Japanese Minor

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The Japanese minor at Cal Poly prepares students from all majors for a variety of international experiences, which include our exchanges with Japanese universities, our study abroad programs and internships in Japan, and affords lifelong membership in the community of those who have learned more than one language. Japanese is spoken by more than 120 million people in Asia and by a large number of speakers in the U.S., our own local area having significant Japanese heritage and an active community. Students develop linguistic and critical-thinking skills in our required courses, which are focused on language as one of many important cultural phenomena. Elective courses emphasize an exploration of diverse cross-cultural issues, especially as they relate to technology and identity, giving students an opportunity to understand Japanese language and culture in wider disciplinary contexts. Students preparing for the minor should take JPNS 1101 and JPNS 1102, or equivalent to fulfill the prerequisites for the required courses in the minor.

Minor Requirements and Curriculum

• At least half of the units must be from upper-division courses (3000-4000 level).
• At least half of the units must be taken at Cal Poly (in residence). For the Chinese, French, German, Italian Studies, Japanese, and Spanish minors, the requirement for students studying abroad is that at least one-third of the units must be taken at Cal Poly.
• No more than one-third of the units will be taken with credit-no credit grading (CR/NC), not counting courses with mandatory CR/NC. Departments may further limit CR/NC grading if desired.
• A minimum 2.0 GPA is required in all units counted for completion of the minor.

¹

Applicable to the minor when course subtitle content is relevant to Japanese.

²

Enrollment in this course requires approval of the instructor and department chair.