South Asian Languages & Cultures
College of Arts & Sciences
The Department of Asian Languages and Literature offers an undergraduate major in South Asian Languages and Cultures. In this major, students develop their ability to read, write, and speak South Asian languages and combine these language skills with an understanding and appreciation of the literatures, cultures, religious traditions, and textual cultures associated with the languages. Students are encouraged to explore wider interests by taking courses in other units and to take advantage of numerous study abroad opportunities. A popular option for many undergraduates is to combine a major in South Asian languages and cultures with a second major from another department, such as Business Administration, International Studies, Biology, or Computer Science. Graduates of the department go on to a wide variety of careers, reflecting the indispensability of knowledge of Asian languages and cultures in our increasingly interconnected world.
Major category: Minimum requirements
Topic(s): Arts, Humanities and Design
websiteDegree requirements
Applicant type
Freshmen can apply to the UW to begin autumn quarter or winter quarter (U.S. applicants only)
Read more about applying to the UW as a freshman, including details for programs that provide high school students with college credit (like Running Start).
Quarters of general admission to UW: autumn / winter (U.S. applicants only) / spring / summer
Preparation for the major is a factor in transfer admission.
- Use the information below to help you prepare for this degree
- Visit MyPlan to run a degree audit.
- Use the UW Equivalency Guide to find out how courses taken at a Washington state community or technical college will transfer to the UW.
- UW college and school graduation requirements
Department admission information
Departmental application deadline: Must enroll at the UW before applying to the major.
Please contact the department for details about the application process.
A student entering the junior year without two years of the appropriate foreign language will not be able to complete the degree requirements in two years unless he or she takes accelerated courses at the UW during summer quarter.
Minimum of 2.5 cumulative GPA is required.
Read more about applying to the UW as a transfer student.
Courses required for the major:
- 20 credits in the language of primary concentration
- One writing (W-prefix) course in English, with minimum grade of 2.0
Entering transfer information:
Total undergraduates: 0
Total from Washington community colleges: 0