The Center for Southeast Asian Studies offers a certificate program designed for graduate students completing master's or doctoral programs at NIU as well as for individuals for whom knowledge of the region would further their professional and intellectual development (school teachers, mid-career managers, government employees, and non-governmental/non-profit agency staff). The certificate can serve as an important professional credential for employment in an increasingly globalized world. The certificate is available to students in good academic standing in any NIU graduate program or in the graduate-level classification of student-at-large. The certificate incorporates an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Southeast Asia offering students an opportunity to conceptualize Southeast Asia from diverse perspectives including: anthropology, linguistics and literature, history, political science, arts and music. The certificate requires proficiency in a Southeast Asian language (equivalent to one year of language courses [10 hours]). Students may test out of the language requirement, native speakers from Southeast Asia may have the language requirement waived.