[KS] Does "the Orient"...? 1 vote for "Asian Studies"

[Kenneth G. Corwin]

Hello fellow listmembers.  Re:  thoughts on what
to name the department which specializes in
studying things and people from Asia:

"Asian Studies" is clear and specific.  "Oriental
Studies" is understood based on varying
interpretations of the term "oriental", from
"anything east of the Tigris" to "those people
who look Chinese" to "whoever Queen Victoria said
wasn't occidental".

It may seem simplistic, but imagine, if you will,
a secondary school student deciding what to focus
on in university.  "I've always found Cambodia
intriguing," she thinks,  "but this school only
has an Oriental Studies program.  I have no
interest in Turkey.  I guess I'll seek my college
education elsewhere."  (An ivory tower type might
smugly say, "What school wants a knucklehead like
that?"  To which I would reply, "It is your job
to teach the knuckleheads and correct their
knuckleheaded ways.")

At New York University (10 years ago, anyway),
the opposite story took place.  There was an
undergraduate class offered called "Orientalism":
 it was a study of the Near East and its
influence on Western culture from the
Enlightenment through World War I.  Apparently,
many students were disappointed, having taken the
class because they thought it would be a survey
of Northeast Asian and/or Southeast Asian
countries and cultures.

I would suggest that the use of the term "Asian
Studies" would be preferable as it is both
accurate and widely encompassing.  There is
little doubt as to whether one is talking about
something originating in the Asian landmass or
its surrounding archipelagoes when one says
"Asian Studies".  

On the other hand, as this ongoing discussion
makes evident, the term "Oriental Studies" is
subjective and therefore open to
misinterpretation, and even insulting in some
countries.

This, of course, reflects my own value system of
preference for clear and accurate descriptions of
university departments.

Sincerely,
Ken Corwin
New York City