The primary fields of study covered in the department are the languages, history, religions, and other aspects of the cultures of Central Eurasia, particularly of the Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Uzbek peoples. Students may count most of the department's courses toward such specific requirements of the B.A. degree as distribution in arts and humanities or social and historical studies, culture studies, and foreign language. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required in all courses taken for the certificate.
Topic varies each semester.
May be repeated twice for credit. SHSI Uralic peoples in central, northern, and eastern Europe and Siberia. Their history, social organization, traditional economy, literature, folklore, and sociolinguistic patterns. Survey of the ecology of the area including Siberia, the Far East, the former Soviet Central Asian republics, Mongolia, and Northern China, examining the socio-economic influences on the environment and the reasons for and consequences of catastrophic ecological situations in these regions. AHTI Explores some of the historical and doctrinal developments in Buddhism between the borderlands of India and China.