
- In 2014, the program’s first cohort of Study Abroad students traveled to Guangxi Normal University and the Chinese Language Institute in Guilin, China. The majority of Asian Studies students study in China and Japan, with an increasing number of students traveling to South Korea and India.
- A major and ongoing innovation of the program is the Asian Studies East-West Living and Learning Community, which brings students from China and Japan to live together with Asian Studies students in a campus residence hall. The program’s success has inspired plans to expand to include Korean students as well.
- Asia is home to two of the three largest world economies (China and Japan), as well as the world's largest democracy (India). Asian studies majors enter the modern workforce with a competitive advantage. They pursue a variety of careers and often spend time living and working in Asia. The program brings successful alumni back to campus to connect students with post-graduation opportunities.
