Calvin College is the only evangelical Christian college or university that has an Asian Studies Program. The Asian Studies Program was formally established in 2001 as an academic administrative unit with the responsibility for encouraging and promoting the development of Asian studies courses and other resources and opportunities for students from any department

Professor Daniel H. Bays of the History department is director of the Asian Studies Program, and more than ten faculty are affiliated with the program.
The Asian languages program at Calvin is very strong and includes majors and minors in both Chinese and Japanese. (See Chinese and Japanese Language Programs) Students can pursue both Chinese and Japanese through the 4th-year level, and have available excellent study abroad opportunities as well. (See Off-campus Programs)

Calvin College offers a major in Asian Studies. The student may choose one of three different “tracks” or concentrations:
1. Chinese language concentration: minimum of 8 language courses and 4 culture courses, with at least one of the latter at the 300 level.
2. Japanese language concentration: minimum of 8 language courses and 4 culture courses, with at least one of the latter at the 300 level.
3. Area studies concentration: at least 4 language courses and 8 culture courses, with 3 of the latter at the 300 level. (See Asian Studies Major)
Currently there are about 30 students who are majoring in Asian Studies at Calvin, and 11 graduated in 2006. Many more have already graduated with the equivalent major under the option of an “interdisciplinary major”.

We also offer a minor in Asian Studies, with options of including or not including language training. (See Asian Studies Minor). Some students have already graduated with such a minor and we currently have over 20 students pursuing such a minor.

The main emphasis of the Asian studies resources at Calvin has been China and Japan, but we hope to develop further our contacts and course offering concerning Korea. We have recently established an exchange relationship with a Christian school in the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Handong University, and mutually beneficial exchanges of visits and faculty with Handong began in the 2001-2002 academic year and have continued.

Asian Studies has a resource room, North Hall 269, which is staffed by students from China and Japan. The room houses a large collection of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean movies and films on both DVD and VHS, which students and faculty may check out at any time. The room also holds a Chinese-language computer and other resources for both the Asian Studies academic program and for Asian students at Calvin.