The Asian Studies Program

Asia—Confluence of Past, Present, and Future

The Asian Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University offers students a fascinating journey into the world’s most populous continent and an in-depth engagement with its rich and captivating cultures. Asia’s multiple cultures preserve ancient heritages, while their rapidly growing economies and global markets have a profound impact on the present and future of us all.

Our curriculum delves deeply into vast and varied topics, focusing on China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia, exploring their respective cultures, literature, languages, and history alongside politics, economics, law, and international relations. Our students major in one of three Asiatic languages—Chinese, Japanese, or Korean—and participate in a unique academic experience through which they gain the entire skill set required to engage in research or develop careers specializing in the most influential countries in the global economy and politics.

Your Home in Asia

Established in 2008, the Asian Studies Program, with its close-knit intellectual community of acclaimed scholars and ambitious students, is today one of Bar-Ilan University’s most popular programs. Our program presents a blend of novel courses that provide knowledge and practical tools relevant to the competitive job market, while including new teaching initiatives and social activities that enrich the student experience.

Alongside Japanese calligraphy workshops and lectures about Japanese anima, K-pop (Korean popular music), and cultural diplomacy, our students also collaborate with their fellow Asian students, participate in Korean cultural events and benefit from many other instructive and interesting workshops and courses. For example, the workshop on Law and Business with China enriches students’ knowledge and understanding of government, economy, and cultural relations within China, as well as in the context of China–Israel relations. The course on Korean Business Culture, which focuses on the social, economic, legal, and political factors that built the Korean economy, aims to provide a better understanding of the complexity of the players, including the ability to analyze transactions that take place in this arena. Our department offers a limited number of excellence scholarships for students specializing in Korea. And the Law and Business in Japan course exposes students to the distinctive Japanese business culture and its legal contexts. The course equips them with the primary practical tools to avoid legal disputes whenever possible, and strategies that enable damage control and the rehabilitation of the relations in cases of unavoidable disputes.

We also offer an exclusive combined Asia and Law track open to law students starting from the second year of their undergraduate studies. This track is designed to deepen students’ knowledge of topics at the interface of both fields and to grant them the solid foundation they need to take up positions in this field in local and international markets.

Our graduates hold respected positions in the private and business sectors, serving as diplomats, Foreign Ministry envoys, and civil servants in other governmental ministries. Many engage in journalism and broadcast media as spokespersons and publishers, while others develop careers in the judiciary system, capital markets, industry, and in major international companies.