Coursework and Degree Requirements

The completion of 30 credits (a minimum of 10 courses) is required of all students pursuing a Master of Arts degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures.

  • All students must take Pro-seminar I: Critical Approaches to East Asian Studies, or an equivalent methodology course appropriate to their discipline during the first semester of study. Such a methodology course will familiarize students with the critical approaches and theoretical paradigms useful to analyzing East Asian history, literature, and/or linguistics in a comparative framework.
  • All students must take during their second semester of study Pro-seminar II: Research Methodology, a course designed to teach students how to utilize both traditional and newer research resources (e.g. electronic databases) and to help students develop strategies for writing their master’s paper.
  • Students must take at least one course outside of their primary East Asian country of specialization.
  • 400-level courses taught by full-time faculty in certain cases may be applied toward degree requirements, provided that additional work is submitted (typically a substantially longer seminar paper). The Director of Graduate Studies must approve of such courses.
  • Students may take courses related to their academic interests outside of the department’s program. No more than two relevant courses offered by other departments, graduate programs, or universities may be applied toward degree requirements.
  • No more than two language courses may be applied toward degree requirements. Such courses must be advanced reading courses in either the modern or classical form of the student’s primary East Asian language, or at least at the third-year (300) level of a secondary East Asian language.
  • Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.
     

Language Requirement: Students will develop proficiency in their primary East Asian language. Proficiency is determined by the ability to use effectively primary sources in the original language (typically gained through three years of training, or the equivalent, in the targeted language). Students who plan on pursuing a Ph.D. degree upon graduation are encouraged to take a second East Asian language.

Master’s Examination: Upon the completion of all required coursework, students must take a final master’s examination in order to graduate. Students will compile, in consultation with their faculty advisers, reading lists on works appropriate to their research area. These reading lists should include a balance of theoretical works, primary and secondary sources. Students will need to complete successfully a one-week long, take home examination based on the materials from their reading lists.

Download MA Program Learning Goals and Assessment