Welcome to the Asian
Languages & Cultures Department
Working closely with other academic departments at Hobart and William
Smith, the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures offers a wide
variety of courses that are designed to acquaint its majors and
minors with the history, institutions, religions, cultures, and
languages of Asia and to provide a firm foundation for further study.
Majors and minors in the department are strongly encouraged to participate
in the Colleges' off-campus programs in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China,
Vietnam, and India.
We offer so many courses in the Asian Studies Program—nearly
50 all together—that our students can't exhaust the possibilities
for study. Our program has an Individual Major which is designed
by the student; from that point, they can head in any direction:
international trade, Chinese literature, economic development, Hinduism,
20th century politics, Japanese history, and Far Eastern art, to
mention a few examples. The specificity of our offerings is extraordinary:
Asian medical systems, modern Chinese literature, medieval women
in France and Japan, and two history courses in Imperial China,
for example. Our majors are required to study an Asian language.
In addition to Japanese or Chinese, they may study Hindi through
the Colleges’ Self Instructional Language Program. Others study
Sinhalese or Tamil in Sri Lanka and South India. Our language faculty
help students build vocabulary in an area specific to their
career interests, such as international trade and banking, health
care, or diplomacy.
The HWS Department of Asian
Languages and Cultures is located in Stern Hall.
For more information, please contact:
The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
321 Stern Hall
Geneva, NY 14456 Phone (315) 781-3579 Fax (315) 781-3027
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