Assuming a student has a couple of common East Asian languages under his belt, these are graduate level programs and the folks going after the degrees already have jobs that put them in close contact with East Asian people who may or may not also speak English, but who live in those countries and do business with the United States.
So why is Brewer down on Asian studies? Does she imagine Asia will disappear from American trade interests?
I certainly hope she doesn't imagine Asian Studies to be something like Women's studies where all a guy needs to do to find out all about that is go on a hot date eh!
There’s an actual demand for East Asian Studies majors since there’s an economic interest in, and return from, that region and those cultures. Along those lines, I would think that perhaps African Studies majors would have more of a demand than Black Studies. As mentioned earlier, the latter and others like it are just about grievances, not education or investment.
“So why is Brewer down on Asian studies?”
Pull your head out.
The LAW she signed in 2010 “...prohibits classes that advocate ethnic solidarity, that are designed primarily for students of a particular race or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group. It also prohibits classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.”
Arizona is now threatening the universities with the same policy. Oh my!
Point is, your ”emphasis” should be tied into something that has a reasonable chance at getting you a job, such as finance, economics, history or law.