Asian American Studies Major

Students majoring in Asian American studies must complete 14 courses and an immersion project.

Students must also complete the Undergraduate Registration Requirement and the degree requirements of their home school.

NOTE: This Catalog describes Weinberg College BA requirements that pertain to students who matriculated at Northwestern after spring quarter 2023. Refer to the Archives if you are following BA requirements described in the 2018-2019 through 2022-2023 editions.

Course Title
Program Courses (12 units)
2 core courses chosen from:
Introduction to Asian American Studies
Introduction to Asian American History
Global Asians
Introduction to Asian American Literature
4 introductory electives 1
6 advanced electives 2
Related Courses (2 units)
2 Ethnic Studies courses in disciplines other than Asian American Studies that explicitly focus on race and ethnicity in the United States. Contact DUS for course approval and application toward your major requirement (it is not automatic). First-year seminar courses (including College Seminars and First-Year Writing Seminars) do not count toward the major.
1

All 200-level program courses (ASIAN_AM) count toward this requirement, but a course may not be counted toward both this requirement and the 2-course core.

2

All 300-level program courses (ASIAN_AM) count toward this requirement.

Immersion Project

The immersion project can either be: 1) an advanced research project proposed by the student; or 2) an in-depth community engagement project in the form of an internship or substantial volunteer work, and subsequent supervised reading and writing. Both require students to complete the Capstone Seminar before or during the senior year offered under the course number ASIAN_AM 392-0 . Students may additionally enroll in one or more  independent study courses with their project adviser to complete research and writingJuniors wishing to take the Capstone Seminar to develop a research project may be able repeat it for credit as seniors, with the expectation that they will further their work on the immersion project.

  • All immersion projects must be approved in advance by the DUS or major adviser.
  • No more than 2 units of credit earned through the immersion project may count toward the 14 units required for the major (note: this limit does not include ASIAN_AM 392-0).
  • Options for immersion projects are listed below. The first three options require a faculty mentor drawn from full-time program faculty (including affiliated faculty).
    • Senior thesis in Asian American Studies.
    • Independently proposed research project and paper.
    • Independently proposed internship at an Asian American community organization or other nonprofit whose work involves Asian American issues; must include a strong academic component with a research paper.
    • SESP 299-1 Civic Engagement Capstone Research, SESP 299-2 Certificate in Civic Engagement- Capstone Project related to Asian American communities and issues.
    • Study abroad courses on Asian diasporas with a research paper.
    • Chicago Field Studies in a field related to Asian American Studies with a research paper.

Honors in Asian American Studies

To qualify for honors, a student must demonstrate consistently high performance in the major and complete a major research project during the senior year, selecting a thesis adviser from among core and affiliated faculty. Students whose theses and grades meet program criteria are recommended to the college for graduation with honors. For more information see the director of undergraduate studies or program director.  Also see Honors in the Major.