Courses of Study 2022-2023 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Courses of Study 2022-2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

China and Asia-Pacific Studies


In the College of Arts and Sciences .

 


Course Offerings  

The Brittany and Adam J. Levinson China and Asia–Pacific Studies Program (CAPS) offers a unique approach to the study of contemporary China, through a set of courses on China’s language, history, politics, economy, society, and foreign relations, and by providing students with experience both on- and off-campus, including three years in Ithaca, one optional semester in Washington, D.C., and one required semester in Beijing.

Website: caps.cornell.edu

Faculty


A. Carlson, director, N. Admussen, P. Barwick, D. Chang, S. Divo, Y. Du, E. Friedman, T. J. Hinrichs, P. Katzenstein, R. McNeal, D. Silbey, J. Wallace, D. X. Warner, C. Watson, J. Weiss, X. Xu, X. Yu. Affiliated faculty: M. Evangelista, M. Fiskesjo, S. Kuruvilla, V. Nee, A. Pan, E. Tagliacozzo

The Major:


There are no prerequisites to the major. Upon enrollment in the program, CAPS majors must complete six or seven required CAPS courses and two elective CAPS courses (total 30-36 credits) with a grade average of C or better. In addition, majors must achieve the 3000-level Chinese language proficiency (see “Chinese Language Courses” below).

Note: In addition to the major requirements outlined below, all students must meet the college graduation requirements .

One CAPS gateway course:


CAPS majors must take any one of the following courses (taught in Ithaca) normally during the first two years:

Other required courses:


 CAPS majors must complete the following required courses:

For students opting out of the D.C. semester, they will be required to take the following courses offered in Ithaca as replacement:


Any two of the following courses:

and

  • One additional 4000-level seminar (in any department or college that has a China focus, subject of approval by the CAPS Program Manager, Ithaca)

Note: For students interested in opting out of the D.C. semester, please schedule a meeting with the Program Manager, Xu Xin, xx12@cornell.edu.

Two CAPS elective courses are also required:


Please visit the CAPS website for courses normally used to fulfill CAPS elective requirements (caps.cornell.edu/academics/CAPS-major-requirements.cfm) and courses currently being offered (caps.cornell.edu/courses.cfm). Also see the CAPS course offerings on the webpage. CAPS majors may choose any two CAPS courses to fulfill the CAPS elective requirement.

Chinese Language Courses:


CAPS majors are required to complete three years of college-level Chinese language courses (CHIN 1000-level through 3000-level) and acquire the high-intermediate Chinese proficiency or higher upon graduation.

Native speakers holding regular high school diplomas from Chinese mainland or Taiwan (i.e., not international schools) may be exempted from the CAPS Chinese language requirement, per the discretion of Cornell’s Chinese language faculty and the approval of CAPS administrator. Alternatively, students may be exempted through placement testing, at the discretion of Cornell Chinese language faculty and the approval of CAPS administrator.

See caps.cornell.edu/chinese-language-requirements regarding the CAPS Chinese language course sequencing.

Internships:


CAPS majors hold internships in governments, businesses, the media, think tanks, and other organizations during their time in Washington, D.C. and in Beijing (for internships in China, CAPS majors have the option to do an internship either in the summer or in the fall). No academic credits are granted for internships. Yet they may combine their internship experience with Independent Study. Majors are encouraged to coordinate their two internship experiences.

Honors:


CAPS majors are encouraged to complete an honors thesis when possible. Honors in CAPS are awarded for excellence in the major. Honors candidates must complete the following two honors tutorials while writing an honors thesis:

See caps.cornell.edu/academics/honors.cfm regarding the CAPS Honors Program.

The Minor:


The CAPS minor is open to undergraduate students enrolled in any of the seven Cornell undergraduate colleges.

Course Requirements:


To complete the CAPS Minor, students need to complete at least 18 credits of coursework in China and Asia-Pacific Studies, including one of the CAPS gateway courses (CAPS 3049 , CAPS 3827 , or CAPS 3967 ) and four more courses. At least two of these courses need to be chosen from the list of CAPS core courses (the required courses offered in Ithaca, DC, or Beijing), and the remaining two may be electives, generally to be chosen from the list of CAPS recommended courses (including the courses offered by the School of International Studies at Peking University in China), in consultation with the advisor. One of these electives will usually be a Chinese language course.

The CAPS course offerings are posted on the Arts and Sciences Course Roster and CAPS website (caps.cornell.edu). The list of electives, which is regularly updated, is intended to be representative but not exhaustive.

A minimum grade of C must be received for all courses counted towards the Minor. All courses used to fulfill the Minor requirements, including language courses, must be taken for a letter grade.

Language Requirements:


All CAPS minors need to complete the equivalent of second-year Chinese, or, if they place beyond the second year, then must complete any single Chinese language course at a higher level (for advanced students this may be a literature or special topics class in Chinese).

Off-campus Opportunities:


Students in the Minor may be considered for one of the off-campus semesters (CAPS in D.C. or CAPS in Beijing) if space is available in the program, AND if they place into the language level appropriate for that semester’s CAPS Chinese courses (2000 level for Beijing). Students who are interested in either of CAPS off-campus semesters must make an appointment to see the Program Manager for consultation.