Area studies (also known as regional studies) are

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

fields of research and scholarship pertaining to particular

geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

al/

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

, or

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what are, in the practice of scholarship, many heterogeneous fields of research, encompassing both the

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s and the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

. Typical area study programs involve

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

, strategic studies,

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, and other related disciplines. In contrast to cultural studies, area studies often include

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

and

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

from the area.

History

Interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

area studies became increasingly common in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and in Western scholarship after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Before that war American universities had just a few faculty who taught or conducted research on the non-Western world. Foreign-area studies were virtually nonexistent. After the war, liberals and conservatives alike were concerned about the US ability to respond effectively to perceived external threats from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in the context of the emerging

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, as well as to the fall-out from the

decolonization of Africa The decolonisation of Africa was a process that took place in the Scramble for Africa, mid-to-late 1950s to 1975 during the Cold War, with radical government changes on the continent as Colonialism, colonial governments made the transition to So ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. In this context, the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

, and the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

convened a series of meetings producing a broad consensus that to address this knowledge deficit, the US must invest in international studies. Therefore, the foundations of the field are strongly rooted in America. Participants argued that a large brain trust of internationally oriented

political scientists This is a list of notable political scientists. See the list of political theorists for those who study political theory. See also political science. A * Robert Abelson - Yale University psychologist and political scientist with special int ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

s was an urgent national priority. There was a central tension, however, between those who felt strongly that, instead of applying Western models, social scientists should develop culturally and historically contextualized knowledge of various parts of the world by working closely with humanists, and those who thought social scientists should seek to develop overarching macrohistorial theories that could draw connections between patterns of change and development across different geographies. The former became area-studies advocates, the latter proponents of

modernization theory Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...

. The Ford Foundation would eventually become the dominant player in shaping the area-studies program in the United States. In 1950 the foundation established the prestigious Foreign Area Fellowship Program (FAFP), the first large-scale national competition in support of area-studies training in the United States. From 1953 to 1966 it contributed $270 million to 34 universities for area and language studies. Also during this period, it poured millions of dollars into the committees run jointly by the

Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a he ...

and the

American Council of Learned Societies American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

for field-development workshops, conferences, and publication programs. Eventually, the SSRC-ACLS joint committees would take over the administration of FAFP. Other large and important programs followed Ford's. Most notably, the National Defense Education Act of 1957, renamed the Higher Education Act in 1965, allocated funding for some 125 university-based area-studies units known as

National Resource Center The National Resource Center (NRC) Program of the U.S. Department of Education provides funding grants to American universities to establish, strengthen, and operate language and area or international studies centers that will be national resources ...

programs at U.S. universities, as well as for Foreign Language and Area Studies scholarships for undergraduate students and fellowships for graduate students. Meanwhile, area studies were also developed in the Soviet Union.

Controversy within the field

Since their inception, area studies have been subject to criticism—including by area specialists themselves. Many of them alleged that because area studies were connected to the

agendas of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, and other intelligence and military agencies, participating in such programs was tantamount to serving as an agent of the state. Some argue that there is the notion that US concerns and research priorities will define the intellectual terrain of area studies. Others insisted, however, that once they were established on university campuses, area studies began to encompass a much broader and deeper intellectual agenda than the one foreseen by government agencies, thus not American centric. Arguably, one of the greatest threats to the area studies project was the rise of

rational choice theory Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour. The theory originated in the eighteenth century and can be traced back to political economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. The theory postula ...

in political science and economics. To mock one of the most outspoken rational choice theory critics, Japan scholar

Chalmers Johnson Chalmers Ashby Johnson (August 6, 1931 – November 20, 2010) was an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics, and professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. He served in the Korean War, was a consult ...

asked: Why do you need to know Japanese or anything about Japan's history and culture if the methods of rational choice will explain why Japanese politicians and bureaucrats do the things they do? Following the demise of the

, philanthropic foundations and scientific bureaucracies moved to attenuate their support for area studies, emphasizing instead interregional themes like "development and democracy". When the

and the

, which had long served as the national

nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and Border control#Expedited border controls, expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members ...

for raising and administering funds for area studies, underwent their first major restructuring in thirty years, closing down their area committees, scholars interpreted this as a massive signal about the changing research environment.

Fields

Fields are defined differently from university to university, and from department to department, but common area-studies fields include: *

African studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's history (pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial), demography ...

** North African studies *** Berber studies (Berberology) *

Asian studies Asian studies is the term used usually in North America and Australia for what in Europe is known as Oriental studies. The field is concerned with the Asian people, their cultures, languages, history and politics. Within the Asian sphere, Asian ...

Central Asian studies Central Asian studies is the discipline of studying the culture, history, and languages of Central Asia. The roots of Central Asian studies as a social science discipline goes to 19th century Anglo-Russian Great Game. During the 19th century, Centr ...

(see also Turkish studies) ***

Mongolian studies Mongolian studies is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarly inquiry concerning Mongolian language, Mongolian history, and Mongolian culture. Scholars who work in the field of Mongolian studies are often referred to as Mongolist ...

(also under East Asian studies) *** Tibetan studies (Tibetology, also under South Asian or East Asian studies) *** Uyghur studies (also under East Asian studies) **

East Asian studies East Asian studies is a distinct multidisciplinary field of scholarly enquiry and education that promotes a broad humanistic understanding of East Asia past and present. The field includes the study of the region's culture, written language, hist ...

***

Chinese studies Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, Chinese language, language, Chinese literature, literature, Chinese culture, culture and History of China, history and ...

(Sinology) **** Hong Kong studies **** Pekingology **** Taiwanese studies ***

Japanese studies Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese ...

(Japanology) **** Ainu studies **** Okinawan studies (Ryukyuan studies) ***

Korean studies Korean studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of Korea, which includes the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include Ko ...

(Koreanology) ****

North Korean studies North Korean studies is a sub-area of Korean studies. The number of researchers is comparatively small. The only fully dedicated institution to the study area is the University of North Korean Studies, Seoul, but many universities run undergraduat ...

***

Manchu studies Manchu studies or Manjuristics is an academic discipline concerned with the study of the Manchu language, the historical texts written in it during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), as well as by contemporary Manchu and Sibe people. The first treat ...

(Manchurology) *** Miao studies (also under Southeast Asian studies) ***

(also under Central Asian studies) *** Tibetan studies (Tibetology, also under Central Asian or South Asian studies) *** Uyghur studies (also under Central Asian studies) *** Yi studies (also under Southeast Asian studies) ***

Zhuang studies Zhuang studies (or Zhuangology; Standard Zhuang: Cuenghhag; ) is an interdisciplinary intellectual field concerned with the Zhuang people – their history, anthropology, religion, politics, Zhuang languages, languages, and literature. The maj ...

(Zhuangology, also under Southeast Asian studies) **

Middle Eastern studies Middle Eastern studies (sometimes referred to as Near Eastern studies) is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is gene ...

(Near Eastern studies) ***

Arab studies Arab studies or Arabic studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Arabs and Arab World. It consists of several disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, historiography, archaeology, cultural studies, economics, geog ...

***

Caucasology Caucasology, or Caucasiology refers to the historical and geopolitical studies of the Caucasus region. The branch has more than 150 years history. In 1972, the Caucasiological Center (renamed to International Caucasiological Center in 2000) was f ...

(Caucasiology, also under European studies) **** Abkhaz studies ****

Armenian studies Armenian studies or Armenology ( hy, հայագիտություն, ) is a field of humanities covering Armenian history, language and culture. The emergence of modern Armenian studies is associated with the foundation of the Catholic Mechitarist o ...

(Armenology) **** Chechen studies **** Dagestan studies ***** Avar studies ****

Georgian studies The Kartvelian studies ( ka, ქართველოლოგია) also referred as Kartvelology or Georgian studies is a field of humanities covering Kartvelian (Georgian) history, languages, religion and/or culture. In a narrower sense, the ...

(Kartvelian studies or Kartvelology) **** Ossetian studies ***

Iranian studies Iranian studies ( fa, ايران‌شناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...

(Iranology or Iranistics) ****

Persian studies Persian studies (Persian: مطالعات فارسی) is the study of the Persian language and its literature specifically. It is differentiated from Iranian studies which is a broader, more interdisciplinary subject that focuses more on the histo ...

**** Kurdology (Kurdish studies) ***

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...

(Judaic studies) ***

Turkish studies Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative conte ...

(Turkology or Turcology, see also Central Asian studies) ****

Ottoman studies Ottoman studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, costumes, religion, art, such as literature and music, science, economy, and politics of the Ottoman Empire. It is a sub-category of Oriental stu ...

**** Seljuk studies (Seljuq studies) **

South Asian studies Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is of ...

(Indology) ***

Bengali studies Bengal studies ( bn, বঙ্গবিদ্যা; ''Bangabidya'') is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the Bengali people, culture, language, literature, and history. The focus of this field, which qualifies as area st ...

***

Dravidian studies Dravidian studies (also Dravidology) is the academic field devoted to the Dravidian languages, literature, and Dravidian culture, culture. It is a superset of Tamil studies and a subset of South Asian studies. Early missionaries The 16th to 18t ...

(Dravidology) ***

Pakistan studies Pakistan studies curriculum (Urdu: ') is the name of a curriculum of academic research and study that encompasses the culture, demographics, geography, history, International Relations and politics of Pakistan. The subject is widely research ...

(Pakistanology) *** Sindhi studies (Sindhology) *** Tibetan studies (Tibetology, also under Central Asian or East Asian studies) **

Southeast Asian studies Southeast Asian studies (SEAS) refers to research and education on the language, culture, and history of the different states and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia. Some institutions refer to this discipline as ASEAN Studies since most of the countr ...

*** Burmese studies *** Indonesian studies *** Khmer studies *** Lao studies *** Miao studies (also under East Asian studies) ***

Philippine studies In general, Filipinology or Philippineology ( es, Filipinología) ( tl, Pilipinolohiya) or more formally known as Philippine studies refers to:

(Filipinology or Philippineology) ***

Thai studies Thai studies, a branch of Asian studies, is the multidisciplinary study of Thailand and the Thai peoples. It calls upon the academic disciplines of history, anthropology, religious studies, political science, Thai language, Thai literature, mus ...

***

Vietnamese studies Vietnamese studies (Việt Nam học) in general is the study of Vietnam and things related to Vietnam. It refers, especially, to the study of modern Vietnamese language, Vietnamese and literature, history, ethnology, and the philological approach ...

*** Yi studies (also under East Asian studies) ***

(Zhuangology, also under East Asian studies) *

European studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on current developments in European integration. Some programmes offer a social science or public administration curriculum focusing on develop ...

** Albanian studies (Albanology) ** Baltic studies (Baltic Sea Region studies) **

British studies British studies is the academic study of Britain — its culture, geography and history. Britain is significant as a topic because it was the location of the industrial revolution; the British Empire was large and influential in world histor ...

*** Anglo-Saxon studies *** Cornish studies (also under Celtic studies) *** Manx studies (also under Celtic studies) *** Scottish studies (also under Celtic studies) *** Welsh studies (also under Celtic studies) **

(Caucasiology, also under Middle Eastern studies) *** Abkhaz studies ***

Armenology Armenian studies or Armenology ( hy, հայագիտություն, ) is a field of humanities covering Armenian History of Armenia, history, Armenian language, language and Culture of Armenia, culture. The emergence of modern Armenian studies is as ...

(Armenian studies) *** Chechen studies *** Dagestan studies **** Avar studies ***

(Kartvelian studies or Kartvelology) *** Ossetian studies **

Celtic studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art histor ...

(Celtology) *** Breton studies *** Cornish studies (also under United Kingdom studies) *** Irish studies *** Manx studies (also under United Kingdom studies) *** Scottish studies (also under United Kingdom studies) *** Welsh studies (also under United Kingdom studies) **

Dutch studies Dutch studies may refer to: * the academic study of Dutch culture and language ('' Neerlandistiek'') * Japanese Rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge ...

( :nl:Neerlandistiek) ** Finnish studies **

German studies German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

(Germanistics or Germanics) *** Austrian studies **

Hellenic studies Hellenic studies (also Greek studies) is an interdisciplinary scholarly field that focuses on the language, literature, history and politics of post-classical Greece. In university, a wide range of courses expose students to viewpoints that help ...

***

Byzantine studies Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. T ...

(Byzantinology or Byzantology) **

Hungarian studies Hungarian studies is a field of study concerned with the Hungarian language, literature, ethnology, culture, history or society. According to the current philosophy of Hungarian Studies, all these terrains that used to be treated as separate disci ...

Romance studies Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...

(see also Latin American studies) ***

Aromanian studies Aromanian studies ( rup, Studii armãneshti) are an academic discipline centered on the study of the Aromanians. They are included within Balkan and Romance studies. Notable scholars on Aromanian topics include , Thede Kahl and Gustav Weigand. T ...

*** French studies **** Occitan studies *** Iberian studies (see also Latin American studies) **** Basque studies (part of Iberian studies, but not Romance studies) **** Catalan studies ****

Hispanism Hispanism (sometimes referred to as Hispanic studies or Spanish studies) is the study of the literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world, principally that of Spain and Hispanic America. It can also entail studying Spanish language and ...

(Hispanic studies or Spanish studies) **** Portuguese studies *** Italian studies *** Romanian studies **

Scandinavian studies Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining to ...

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was prim ...

(Slavonic studies or Slavistics) ***

Belarusian studies Belarusian studies ( be, Беларусазнаўства) is a field of research dedicated to Belarusian language, Belarusian literature, literature and Belarusian culture, culture. History Emergence of the field Research on the language, eth ...

(Belarusistics) *** Bosnian studies (Bosniacistics) *** Bulgarian studies (Bulgaristics) *** Croatian studies (Croatistics) ***

Czech studies Bohemistics, also known as Czech studies, is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates Czech language and literature in both its historic and present-day forms. The common Czech name for the field is ''bohemistika''. A res ...

(Bohemistics) ***

Macedonian studies Macedonian studies ( mk, Македонистика ''Makedonistika'') is a science that studies the Macedonian language. A person who studies Macedonian is called a Macedonian specialist (Macedonian: ''Македонист / Makedonist''). Prom ...

(Macedonistics) *** Montenegrin studies (Montenegristics) ***

Polish studies Polish studies, or Polonistics ( pl, filologia polska, or ''polonistyka'') is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates the Polish language and Polish literature in both historic and present-day forms. In the United State ...

(Polonistics) ***

Russian studies Russian studies is an interdisciplinary field crossing politics, history, culture, economics, and languages of Russia and its neighborhood, often grouped under Soviet and Communist studies. Russian studies should not be confused with the study of ...

**** Soviet and communist studies *****

Kremlinology Kremlinology is the study and analysis of the politics and policies of the Soviet Union while Sovietology is the study of politics and policies of both the Soviet Union and former communist states more generally. These two terms were synonymous unt ...

*** Rusyn studies (Rusynistics) ***

Serbian studies Serbian studies or Serbistics ( sr, Србистика / Srbistika) is an academic discipline within Slavic studies which is focused on the study of Serbian language, literature, history and culture. Within Slavic studies it belongs to the South ...

(Serbistics) *** Slovak studies (Slovakistics) *** Slovene studies (Slovenistics) ***

Ukrainian studies Ukrainian studies is an interdisciplinary field of research dedicated to Ukrainian language, literature, history and culture in a broad sense. Ukrainian studies outside Ukraine A number of research institutes outside of Ukraine focus on Ukrainia ...

(Ukrainistics) ***

Yugoslav studies Yugoslav studies or Yugoslavistics ( sh, Jugoslavistika; sl, Jugoslovanske študije; mk, Југословенски студии; sq, Studime Jugosllave; german: Jugoslawistik; la, Iugoslavistica) is an academic discipline within Slavic studi ...

(Yugoslavistics) * North and South American studies (Interamerican studies) **

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

(in the

this has traditionally referred primarily to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and especially the U.S.) ***

Appalachian studies Appalachian studies is the area studies field concerned with the Appalachian region of the United States. Scholarship Some of the first well-known Appalachian scholarship was done by Cratis D. Williams. His 1937 MA thesis in English from the Univ ...

*** Southern studies **

Canadian studies Canadian studies is an interdisciplinary field of undergraduate- and postgraduate-level study of Canadian culture and society, the languages of Canada, Canadian literature, media and communications, Quebec, Acadians, agriculture in Canada, natura ...

*** Québec studies (see also Latin American studies) ** Caribbean studies (see also Latin American studies) **

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, history ...

(see also Iberian studies, Romance studies, Caribbean studies, and Québec studies) *

Pacific studies Pacific studies is the study of the Pacific region (Oceania) across academic disciplines such as anthropology, archeology, art, economics, geography, history, linguistics, literature, music, politics, or sociology. In the fields of anthropology an ...

Australian studies Australian studies forms part of the academic field of cultural studies. It involves an examination of what constructs Australia's national identity. This area of scholarship traditionally involves the study of Australian history, society and cu ...

New Zealand studies New Zealand studies is the academic field of area studies of New Zealand. Subfields: *History of New Zealand *Literature of New Zealand * Politics of New Zealand *Economy of New Zealand *Culture of New Zealand Institutions in New Zealand: *Victo ...

Due to an increasing interest in studying translocal, transregional, transnational and transcontinental phenomena, a Potsdam-based research network has recently coined the term "TransArea Studies
(POINTS – Potsdam International Network for TransArea Studies)
Other interdisciplinary research fields such as

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

disability studies Disability studies is an academic discipline that examines the meaning, nature, and consequences of disability. Initially, the field focused on the division between "impairment" and "disability," where impairment was an impairment of an individual ...

LGBT studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the education of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, inter ...

, and

ethnic studies Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...

(including African American studies, Asian American studies,

Latino studies Latino studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Latin American ancestry in the United States. Closely related to other ethnic studies disciplines such as African-American studies, Asian American studies, and ...

Chicano studies Chicana/o studies, also known as Chican@ studies, originates from the Chicano Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, and is the study of the Chicana/o and Latina/o experience. Chican@ studies draws upon a variety of fields, including history, sociol ...

, and Native American studies) are not part of area studies but are sometimes included in discussion along with it. Area studies is sometimes known as regional studies. Th
Regional Studies Association
is an international association focusing on these interdisciplinary fields.

Institutions

Some entire institutions of higher education (tertiary education) are devoted solely to area studies such as

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

, part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, or the

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies. It also features an Asia-African institution. History The Uni ...

in Japan. At the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies (SIA

http://www.area-studies.ox.ac.uk/ School of Global and Area Studies, Oxford] and

St Antony's College St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

specialise in area studies, and hosts a number of post-graduate teaching programmes and research centres covering various regions of the world.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

, New Delhi, is the only institution with immense contribution towards popularising area studies in India. An institution which exclusively deals with Area Studies is the

GIGA Giga ( or ) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of a short-scale billion or long-scale milliard (109 or ). It has the symbol G. ''Giga'' is derived from the Greek word (''gígas''), meaning "giant". The ''Oxford English Dic ...

(German Institute for Global and Area Studies) in Germany. Additionally,

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Asian Studies
masters program in Northern Europe and is dedicated to promoting studies related to South Asia through it
SASNet

References

External links

*
Center for Interdisciplinary East and South - East Area Studies, Lund

School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, Oxford

Observatory of International Research (OOIR): Latest Papers and Trends in Area Studies
{{Authority control Four traditions of geography Ethnography Cultural anthropology Humanities