Our interdisciplinary program utilizes faculty from existing departments in the Colleges of Arts Sciences and Commerce & Business Administration to offer Majors and Minors to students in every division of the University. The basic requirements include study of an Asian language and two broadly based courses: History of Asian Civilizations (HY 243) and The History of Modern Asia (HY 244). These courses are considered essential for developing a foundational understanding of Asia.

Since 1989 the Asian Studies Program has gradually expanded its faculty and curricular offerings. In 1992 we received a Faculty Enhancement grant from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation that brought us a tenure-track position in the field of Asian Art History. The University Provost, Dr. Nancy Barrett, in 1997 granted Asian Studies a new tenure-track position to be housed in the Department of Religious Studies. More recently we have added an Asianist faculty position in the Department of Geography.

Several study abroad connections are linked with ASST. Our oldest association is with Pusan National University in the Republic of Korea. Since 1976 we have sent over thirty-five students to study on their campus. In Japan we have relations with Chiba University, the Kansai International University, The Nagoya Institute of Technology, and more recently Hiroshima University. In Taiwan our exchange relationships have included Tunghai University and Feng Chia University. In Mainland China we have worked with a consortium of nine Universities, Colleges and Institutes in Guizhou Province through the auspices of the Guizhou Commission of Science & Technology and Guizhou Provincial Education Commission.

We have worked closely with Asian specialists at neighboring colleges and universities to promote Asian studies in Alabama and throughout our region.