By Ronke Oyekunle
The University of Louisville is now offering a new minor in Chinese Studies through the Department of Classical and Modern Languages.
The minor “is designed for students interested in an interdisciplinary study of China combining coursework in Chinese language (through advanced intermediate (3 years)), Chinese Studies, and complementing these with electives from history, political science, and humanities,” said Dr. Joy Carew, an associate professor of Pan-African Studies and the assistant to the dean of Arts and Sciences for International Programming.
The minor will follow the same standards for minors in languages: at least 18 credit hours, not including the Elementary and Intermediate Chinese courses (101-102, 201-202). For now, a majority of the classes offered to complete the minor will be through the Department of Classical and Modern Languages under Chinese Language and Chinese Studies. The hope is that in the future, more departments will be able to have courses that will meet the requirements for the minor. As of right now, some courses are offered through the departments of history, political science, humanities and more. There are many other courses to choose from: for example, CHST 341 (Ethnicity and Religion in China) and all of these courses seem to be interactive, whether through discussion or by watching films.
Another aspect to the minor is that any major can take these courses, such as English, humanities, political science, etc., looking for a variety in their curriculum. It adds more spectrum to the classes offered at the university, allowing the students here at U of L a little more choice. For further advisement on the Chinese Studies minor, refer to the University of Louisville Undergraduate catalog for 2002-2003 and get in touch with Dr. Wendy Pfeffer, Department Chair of Classical and Modern Languages, located in the Humanities building room 326 or via e-mail pfeffer@louisville.edu, or call her at (502) 852-6686.
