East Asian Languages and Literatures Department

The Department of East Asian Languages and Literature (EALL) is committed to the mission of liberal arts education in an increasingly diverse and global world, both for students pursuing the major and for non-majors interested in East Asian languages and literatures. It offers a full four-year program of language courses in both Chinese and Japanese, as well as literature and culture courses in English.

The language courses are designed to develop advanced communication skills in Japanese and Chinese through intensive language training and to provide a foundation for understanding the cultural traditions of China and Japan. The literature in translation courses aim to foster an awareness and understanding of East Asian cultures through an Interdisciplinary approach, introducing historical background, social, philosophical, political issues, and other cultural concerns relevant and necessary to the understanding of the literary and other cultural texts. The department's curricula provide solid disciplinary training, preparing students to meet the challenges in further graduate studies or in career development.

The department stresses close interactions between students and the faculty. Diverse East Asian cultural activities such as A Taste of Asia and the Lunar New Year Celebration give students opportunities to practice their language skills outside the classroom in a relaxed, social setting. The department also sponsors spring term study abroad programs to China and Japan, where students are not only engaged in immersion language learning, but also in studying East Asian cultures through close contacts with their peoples. Furthermore, EALL majors are encouraged to spend a summer, a semester or a year studying abroad in China and Japan to enhance their proficiency in language and to broaden their knowledge of the East Asian cultures.

Thanks to our increasing alumni support, each year the department awards The Andrew M. Hemm Prize of Excellence to two students with the highest average grades during their first two years of Chinese and Japanese studies respectively. In addition, the department also offers The James Boardman Study Abroad Scholarships to two students preparing to study abroad.