B.A. in East Asian Studies

The East Asian Studies major is an interdisciplinary approach to the languages, deep history, and uncommonly rich culture of this increasingly important part of the world. Students in this major study Chinese or Japanese for at least two full years, and they must take classes in at least three—and they can take classes in four—departments in order to achieve a broad and deep understanding of East Asia. Students begin their study of East Asia by taking three introductory courses, arranged historically, on the literature, history, religions, visual culture, and other foundational aspects of the region. In addition, they take a cornerstone course entitled “Approaches to East Asian Studies” that introduces them to the East Asian region as a whole, and also prepares them for the interdisciplinary theories and methods involved in the study of East Asia. For their advanced-level work, students choose four courses from a wide variety of offerings dealing with China, Japan, and Korea. These courses complement their understanding of East Asian history and culture through specialized material covering topics such as Chinese society after Mao; contemporary Chinese visual culture; the two Koreas; the culture of Zen; anime; and women and religion in East Asia. East Asian Studies can be completed either as a humanities or as a social sciences major. See below for instructions on divisional requirements. Students who major in East Asian Studies are strongly encouraged to study abroad.