EAST ASIAN STUDIES

Professors: Jonathan W. Best (Art History), Anthony H. Chambers (Asian Languages and Literatures), John T. Frazer (Art), Vera Schwarcz (History) (Chair), David A. Titus (Government), Ellen B. Widmer (Asian Languages and Literatures), Janice D. Willis (Religion)

Associate Professors: William Johnston (History), Yoshiko Yokochi Samuel (Asian Languages and Literatures)

Adjunct Associate Professor: Phillip Wagoner (Curator, Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies; Art History)

Assistant Professors: Stephen C. Angle (Philosophy), Hsiao-ching Hsu (Asian Languages and Literatures), James McGuire (Government), David Selover (Economics), Karen Smyers (Religion), Su Zheng (Music)

Adjunct Assistant Professor: Seiji Naito (Asian Languages and Literatures)

Adjunct Instructor: Xiaomiao Zhu (Asian Languages and Literatures)

Visiting Professor, Writer-in-Residence: Zhang Jie (Asian Languages and Literatures, The Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies)

Visiting Artist and Faculty Fellow: Keiji Shinohara (Art Department, The Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies)

Visiting Artist-in-Residence: Masayo Ishigure (Music)

The major in East Asian studies is an interdisciplinary program allowing students to focus, at the level of general liberal education, on East Asia. Concentration on either China or Japan is possible, but the societies and cultures of both countries are treated as an interrelated field of study. Students completing the requirements of the major will receive their degree in East Asian studies.

Requirements for the major. The major requires the satisfactory completion of the intermediate level of either Chinese or Japanese language, three courses in East Asian history, the senior seminar (EAST 398), and four other courses to be chosen by the student in consultation with his or her adviser.

Most majors study abroad during the junior year, making it especially important to begin the required language and history courses as early as possible. Prospective majors are strongly urged to complete at least one year of Chinese or Japanese by the end of the sophomore year.

The history requirement is to be met by completing both History 223 (Traditional China) and History 225 (Japan to 1800) and either History 224 or History 226. Courses taken in Japanese and Chinese history at other universities or programs may be credited toward the history requirement upon approval of the program chair.

The four electives should be selected from among the East Asian studies courses designated by the program faculty. At least one must focus principally on China and at least one on Japan.

Any deviation from these requirements must be petitioned for in writing and approved in writing by the program chair. The East Asian studies major requires a balance of language, area, and disciplinary courses, with emphasis on the study of language and history. A student contemplating a major in East Asian studies should consult with a member of the program faculty regarding the student's area of language interest, preferred discipline or disciplines, and the appropriateness of the major to those interests and preferences. Admission to the major requires the approval of the program chair.

Each major is free to choose his or her adviser from among the members of the program faculty and should work closely with that adviser in devising a coherent program based not only on courses within the program but also on offerings outside the program that will enhance the student's comparative perspective on East Asia and methodological sophistication in the discipline or disciplines of the student's choice. For example, courses in East Asian literature should be coordinated with courses in literary criticism and Western literature; a student interested in the emergence of modern East Asia might undertake courses in economic development and comparative politics in conjunction with the study of modern Chinese and Japanese history.

Majors are strongly urged to write senior honors theses or senior essays. Senior thesis tutorials normally are to be taken under the direction of a program faculty member and are numbered 409, 410 within the faculty member's department. Majors are also encouraged to take advantage of the possibilities for individual tutorials with program faculty members; such tutorials are numbered 401, 402 and, like senior thesis tutorials, are offered by the faculty member's department.

Study Abroad. Wesleyan is a co-sponsor of the Associated Kyoto Program, a nine-month program in Kyoto that offers academic year homestays, intensive language training, and a diversified curriculum of courses in the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Only students who have had a minimum of one year's Japanese training or its equivalent and one other course on Japan (preferably History 225) are eligible.

Opportunities for study in the People's Republic of China are available through four Wesleyan-sponsored programs: those run by the Council on International Educational Exchange, Duke University, and the State University of New York at Albany. Each student's specific course of study must be approved in advance by the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures. Study in Taiwan may also be arranged.

Course credits from these programs count toward the Wesleyan degree and (with some limitations) toward the East Asian studies major. Grades received in these programs are included in the Wesleyan grade point average; participating students may be eligible for financial aid.

Criteria for departmental honors. To qualify for honors, a student must present a thesis and be awarded a grade of B+ or better by the tutor and one other reader. For high honors, a grade of A must be awarded by the tutor and two other readers, one of whom should be outside the field of East Asian studies. The tutor is responsible for the assignment of readers. Research in Chinese or Japanese language sources is encouraged. A grade point average of 88.3 or better in East Asian studies courses is required, including the five course credits for elementary and intermediate Chinese or Japanese.

Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies: The East Asian Studies Program is housed in the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, which, additionally, provides a number of special resources and opportunities for students interested in the study of East Asia. The annual Mansfield Freeman Lecture brings to campus each year a particularly eminent scholar of East Asia, and a weekly colloquium series augments the curriculum through lectures and performances on all aspects of East Asia, presented mostly by scholars and artists from beyond Wesleyan. The Center houses a small East Asian reference library and study collections of East Asian art and historical archives, all of which are readily accessible for student research. Periodically changing exhibitions in the Center's gallery focus on various aspects of East Asian art and history.

The Center also presents a number of special opportunities for East Asian studies majors. An active majors committee organizes special events several times each semester, and Student Fellowships make office space available each year for two senior majors who are writing Honors theses. A special attraction is the Center's Outreach Program, which is run by two Outreach coordinators (typically East Asian studies majors), with the assistance of other majors and interested students. Through this program, classes from local schools (preschool through high school) visit the Center on Friday mornings to participate in hands-on workshops exploring East Asian culture through music, writing and calligraphy, food and cooking, martial arts, tea ceremonies, and other activities. This program serves both the greater Middletown community and the Wesleyan students who run it, who are given an opportunity to reflect upon their understanding and communicate it to others.