East Asian Studies

M.A. in East Asian Studies

The faculty of the East Asia Center offer the Master of Arts in East Asian Studies, which is designed to enable students interested in China and Japan to engage in intensive language and area studies training over a period of two academic years. Students should expect to enter the first academic year of this program with at least one full academic year, or the equivalent, of the appropriate East Asian language, and to take 2l months (i.e., two academic years and the intervening summer), to complete all requirements for the degree. To complete the program, students are required to:

1. take 30 credit hours of non-language courses at the graduate level; no more than six of which may be Non-Topical Research. 18 credit hours must be in East Asia-related courses; non-East Asia courses and independent study credits must be approved by the Graduate Committee of the East Asia Center;
2. study in at least two different departments, with at least six credit hours in each department;
3. achieve and demonstrate third-year competence in Chinese, Japanese, or Tibetan language; but no coursework from the first three years of language study may be used to satisfy the 24 credit hour requirement;
4. complete a Master’s thesis under the guidance of two faculty advisors (at least one of whom must be an East Asia faculty member), and undergo an oral defense.

The University also offers a joint M.B.A.-M.A. in East Asian Studies. This is a three-year program and requires admission to the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and to the Master of Arts Program in East Asian Studies. Students enrolled in this program normally spend the first full academic year in the program taking courses in the Darden School, and do not enroll in East Asian studies courses in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences until the following summer or fall.

Scholarship Opportunities

Supporting Courses

The following are graduate courses offered in the Asian field. For further information about these courses, see the description under the appropriate academic departments.