Requirements

1.) Language Proficiency: Majors must achieve proficiency in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean at the second-year level or above, to be met either through course work or examination. Students who meet the requirement through examination are still expected to take an additional 15 units of language at a higher level or literature courses taught in the language, or first year in an additional Asian language.

2.) Three gateway courses, one in each area. Please see the Stanford Bulletin for t he gateway courses each year. The three areas are:

Art, Literature and Religion

History

Contemporary Social Science

3.) Substantive Concentration: Majors must take additional courses on East Asia, one of which must be a seminar.

4.) Capstone Essay: Majors must complete a paper of approximately 7,500 words, written either in a directed reading course or for one of the courses in item 3, above. The essay should build upon the student’s thematic interest. Majors must take a 1-unit spring quarter Senior Seminar, in which they discuss and develop their capstone essays or senior honors theses.

5.) Overseas Study: Majors must spend at least one quarter overseas in the country of focus.

Majors are encouraged to distribute their course work among at least three disciplines and two subregions in Asia. (The subregions need not be traditionally defined. Examples include China, Japan, or Korea, or, in recognition of new subregions which are emerging, South China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, or Central Asia, Xinjiang, and Mongolia.) Four of these courses must have a thematic coherence built around a topic such as:

• Traditional Japanese civilization
• Social transformation of modern China
• Buddhism's impact on East Asian cultures
• Political economy of postwar Japan
• Fine arts and literature in late imperial China
• Culture and society of modern Japan
• Environmental issues of Asia
• Asian security issues

An East Asian Studies course that satisfies the University Writing in the Major requirement (WIM) should be completed before beginning the senior essay. Please see the Stanford Bulletin for approved  WIM courses for East Asian Studies.

The courses for the major must add up to at least 75 units and all must be taken for a letter grade.

Preparing a Program

The courses that may be counted towards a major in East Asian Studies are varied and distributed over many departments, so that it is difficult to draw up a typical four-year program. Some guidelines, however, apply to all majors regardless of concentration. Language study through all four years is strongly recommended, and mastery of one East Asian language usually proves to be more valuable than lower levels of proficiency in more than one language.

Early completion of the introductory, language, and history requirements gives the student time to develop a substantive concentration and to complete any basic theoretical or methodological courses in the departments in which he or she decides to concentrate. Finally, the student is advised to supplement his or her program with some basic skills in more technical areas such as mathematics, computer science, statistics, or accounting. As always, students should discuss any planning problems with their advisor or other faculty members. This preparation can help in avoiding costly mistakes.

Students should be aware of the introductory courses in departments offering a specialization in East Asia, for example, "Japanese Politics" in the Political Science Department, "Ideas and Forms in Asian Art" in the Art Department. Students with particular interests not covered in specific courses are encouraged to approach their faculty advisor or another instructor about taking a directed reading course on that subject.

Courses on AXESS and Additional Information

A listing of the East Asian Studies faculty and courses on Japan, China, and Korea is online on AXESS. Another source of information is the Stanford Bulletin which not only gives a complete description of each department's major, but also contains information on the university writing and distribution requirements, freshman and sophomore seminars, undergraduate special courses, the university library system, overseas studies, and other matters of general interest. The bulletin is available at the beginning of each quarter at the registrar's office.

Honors Program

Majors with a letter-grade indicator of 3.25 or better in all courses related to East Asia may apply for the Honors program no later than the final quarter of their junior year. Qualified students should submit an Honors prospectus to their advisors for approval outlining a plan for their honors work. Admission is granted by the Subcommittee on the A.B. Program, acting on the advisor's recommendation.

Honors requirements include satisfactory completion of (1) an honors thesis of high quality to be submitted in lieu of the senior essay otherwise required for the major; (2) five to ten units of directed individual study in connection with the thesis project, and (3) one advanced level colloquium or seminar treating China, Japan, or Korea<