South Asian Track

Major Requirements

A minimum of 13 courses are required. These include:

Language:

The equivalent of six courses (the completion of the 3rd year of advanced language study) of  Bengali, Hindi-Urdu, Panjabi, Persian, Sanskrit, or Tamil, selected in consultation with the advisor.
Note: For students graduating in 2018, 2019, or 2020, the requirement remains four language courses (the completion of the Intermediate Year of language study).

Core Courses:

Asian Humanities UN1399 Colloquium on Major Texts
Middle East & South Asia MDE UN3000 Theories of Culture: Middle East and South Asia

Two of the following courses:
Asian Civ.-Middle East UN2001 Introduction to Major Topics in Asian Civ.: The Middle East and India
Asian Civ.-Middle East UN2003 Introduction to Islamic Civilizations
Asian Civ.-Middle East UN2008 Contemporary Islamic Civilizations
Asian Civ.-Middle East UN2357 Introduction to Indian Civilizations

Disciplinary Courses:

A minimum of five courses, in the culture of the chosen language, chosen as a concentration. The concentration may be in the languages and cultures of ancient Semitic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Indic, Iranian, Persian, or Turkish.

Senior Thesis:

A senior thesis, to be written under the supervision of a faculty member chosen in consultation with the adviser. If the student desires, she may prepare for this thesis by taking a half-or full-year Independent Study (UN3999) with her advisor or an appropriate faculty member.

Minor Requirements

Prerequisite:

Students must meet the following prerequisite prior to declaring an AMEC minor: Two years of Sanskrit, Hindi-Urdu, Bengali, Panjabi, or Tamil.  These must be either taken at Columbia or proficiency proven through a placement examination.

Language Requirement (two courses):

Two semesters of third-year work in the chosen language, or the proficiency equivalent (to be demonstrated by a placement examination).
Students who test out of the third-year level must take either an additional year of the same language or one year of an additional language in the same Track.

Introductory Courses (two):

AHUM UN1399, Colloquium on Major Texts of South Asia and the Middle East
One civilizations class relating to the language and region of study (Indian Civ or Islamic Civ)

Electives (two):

Two electives in the world region under study, to be taken in any department in the university at the 3000- or 4000-level, subject to approval by the advisor.