New Approach to Asia Studies

　Area Studies is an interdisciplinary field whose primary focus is globalization, including the social, political, economic, natural, and cultural relationships that exist within and extend beyond the boundaries of nation-states. Area Studies explores issues that increasingly affect all societies, such as the following:

• rapid and far-reaching environmental and technological changes
• the proliferation and impacts of communication media and other technologies
• transnational economic interactions, including trade, capital, and labor flows
• processes of cultural, social, economic, religious, and linguistic homogenization and differentiation
• diaspora and transnational migratory movements and processes
• the health and environmental consequences of transnational political, economic, and social processes

　A central goal of Area Studies is to develop cross-border and holist ic perspectives on global interconnections and interdependencies. Meanwhile, this academic field is also developing an appreciation of how globalization processes affect and express themselves in particular regions and localities, primarily through case studies, advanced language and literature study, and optional, but highly recommended, studies abroad.