Talk:Central Asian studies

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[edit] Against the merging of Central Asian studies into Asian studies

I understand why at first it would make sense to merge all studies concerning the continent of Asia into Asian studies, but in reality it would be a very poor idea. Asian studies typically refers to studies about East Asia, that is China, Korea and Japan. There is token representation in Asian studies departments outside of the realm of East Asia. Also, in the United States where many of the departments are located, people from Central Asia would not even be considered "Asian", which in the United States exclusively refers to people from East Asia. In Britain "Asian" refers to people from South Asia, which further complicates things. In these cases political correctness has trumped geographical correctness. The only serious research being conducted at universities in the West about Central Asia are departments that specifically refer to themselves as "Central Asian" or "Central Eurasian Studies", not Asian Studies. David Straub 04:02, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

• Concur with above opinion, and strenuously object to any such merge. The article may be a stub now, but it has just as much importance as any of the other Asian studies articles, and as such, just as much purpose to be stand-alone. Aelfthrytha 21:19, 26 September 2007 (UTC)