Course Requirements
An interdisciplinary understanding of transnational Asia can help build a sense of broad trends and ideas from many different perspectives. When students apply for an Advanced Certificate in Transnational Asia, they will work with the Asian Studies Center advisor to choose an appropriate theme. Students will, for their remaining semesters, take a minimum of five courses (15 credits) approved by the Asian Studies Academic Advisor to fit around the theme. Popular themes include: Asian Diaspora Studies (including Asian American Studies), Asian Public Health, Transnational Asian Popular Culture, Transnational Supply Chains, and many others. Thus, students seeking the Certificate of Advanced Transnational Asia must fulfill the following requirements:
A minimum of five upper-level courses or graduate seminars dealing with the mentioned theme, in at least two departments. The five courses must include one seminar outside the student’s major department.
Graduate students should complete a minimum of 6 unique credits of coursework. In other words, at least six credits of the coursework used to complete the requirements of any graduate-level certificate in UCIS must be in addition to the credits used to complete the student’s primary degree program. In consultation with the academic advisor, students may fulfill these standards through one of the following options:
o Students may contextualize non-credit-bearing internships required in various graduate degree programs as credit-bearing experiences for UCIS certificate programs. Prior approval must be received from the academic advisor to pursue this option.
o Students who can add content courses without affecting their tuition bill will be encouraged to do so.
o Students exempt from the language requirement because of previous coursework or heritage language skills may use language course credits towards the requirement for “additional work beyond the graduate degree.”
The six credits may be comprised of the following combinations:
o Two language courses (*see notes below)
o A language course (*see notes below) and a content course
o Two content courses
* Language courses may be used in the following circumstances:
For certificate programs that require three years of language proficiency, students may count language courses in the third year (i.e., grammar, conversation, and courses taught in the target language) that are above the intermediate level.
For students in any certificate program who are exempt from the language requirement due to previous coursework or as heritage speakers, the introductory courses in a second language (either LCTLs or a commonly taught language with a clear and stated relevance to their research or professional goals) will count.
For students completing two graduate-level UCIS certificates, at least nine credits of the coursework used to complete the certificate requirements must be in addition to the credits used to complete the student’s primary degree program. At least three of these credits must be in content coursework. All nine cannot be language course credits.
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Language Proficiency Requirements
Demonstrate proficiency in reading and speaking approved Asian language(s) related to the chosen theme. Students must complete one of the two language tracks to earn the Advanced Transnational Asia Certificate:
Track A: Proficiency in an Asian Language equivalent to three years of college courses, relevant to the certificate theme. This can be fulfilled by 6 semesters of college language courses or proficiency proven via examination.
Track B: Proficiency in an Asian Language equivalent to two years of college courses and proficiency equivalent to one year in a comparative language relevant to the certificate theme. This requirement can be fulfilled by coursework at the college level, university language management,
and/or proficiency proven via examination.
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Capstone: Research Paper, Presentation, or Project
· Students must submit a significant research paper, project, or presentation to represent their work in the theme mentioned above in the previous section. Papers must demonstrate engagement with issues, regional concerns, and/ or languages of that theme. They can be used to complete departmental requirements for a graduate degree and the certificate, but it must include research using the student’s approved Asian language. Students should consult with the advisor for Asian Studies about questions regarding the research paper, presentation, or project.
· GSPIA option: Students enrolled in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) may fulfill a more targeted set of requirements for their program. For details, visit http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/asc/academics/certificate-program/graduate-certificate-program
· GPA requirement is 3.0 for all courses to be counted towards the Asian Studies Certificate.
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Financial Assistance
Asian Studies Certificate Students are eligible for various scholarships, grants, and fellowships for research, conference presentations, language learning, and tuition replacement. For information, visit https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/asc/students/grad-funding
