History of Asian Studies
Bartlett Hall, where the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures was housed until 2015.
Some of the earliest Asian studies classes at the College were language based. According to a 1982 Asian Studies Program Report, Chinese language courses have been taught since the early 20th century, being removed and added numerous times until the early 1960’s, when Chinese language instruction was offered as a continuous course program that still exists today. Even Japanese was sporadically taught, with the first known classes being instructed in 1905. Then in 1974, "a separate, degree-granting Asian Studies Program" was offered for the first time. At the time, there were only around thirty classes offered to students that were all housed in different departments, a similar structure to today's ASCL program. Interestingly, the program once offered three distinct majors: Chinese Language and Culture (a language-based major), South Asian Studies (a non-language regional major), and Modern Asian Development (a non-language topical major). Such major choices do not exist today.
"In 1974 the faculty of Dartmouth College voted to establish a separate, degree-granting Asian Studies Program (ASP)."
Pamphlet titled "Asian Studies at Dartmouth”
Yonsei University, a private research univeristy in Seoul, South Korea with which Dartmouth College maintains an language and general study exchange program.
The Asian Studies Program was met with ambivalent responses. According to a document entitled “Memorandum to the Executive Committee of the Faculty,” "The Committee on Instruction recommends that the Asian Studies Program be continued for a five-year period” in spite of the fact that the number of Asian studies majors was incredibly low at 4 to 5 per year between 1974 and 1979. While documents suggest that the majors were not necessarily popular nor successful, their importance should not be undermined by this fact alone as many students take meaningful and fulfilling courses in departments outside their major, as the courses themselves attracted 450 students annually during this time period. Nevertheless, it seemed the institutionalization of the Asian studies major was not supported by students' major choices, but was still deemed important by students and faculty.
"The relationship between Asian languages and the Program should be explored. Opportunities for students to study other Asian languages at established centers run by other institutions either abroad or in the United States should be investigated."
Memorandum to: Executive Committee of the Faculty (late 70's)
In 1995, Dartmouth College created a new department known as the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures (DAMELL). This department housed languages and various other studies relating to Asian and Middle Eastern cultures successfully until 2015, when an amicable split resulted in two separate programs: the Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages Program (ASCL) and the Middle Eastern Studies Program (MES). Plans to return Asian studies to department status are planned for Spring 2023.