Twin Cities campus

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Twin Cities Campus

Asian Literatures, Cultures, and Media M.A.

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
College of Liberal Arts
Link to a list of faculty for this program.
Contact Information
Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, 220 Folwell Hall, 9 Pleasant St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-625-6534; fax: 612-624-5513)
Email: all@umn.edu
Website: http://all.umn.edu
  • Program Type: Master's
  • Requirements for this program are current for Fall 2018
  • Length of program in credits: 30
  • This program does not require summer semesters for timely completion.
  • Degree: Master of Arts
Along with the program-specific requirements listed below, please read the General Information section of this website for requirements that apply to all major fields.
Note: The Asian Languages and Literatures Department considers applications only from students seeking the PhD degree; it does not admit students directly to the MA. The MA is offered only as an exit degree or interim credential. The Asian literatures, cultures, and media (ALCM) program enables students to pursue the study of Asian texts and media, broadly understood. The program encourages work that questions the boundaries of traditional area studies, demands proficiency in the language(s) of concentration, and provides opportunities for students to design a flexible program of study. Students must designate a language of concentration on their ALCM program application form. Currently, students may select Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Hindi/Urdu for their language of concentration. However, it is possible to select another South Asian language with permission of the director of graduate studies. For details, see the graduate program website at www.all.umn.edu.
Program Delivery
  • via classroom (the majority of instruction is face-to-face)
Prerequisites for Admission
Other requirements to be completed before admission:
Only applications from students seeking the PhD degree are considered, although applicants are not required to have taken graduate coursework before entering the program. The MA is offered as an exit degree or interim credential. A bachelor's degree from an accredited US institution (or its foreign equivalent) is required for admission. Students entering with an MA in a related field will have the appropriate number of credits and courses applied to their program of study (as determined by the director of graduate studies). Applicants are expected to have a strong academic record from a relevant humanities or social science discipline and at least three years of college-level study in the proposed language of concentration, or a demonstration of comparable linguistic proficiency.
Applicants must submit their test score(s) from the following:
  • GRE
International applicants must submit score(s) from one of the following tests:
  • TOEFL
    • Internet Based - Total Score: 79
    • Internet Based - Writing Score: 21
    • Internet Based - Reading Score: 19
    • Paper Based - Total Score: 550
  • IELTS
    • Total Score: 6.5
  • MELAB
    • Final score: 80
Key to test abbreviations (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, MELAB).
For an online application or for more information about graduate education admissions, see the General Information section of this website.
Program Requirements
Plan B: Plan B requires 30 major credits and 0 credits outside the major. The final exam is written and oral.
This program may be completed with a minor.
Use of 4xxx courses toward program requirements is permitted under certain conditions with adviser approval.
Language Requirement: Advanced knowledge in the chosen language.
A minimum GPA of 3.50 is required for students to remain in good standing.
At least 1 semesters must be completed before filing a Degree Program Form.
The MA examination comprises the PhD qualifying examination, which is normally taken at the end of the student's second year in the program. Students entering the program with an MA in a related field can take the qualifying examination after one year of study, with approval of the director of graduate studies. The final examination consists of the following: 1) written language examination(s), typically an in-room reading/translation examination on materials directly related to study and research interests; 2) an oral presentation and interview discussing the materials that were part of the written examination; 3) submission of two Plan B research papers for evaluation (normally papers from two different classes, revised for submission); and 4) an oral examination (in English) by a faculty committee, based on the submitted papers.
Required Courses
AMES 8001 - Critical Approaches to Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (3.0 cr)
AMES 8002 - Research Seminar (3.0 cr)
Electives
Take 24 or more credit(s) from the following:
A maximum of 8 language credits can be applied as electives.
Take 0 - 8 credit(s) from the following:
· ARAB 4101 - Beginning Arabic I for Graduate Student Research (5.0 cr)
· ARAB 4102 - Beginning Arabic II for Graduate Student Research (5.0 cr)
· ARAB 4121 - Intermediate Arabic I for Graduate Student Research (5.0 cr)
· ARAB 4122 - Intermediate Arabic II for Graduate Student Research (5.0 cr)
· CHN 4041 - Advanced Readings in Modern Chinese I (4.0 cr)
· CHN 4042 - Advanced Readings in Modern Chinese II (4.0 cr)
· CHN 5040 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
· Seminars and Courses
Many 8xxx-level CLA seminars can be taken to fulfill the requirements of this degree. Students choose courses in consultation with their advisor. The following list includes frequently taken electives:
Take 16 - 24 credit(s) from the following:
· ALL 5xxx
· ALL 8xxx
· CSDS 8001 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
· CSDS 8002 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
· MIMS 8001 - Theories of the Moving Image (3.0 cr)
· MIMS 8003 - Historiography of the Moving Image (3.0 cr)
· HIST 5940 {Inactive} (1.0-4.0 cr)
· HIST 5960 - Topics in History (1.0-4.0 cr)
· HIST 8960 - Topics in History (1.0-4.0 cr)
· ARTH 5765 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
· ARTH 8710 - Seminar: Islamic Art (3.0 cr)
· ARTH 8720 - Seminar:East Asian Art (3.0 cr)
· ARTH 8950 - Seminar: Issues in the History of Art (3.0 cr)
· GWSS 5490 - Topics: Political Economy and Global Studies (3.0 cr)
· ANTH 5980 - Topics in Anthropology (3.0 cr)
· ANTH 8810 - Topics in Sociocultural Anthropology (3.0 cr)
 
More program views..
View college catalog(s):
· College of Liberal Arts

View future requirement(s):
· Summer 2021
· Fall 2020
· Fall 2019

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AMES 8001 - Critical Approaches to Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall
This course aims to provide critical and theoretical foundations for incoming graduate students in Asian Literatures, Cultures, and Media program, while also addressing broader questions that would be of interest to students in other departments in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our project will be to generate discussion about the theoretical and political complexities of studying Asia and the Middle East from a cross-cultural and transnational perspective, taking account of several inter-related questions at the heart of the work of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Beginning with Edward Said?s critique of orientalism as our point of departure, we will take up a range of questions revolving around debates over historiography (e.g., capitalism and the formations of race and gender, nationalism and imperialism, etc.) and the relationship between cultural studies and political-economy (e.g., the political unconscious, national allegory, translation and translingual practice, ethnographic gaze, etc.) with a particular attention to the complications posed by taking ?Asia? as the object of intellectual inquiry in any such analysis. Our discussions will consider key problematics in cultural theory, the uses of such theory in the Asian context and some of the issues thereby raised, and critical interventions by scholars of Asia.
AMES 8002 - Research Seminar
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Spring
Issues/approaches in academic study of Asian and/or Middle Eastern area studies. Problems in contemporary academic theory in humanities. Application of theory to issues in area studies raised. Interventions of critical theory. Ethics of professional peer review. Crisis in higher education.
ARAB 4101 - Beginning Arabic I for Graduate Student Research
Credits: 5.0 [max 5.0]
Course Equivalencies: Arab 1101/Arab 4101
Grading Basis: OPT No Aud
Typically offered: Every Fall & Summer
After learning the Arabic script, you will develop your ability to communicate in Arabic about yourself, your community and your environment. You will learn to speak, write, read, and listen to meet the demands of daily life. You will learn to inquire about others and negotiate meaning with them, and to interpret concise print, oral, and digital texts. You will also begin to explore the rich cultural diversity of the Arab world. This class is taught following a communicative and interactive approach and is focused on practice.
ARAB 4102 - Beginning Arabic II for Graduate Student Research
Credits: 5.0 [max 5.0]
Course Equivalencies: Arab 1102/Arab 4102
Grading Basis: OPT No Aud
Typically offered: Every Spring & Summer
Comprehension, oral practice, reading of standard Arabic. Meets with 1102. prereq: 4101 or equiv
ARAB 4121 - Intermediate Arabic I for Graduate Student Research
Credits: 5.0 [max 5.0]
Course Equivalencies: Arab 3101/Arab 4121
Grading Basis: OPT No Aud
Typically offered: Every Fall
This course is designed for students who have successfully completed two semesters of intensive Beginner Modern Standard Arabic. Like its prequels, Intermediate Arabic I focuses on the equal development of the fundamental skills of speaking, writing, reading, and listening in Modern Standard Arabic. This course is designed as a communicative and interactive learning environment, with a strong emphasis on practice. Presentations, oral interaction, and writing samples are expected to become lengthier and more intricate. Students study increasingly complex grammar through engagement with authentic oral, print, and digital texts. Pre-req: pass in ARAB-1102/4102 or equivalent experience as assessed through a placement test.
ARAB 4122 - Intermediate Arabic II for Graduate Student Research
Credits: 5.0 [max 5.0]
Course Equivalencies: Arab 3102/Arab 4122
Grading Basis: OPT No Aud
Typically offered: Every Spring & Summer
Advanced grammar, analyses of readings, oral comprehension. Meets with 3102. prereq: 4121 or equiv
CHN 4041 - Advanced Readings in Modern Chinese I
Credits: 4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Writings of different styles. Short stories/essays written since 1949 that reflect Chinese society. Internet writing, use of language. Writings reflection of contemporary Chinese society, its culture/philosophies. prereq: 3032 or instr consent
CHN 4042 - Advanced Readings in Modern Chinese II
Credits: 4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered: Every Spring
Writings of different styles. Short stories/essays written since 1949 that reflect Chinese society. Internet writing, use of language. Writings' reflection of contemporary Chinese society, its culture/philosophies. prereq: 3032 or instr consent
MIMS 8001 - Theories of the Moving Image
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Fall
Study of the moving image as the intersection between critical media studies and film studies. Not a historical overview, but rather current discussions in these areas contextualized with relevant readings in classical film and media theory.
MIMS 8003 - Historiography of the Moving Image
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Spring
Genealogies of the moving image. "Crisis" of film in debates about "old" and "new" media; Hollywood's role in defining commercial and oppositional forms of moving images; approaches to the writing of history in relation to media historiography.
HIST 5960 - Topics in History
Credits: 1.0 -4.0 [max 16.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Selected topics in history not covered in regular courses. Taught as staffing permits. prereq: [advanced undergrad with instr consent]
HIST 8960 - Topics in History
Credits: 1.0 -4.0 [max 20.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Topics not covered in regular courses.
ARTH 8710 - Seminar: Islamic Art
Credits: 3.0 [max 12.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
Focus depends on current research interests of the professor and needs and interests of graduate students in Islamic and Asian art history. prereq: instr consent
ARTH 8720 - Seminar:East Asian Art
Credits: 3.0 [max 12.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
Research focuses on closely defined topic, such as a short period of Chinese art, a restricted subject, or role of a single artist. A substantive research paper is required and participation in the seminar dialogue is expected. prereq: instr consent
ARTH 8950 - Seminar: Issues in the History of Art
Credits: 3.0 [max 12.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
Theoretical or topical issues. Topics vary. prereq: 3 cr art history, instr consent
GWSS 5490 - Topics: Political Economy and Global Studies
Credits: 3.0 [max 12.0]
Typically offered: Every Spring
Topics specified in Class Schedule.
ANTH 5980 - Topics in Anthropology
Credits: 3.0 [max 6.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall, Spring & Summer
Topics specified in Class Schedule.
ANTH 8810 - Topics in Sociocultural Anthropology
Credits: 3.0 [max 9.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Seminar examines particular aspects of method and/or theory. Topics vary according to student and faculty interests.