Students in the Master's Degree program in East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Kansas study under close supervision with nationally known scholars of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The student concentrates in one of these fields, usually entering the program with at least two years of college-level language. The program typically takes two years to complete and concludes after an oral defense when the student hands in a thesis.
The Graduate Advisor works with the student from the beginning to decide on coursework and thesis topic, which the student will usually decide upon by the end of the first year of study. A normal course of study begins in the first semester with a combination of a language course or courses and 500-level or above courses in English about China, Japan, or Korea.The student should also take the one credit EALC 700, Introduction to East Asian Studies, as soon as possible. It is taught every fall and is intended to orient students in the field by giving them necessary tools for both theoretical and bibliographical work.
If you have learned Chinese elsewhere, you should take a placement test. See a member of the Chinese teaching faculty. There is no fee for this test and it may be taken at any time of the year. If you enter with less that the two-year minimum requirement, you may take courses to remedy the deficiency, but they will not count toward the degree. The Graduate Advisor will help decide what course to take. By graduation all students must have at least third-year level language (Chinese 504-508, Japanese 504-508, or Korean 504-508). Students in the Language and Literature concentrations must in addition take the equivalent of fourth-year language and for student in Chinese, classical Chinese.
The thesis advisor may be a faculty member in another department who is a specialist in East Asian Studies. The EALC Graduate Advisor will work with students to arrange thesis advising and make recommendations on choosing topics, conducting research, and writing the thesis.
Directed Readings courses are designed for students who have exhausted all relevant, regular course offerings in a particular subject area and have a project to propose for independent study. A Directed Readings course is one in which a faculty member supervises a student's independent study project, typically the topic of the student's Master's thesis.
For more detailed information on graduate study in East Asian Languages and Cultures, the student should see the Graduate Advisor, Keith McMahon, for a copy of the EALC Graduate Student Handbook.
It is the M.A. students who compete for available grants, and in recent years many of our students in East Asian Studies have received Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowships (FLAS). Due to the limited number of these fellowships available, there is always a keen competition for them. As a result, they are often awarded to students who are already established in a University of Kansas program related to East Asia, but new applicants are welcome to apply. Applicants should contact the Center for East Asian Studies, 205 Lippincott, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045. While there are no particular scholarships or grants awarded directly by our department, the Graduate School does offer several fellowships and scholarships for which the department can offer nominations.
The EALC department has several graduate teaching assistant positions in Eastern Civilizations as well as those for drill instructors in the language courses. Graduate students who have completed one semester in residence at KU are eligible to apply for these whenever there are openings. Incoming students can also be considered for positions if they are available for an interview when positions are being filled.
If you decide to apply for admission to our graduate program, please submit the following:
An application fee, paid via secure server, should accompany your materials. Please note that if you do not meet some of the department prerequisites, we may in some cases be able to waive them and allow you to enter the program with the understanding that you will fulfill these prerequisites later.
Students in the East Asian Cultures Concentration shall consider this an interdisciplinary program. They are expected to gain a foundation and establish a focus in some compatible departmental discipline, such as business, economics, history, political science, or another of their choice.
Offered in conjunction with the KU School of Business, the Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts in East Asian Languages and Cultures is designed to combine a business education with a specific focus on China, Japan, Korea or Pan-Asian geographic areas and languages.
The joint MBA/MA degree program requires 60 credit hours, structured as follows:
Note: some business courses may be offered at Edwards Campus in Overland Park rather than at Lawrence Campus.
Note: See the MBA-MA EALC Curriculum Guide (PDF) for details about eligible classes.