MAGNOLIA, Ark. — Asia, home to many of the world’s earliest civilizations is the same place that produces 70 percent of Wal-Mart goods and is a key location for North American business opportunities.
Those interested in taking advantage of an opportunity to learn more about Asia can do so beginning this spring at Southern Arkansas University, the only university in this region offering this minor.
This spring Asian Studies will offer three courses, Chinese 1013: Mandarin Chinese II (MW 3:40-5:00) History 3173: Modern South Asia (MWF 10:00), and English 3213: South Asian Literature (MW 2:10-3:30).
Dr. Charles Keller, who will be teaching the Modern South Asian course, said this minor stands to benefit students whose interests range from business, history, literature, language and culture.
“If someone has an Asian Studies Minor, that makes them a more attractive candidate for any kind of job,” Keller said. “That is the dollars and cents side of education. The other side of education, and what it really needs to be about, is offering the opportunity to develop a person’s intellectual capabilities.”
“To be ignorant of one sixth of the world’s population means you are not fully developed intellectually,” Keller said. “If you want to be truly educated, this is a minor you should take.”
Keller, a native of Henryetta, Okla., said he originally became interested in studying Asia while taking an introductory course in China and Japan at what was then Tulsa Junior College. And although his professor at the time seemed burnt out with his career choice, the material inspired Keller to begin on a path that would eventually lead him to receive his doctorate in East Asia studies. He is now able to teach about a place that continues to fascinate him, and to which he continues to travel frequently.
Keller, who worked in his father’s construction business before beginning college said people who knew him when he was growing up did find it odd that someone with his background chose to take a break and move to Taiwan for a year to study Chinese language and culture as he pursued his higher education.
“It was like going to another planet for someone from Oklahoma and people I knew wondered what this redneck construction worker was up to,” he said.
Although his courses examine Asian history and culture, Keller strongly believes the cornerstone of any study of other countries is the study of the language.
Dr. Juping Wang’s courses in Mandarin Chinese will concentrate on developing students’ proficiency in listening, reading, writing, and speaking Chinese.
Wang, a native of Datong, Shanxi Province, China, choose to study Spanish and English while living in Asia and said she never imagined she would one day move to the United States and teach Spanish and Chinese. Although students may not be as familiar with hearing Chinese as they are Spanish, the upside to the study of the language is the lack of verb conjugation required, she said.
Wang said she doesn’t know if she agrees with Keller that China will one day surpass the United States as a super power, but the importance of learning about the culture is important nonetheless, she said.
“It doesn’t matter if people like it or not, the close interaction between China and the United States makes us more and more interdependent,” Wang said.
Professor Russ Chace will also offer a course which is part of the minor. Chace’s course is in South Asian Literature and investigates the development of Indian literature from the late nineteenth century to 1960 in the context of British representations of, and imperialism in, India.
Keller and Chase are pleased to be offering courses in the same semester that will allow the student to explore India from the complementary perspectives of history and literature. These courses will count toward the minor when it becomes official in the fall of 2008.
Requirements for the minor include six hours of Chinese (Chinese 1003: Mandarin Chinese I and Chinese 1013: Mandarin Chinese II) and twelve upper-level hours chosen from courses in business, history, and literature.
Interested students should contact Wang at 870-235-5069, jwang@saumag.edu) or Keller at 870-235-4232 at cakeller@saumage.edu for further information.
