About our graduate programs
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures provides a limited number of highly qualified graduate students with the opportunity to pursue intensive programs of study in Chinese and Japanese in six distinct programs. We also offer the interdisciplinary East Asian Studies MA which provides strong language-training programs in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
- MA in Chinese
- MA in Japanese
- MA in East Asian Studies
- PhD in Chinese Language and Literature
- PhD in Japanese Language and Literature
- PhD in Chinese and Comparative Literature
- PhD in Japanese and Comparative Literature
The goal of these programs is to produce scholars well-trained in their chosen languages, firmly grounded in the linguistic and literary traditions they are studying, and thoroughly conversant with critical discourses (indigenous and western) relevant to their fields. In the completion of these programs at the PhD level, candidates have extended first-hand exposure to the modern societies whose languages, literatures, and cultures they study and significant teaching experience in both the language and the literature classroom. The EAS MA is an interdisciplinary program with faculty who specialize in China, Japan, and Korea, and take broadly comparative and transnational approaches to the study of East Asia.
Current WashU seniors may qualify for the Accelerated AB/AM program.
The East Asian Library
Graduate students in EALC benefit from having a world-class East Asian studies library in the building next door. Pictured above, WashU's East Asian Library is one of the best places to study on campus. The Washington University Libraries began the regular purchases of major Chinese and Japanese materials in 1963. Housed in a beautiful, historic building, the collection includes 165,244 volumes of books and bound serials, including 105,431 volumes in Chinese, 57,603 volumes in Japanese, and 4,210 volumes in Korean, and 800 volumes in special collections.
