East Asian Studies
Engaging with a vibrant, diverse, and increasingly prominent region of the world.
East Asian Studies introduces the knowledge, language skills, and research methods you’ll need to enter various academic and professional paths relating to China, Japan, and Korea. You’ll be submersed in intensive Chinese, Japanese and/or Korean language study through the Center for Language Education and work with faculty on topics like China in the global economy, nationalism in East Asia, Korean politics, modern Japanese history and politics, Chinese urban history, and women in modern China.
The department encourages study abroad, with special opportunities available to you such as a full-year direct exchange program with the University of Tokyo.
CLASSES YOU MIGHT TAKE
Chinese Politics and Society
In this class, you’ll get familiar with the major dynamics of political and social change in contemporary China since 1949. Explore how scholars have explained major political and social changes with reference to individual and collective rationalities, specific organizational and institutional arrangements, and strategic and cultural mechanisms of Chinese political and social habits.
COVID-19 and Human Rights in Asia
This seminar examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and government responses on a range of human rights in Asia, with a focus on the cases of China, Japan, Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Myanmar. We’ll also discuss the inequities and discrimination exacerbated by the pandemic and the need for international cooperation to effectively battle COVID-19 and vaccine inequity.
Belonging and Difference in Modern Korea
Drawing on critical race theory, and gender and sexuality studies, this course provides the analytical framework necessary to grapple with how belonging and difference are produced, manifested, and challenged within Korea’s citizenry. You’ll gain knowledge on modern Korea and its diasporas and examine its construction as one rooted in a history of empire, nationalism, militarism, and neoliberalism.
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