World Area Study Requirement
Global business is a reality. To be successful, business students must gain a deeper understanding of foreign languages, cultures and customs. That’s why the KU School of Business developed the World Area Study requirement. To satisfy the requirement, students must choose one of the following options.
Option 1: Foreign Language A student must complete through the fourth level (intermediate II) or beyond of a language or demonstrate proficiency in a language (as determined by consulting the appropriate language department). Accounting students must complete through the second level.
Foreign languages- Arabic
- Hausa
- Portuguese
- Cherokee
- Hebrew
- Quichua
- Chinese
- Hungarian
- Russian
- Croatian & Serbian
- Italian
- Slavic
- Czech
- Latin
- Spanish
- Danish
- Japanese
- Swedish
- Dutch
- Kaqchikel
- Turkish
- French
- Kiswahili
- Uyghur
- German
- Korean
- Wolof
- Greek
- Norwegian
- Yiddish
- Haitian
- Polish
Option 2: Area Study A student must complete four approved courses in any one of the five areas listed below. Accounting students must complete two courses in any one area.
Areas
Option 3: Language/Area Study A student must complete through the second level of a foreign language and then complete two courses in the corresponding area study.
Lanuage and Corresponding Area Chart
| Africa |
Asia & Pacific |
Latin America |
Russia & Eastern Europe |
Western Europe |
Arabic
Haitian
Hausa
French
Kiswahili |
Chinese
Japanese
Korean |
Haitian
Portuguese
Spanish |
Albanian
Bulgarian
Croatian & Serbian
Czech
Hungarian
Macedonian
Polish
Russian
Slovene
Turkish
Ukrainian
Yiddish |
Danish
Dutch
French
German
Greek
Italian
Norwegian
Portuguese
Spanish
Yiddish |
| ***Hebrew and Latin have no specified area study |
Option 4: Area Study/International Business/Study Abroad A student may substitute up to two international business courses or a study abroad experience for one or two language/area study courses. The business international course(s) may be from any world area. Business school international course(s) used to satisfy this requirement may not double-count towards the ABE requirement.
Possible Combinations- Area Study + Area Study + Area Study + Study Abroad
- Area Study + Area Study + Area Study + B-school int’l course
- Area Study + Area Study + Study Abroad + B-school int’l course
- Area Study + Area Study + B-school int’l course + B-school int’l course
- 1st language + 2nd language + 3rd language + Study Abroad
- 1st language + 2nd language + 3rd language + B-school int’l course
- 1st language + 2nd language + Study Abroad + B-school int’l course
- 1st language + 2nd language + B-school int’l course + B-school int’l course
- 1st language + 2nd language + Area Study + Study Abroad
- 1st language + 2nd language + Area Study + B-school int’l course
Option 5: Co-major A student may choose an interdisciplinary program in the following areas of a co-major with the business degree: 1) European Studies, 2) International Studies, or 3) Russian & East European Studies. Students interested in the European Studies co-major should contact the Center for European Studies. Students interested in the International Studies co-major should contact the Department of Political Science. Students interested in the Russian & East European Studies co-major should contact the Center for Russian & East European Studies.
Option 6: Second Bachelor's Degree or Non-Business Concentration A student may complete a second bachelors degree in another school, or complete an approved non-business concentration.
Approved non-business concentrations
