Interdepartmental Programs
Southeast Asian Studies Major and Minor
About Southeast Asian Studies
Introduction to the Southeast Asian Studies IDP.
The Southeast Asian Studies Major and Minor includes the study of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, and East Timor.
The program approaches Southeast Asia as a region with deep local particularities and trans-regional engagements. Historically, the people of Southeast Asia have been engaged with each other as well as with India and China, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas and within global contexts of economics, politics, migration, and communications. The study of the region speaks powerfully to critical issues across many disciplines, addressing major concerns in the humanities, social sciences, arts, business, the professions, government policy and international affairs.
Southeast Asian Studies Major
The Southeast Asian Studies major program is designed for students who wish to combine intensive study of this important region with focused disciplinary work that will allow them to engage in comparative analysis. Students who complete this major will have attained a wide range of useful skills including language training, critical thinking abilities, and a much stronger sense of complex global issues. The major strongly encourages students to study abroad at the several EAP sites in Southeast Asia including Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand. This coursework and the field experience help to round out the Southeast Asian Studies major program and help to prepare the student for advanced academic work relating to the region, or careers in international development, NGO work, or a range of other options.
Southeast Asian Studies Minor
The Southeast Asian Studies Minor is for students with other academic interests, but who are seeking to add another dimension to their academic study at UCLA. The minor can serve as a useful complement to another degree by providing students with additional language background, the possibility for study abroad, and greater knowledge of the region. The minor is a good way to apply methods or ways of thinking from one’s major to a particular part of the world, and can allow students to use the region as a case study for work in their primary discipline.
Academic Counseling & Contact Information
New Chair Maps Plan for Southeast Asian Studies IDP
Historian George Dutton discusses UCLA's Interdepartmental Degree Program (IDP) in Southeast Asian Studies. Read more »