Asian Studies Admissions and Masters Degree Requirements
East Asia: Students who wish to specialize in East Asia normally have a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language and literature, or an area studies degree with a concentration in East Asia. Students must have completed at least two years of college-level Chinese, Japanese, or Korean with a grade of at least B in each course, or must demonstrate equivalent competence, before admission to the program.
South Asia: Students who wish to specialize in South Asia normally have a Bachelor of Arts in area studies or in a traditional discipline, with a concentration in South Asia. Most applicants have knowledge of a South Asian language before applying for admission. Students without this knowledge, whose applications are otherwise outstanding, may also be accepted.
Please note that applicants may not apply to the Asian Studies degree program in order to study their native language and country. However, applicants may apply to the Asian Cultures and Languages program in order to study their native language.
Students may complete first- and second-year college level language coursework after they are admitted, but these courses may not be counted toward the master's degree.
Thesis option: 30 hours of coursework, including six hours of thesis:
- 12 hours of Asian Studies electives (with not more than 6 in any one discipline)
- 6 hours Asian history courses
- 6 hours in advanced Asian language courses (third-year level or beyond)
- 6 hours of Master's Thesis
Report option: 33 hours of coursework, including three hours of report:
- 18 hours of Asian Studies electives (with not more than 9 in any one discipline)
- 6 hours Asian history courses
- 6 hours in advanced language courses (third-year level or beyond)
- 3 hours of Master's Report
Students who demonstrate third-year language proficiency before admission to the program may have the language course requirement waived, pending approval of the Graduate Adviser. Please note that the required subject matter will be waived but not the hours.
Up to six hours of upper-division undergraduate courses may be counted toward the M.A. degree.
Dual-degree program: Asian Studies/Public Affairs:
LBJ School dual-degree information
As above (either thesis or report option), and including the following Public Affairs coursework:
- 21 hours of required Public Affairs core courses (Policy Development, Public Administration and Management, etc.)
- 6 hours Policy Research Project
- 9 hours Public Affairs electives
- Summer internship (in or related to Asia)
Dual-degree program: Asian Studies/Business Administration:
McCombs School of Business dual-degree information
- 28 hours of MBA core courses
- 18 hours of approved business electives
- 6 upper-division or graduate hours Asian history courses
- 6 hours of Asian Studies electives with at least 50% business content
- 6 hours in advanced language courses (third-year level or beyond)
PLUS
- 6 hours of non-business Asian Studies electives and 6 hours Asian Studies Master's Thesis
OR
- 12 hours of non-business Asian Studies electives and 3 hours of Asian Studies Master's Report
