Asian Languages and Cultures, M.A.

Program Overview

This Master's program in Asian Languages and Cultures offers a comprehensive curriculum covering classical and modern literature, linguistics, and cultural studies of East, South, and Southeast Asia. Students can choose from a wide range of courses, including Japanese, Chinese, and South Asian languages, as well as topics such as human rights, yoga, and anime. The program culminates in either a thesis or the submission of revised research papers.

Program Outline

Outline:

The program offers a wide range of courses, including:

• Classical and Modern Chinese literature
• Chinese linguistics
• Japanese linguistics
• Japanese literature
• South Asian languages and cultures
• Southeast Asian languages and cultures
• Tibetan Buddhism
• Yoga
• Human rights in Thailand
• Chinese ghost stories
• Sociolinguistics and discourse analysis of Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and Indonesian languages
• Analysis of classical Japanese tale fiction
• Early modern comedic narratives
• Manga
• Anime
• Japanese counterculture
Students may also take courses and seminars drawn from offerings in other departments, or within Asian Languages and Cultures, as decided in collaboration between student and the co-advisors, such as:
• Hinduism
• A Survey of Tibetan Buddhism
• Introduction to Buddhism
• Modern Indian Literatures
• The Vietnam Wars
• The Koreas: Korean War to the 21st Century
• Social and Intellectual History of China, 589 AD-1919
• History of Modern China, 1800-1949
• History of the Peoples Republic of China, 1949 to the Present
• Survey of Classical Chinese Literature
• Survey of Modern Chinese Literature
• Lovers, Warriors and Monks: Survey of Japanese Literature
• Early Modern Japanese Literature
• Modern Japanese Literature
• Language in Japanese Society
• Love and Politics: The Tale of Genji
• China and World War II in Asia
• Haiku
• Islam: Religion and Culture
• Survey of Chinese Film
• Manga
• Anime
• Cities of Asia
• Southeast Asian Literature
• Visual Cultures of India
• Indian Traditions in the Modern Age
• Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
• Topics in East Asian Visual Cultures
• Introduction to Japanese Linguistics
• Meditation in Indian Buddhism and Hinduism
• Indian Writers Abroad: Literature, Diaspora and Globalization
• The History of Yoga
• Topics in South Asian History
• Buddhist Thought
• Proseminar in Buddhist Thought
• Studies in Chinese Fiction
• Readings in Modern Japanese Literature
• Readings in Classical Chinese Literature
• Readings in Classical Japanese Literature
• Capstone Seminar in Asian Humanities
• Mapping, Making, and Representing Colonial Spaces
• Proseminar: Studies in Cultures of Asia
• History of the Chinese Language
• Studies in Chinese Linguistics
• History of Chinese Literature I
• History of Chinese Literature II
• Proseminar in Japanese Literature
• Teaching Asian Languages
• Teaching of Chinese
• Teaching of Japanese as a Foreign Language
• Studies in Chinese Syntax and Morphology
• Studies in Chinese Historical Texts
• Studies in Chinese Philosophical Texts
• Studies in Japanese Literature
• Japanese Applied Linguistics

Assessment:

Students must earn a B or above in all coursework (300 or above, not including research credits) taken as a graduate student. There are two possible exit requirements for the M.A. One of the following two options will be chosen in consultation with the advisors.

• Students should select two substantially revised and/or expanded research papers completed during their graduate study to submit to their committee (the advisors and one additional faculty member).
In addition to the written papers, an oral presentation of these papers to the committee is required.
• Or
• An approximately 50-page M.A.
thesis. In addition to the written thesis, an oral presentation of the thesis to the committee is required. This option is usually appropriate for a student who wishes to continue in the Ph.D. program.