Course Requirements: Regional Studies
The requirements for students majoring in Regional Studies are as follows:
- Two courses from the RCST Theories and Methods list
- Eight region-specific courses from one of the regions numbered One through Six. (Please note that the United States and Australia/NZ/Pacific may not constitute a free-standing region for the major.);
- At least four semesters of study, or a passing rating on the SFS proficiency examination, in a modern language appropriate to the region.
Exceptions
Please note: all courses for the major must be chosen from the list of approved courses for Regional and Comparative Studies posted on this website. Exceptions may be made only with the approval of the faculty mentor and the curricular dean.
Special Exceptions to the regular eight-course rules:
- Students may propose an alternative definition of a world region if that region's definition has an intellectual validity and a compelling claim can be made that it cannot be studied well via one or two of the standard regions listed below. Among possible candidates might be "The Islamic World," "The (Trans-)Atlantic World," "Pacific Rim Studies," and "Peoples (or Nations) of the African Diaspora," all of which are the subjects of contemporary scholarly work. All eight courses to fulfill such a concentration must be proposed by special petition and approved by the Field Chair independently of any region-specific listings below.
- Students may not choose "the United States" or "Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific" for their single regional concentration but only as one of the two regions for a major in Comparative Studies.
