ASAM-BA - Asian American Studies (BA)
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Program Overview
The Interdepartmental Program in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE) explores how race and ethnicity shape global history, undergird our social systems, and touch every aspect of our lives. Our courses empower students with the tools to assess and build inclusivity, equity, diversity, accessibility, and justice. CCSRE programs—encompassing Asian American Studies, Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Jewish Studies, and Native American Studies—take an interdisciplinary approach to considering how gender, sexuality, ability, capital, technology, education, politics, and the environment structure our bodies, experiences, and communities. Students have the option to focus on particular racial and ethnic groups and on issues that move across peoples and places.
The interdisciplinary nature of the academic programs empowers students to enroll in a wide variety of courses. CCSRE listings can be found in Anthropology, Art and Art History, Education, History, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Theater and Performance Studies, and more. Majors and minors in CCSRE engage with various perspectives and methodologies and grapple with pivotal themes including decolonization, indigeneity, intersectionality, movement-building, resistance, solidarity, and wellness. By analyzing interlocking structures of identity and difference, CCSRE students interrogate the role of power, reimagine the world, and reclaim the future.
Born out of the 1960s movements for student activism and third-world liberation, Asian American Studies offers students intellectual frameworks and tools to examine issues relevant to Asian America and beyond.
Visit the Asian American Studies website for more information about the program and how to declare the major.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
All Asian American Studies majors must take the CCSRE core curriculum, including Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 100), two comparative core courses (CSRE 101A, 101B, and 101C), a major core course (ASNAMST 100), and a capstone seminar taken in autumn quarter of the final year of study (CSRE 200X or 201X). Students must complete CSRE 100 or ASNAMST 100 before declaring the major.
Asian American Studies majors may count a limited number of Department of African and African American Studies (DAAAS), Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies (CHILATST), Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE), Jewish Studies (JEWISHST), and/or Native American Studies (NATIVEAM) courses toward their degree in Asian American Studies. However, course(s) outside of ASNAMST may only account for up to one quarter of the total number of elective units in the major, and they may not be used to satisfy core requirements.
Methodology courses should be selected based on their potential to support the student’s projected capstone project.
Methodology courses must be taken for 3-5 units and a letter grade.
Note that Methodology courses may not be offered every year. For an up-to-date list of this academic year's Methodology courses, visit the Core Coursework page on the CCSRE website.
Asian American Studies majors must complete one International Dimension course that explores issues of race and ethnicity outside of the United States.
CCSRE students must complete at least one Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) course or co-curricular experience that centers issues of race, ethnicity, and inequality. This requirement may be fulfilled by enrolling in a Cardinal Course, completing a CCSRE Undergraduate Fellowship, or participating in an Alternative Spring Break. The CEL requirement may be fulfilled by courses that also fulfill other Asian American Studies degree requirements (e.g., a Methodology course may also count toward the CEL requirement).
See the Community-Engaged Learning course list on the Core Coursework page on the CCSRE website for this year's curricular offerings.
No more than 15 units of petitioned courses may be applied to electives in the Asian American Studies major. Students who wish to petition a course must fill out and submit a course petition form for the CCSRE Academic Programs team to review within one month of completing their annual degree audit meeting with the CCSRE Student Services Officer.
A minimum grade of C- is required for a student to count a class towards the Core Curriculum, including the Gateway, Comparative Core, Major Core, Methodology, International Dimension, WIM, and Capstone requirements. Additional units toward the major require a passing grade of D- or above.
Note that the same five-unit course fulfills the WIM and Capstone requirements.
CCSRE students must plan to complete 200X or 201X in person on Stanford campus in autumn of their final year of study.
Students interested in pursuing Interdisciplinary Honors in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE) should review the program program page.
Prospective Honors students must apply with a complete proposal approved by a CCSRE faculty advisor in the spring preceding their final year of study. Honors students must continuously enroll at Stanford in autumn, winter, and spring. For more information about the Honors program and the application process, visit the Honors page on the CCSRE website.