This paper traces some of the historical background of Asian studies programs in American universities and outlines various ways that Asian studies has functioned up to the present. It sketches a new role for Asian studies and suggests how language departments can help develop this role. (Author/CFM)

Unlike modern foreign languages, but like English and Biblical Hebrew, the Graeco-Roman tradition constitutes a major component of the cultural identity of every native speaker of English, and, as such, should be a mandatory part of every American's intellectual luggage. Because of the academy's relectance to face the fact that our active…