East Asian Studies
- Department Interdisciplinary
- Academic Division The College
- Offerings Minor
East Asian studies is a closely coordinated, interdepartmental program representing seven departments and eight disciplines. It offers some 50 courses, ranging from art to culminating in a minor that may be focused upon either China or Japan. Interested students are encouraged to study abroad in East Asia.
East Asian Studies
Recognizing that Western culture exists in an ever-shrinking and globally connected world, the East Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Program is dedicated to expanding the intellectual horizons of its students to include the cultures of China and Japan. The increasing strategic, economic and social importance of Asia makes it imperative that our students be prepared both theoretically and practically to understand and deal with Asia on many levels.
The East Asian Studies minor approaches the civilizations of China and Japan from multiple standpoints that include their art, history, languages and literatures, religions and philosophies, politics and economics. In the belief that Asia must be directly experienced in order to be understood fully, the East Asian Studies Program stresses the importance of study abroad in China, Taiwan and Japan. Students from these countries also study on the Lexington campus, either through an exchange program or as regular four-year undergraduate students.
Opportunities
- Summer scholarships are available to study intensive Chinese or Japanese at Washington University in St. Louis with the ALLEX Foundation
- Study Abroad programs in Asia are approved by W&L and listed on our Center for International Education website
- The student paper competition allows undergraduate students to compete for a cash prize, registration and lodging for the 2017 annual conference, and publication in ASIANetwork
- Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts.
- Conferences: Annual Asia Network Conference
Authentic Japanese Tea Room
W&L’s Japanese Tea Room was named Senshin’an 洗心庵 “Clearing-the-Mind Abode” by Sen Genshitsu, 15th-generation Grand Master of the Urasenke Tradition of Tea. This architectural treasure was built in the Watson Pavilion on campus, where it serves as a classroom laboratory for the study of Chanoyu 茶の湯, or the Way of Tea, and a center for cultural activities relating to the arts of Japan.
Two Washington and Lee ROTC Students Receive Project Global Officer Grants
Christy Childs ’26 and Griffin Conti ’26 will receive funding to study foreign languages this summer.
W&L Professor Publishes Book in English Translation with Full Annotations
Hongchu Fu offers a look into the Yuan Dynasty under Mongol Rule in “Three Yuan Plays by Yang Zi.”
The Museums at W&L invites visitors to reflect on “Born of Fire: Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists,” on display through April 29.
Alex Wilkerson ’22 Wins All-American Attorney Award
Wilkerson received an All-American Attorney Award from the American Mock Trial Association.
Pass the Plate Celebrates Cultural Heritage Through Food
The Weinstein Scholar annual program invited students to take a culinary trip around the world without leaving the Washington and Lee campus.
Program Spotlight: Center for International Education – Study Abroad
Approximately 70% of students participate in an abroad program during their time at W&L.
A deer figure on display in a new Watson Galleries exhibit, “Auspicious Animals,” is an example of the Chinese practice of blending European tastes with encoded symbolic meaning.
W&L’s Asian and Pacific Islander Community Pulls Together to #StopAPIHate
Washington and Lee University’s Office of Inclusion and Engagement recently released a video featuring members of W&L’s Asian and Pacific Islander community, calling on the world to notice, and end, incidents of hate.
Building a Bridge Across the Globe
Thanks to an exchange program funded by the Japanese government, a group of W&L students spent Washington Break immersed in the culture of Japan—and welcomed Kanazawa University students to W&L one month later.
The Elizabeth Lewis Otey Professor of East Asian Studies takes a bug-eyed view of history.
W&L Chanoyu Tea Society to Host Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tea
W&L’s Chanoyu Tea Society will host their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. tea ceremony on Jan. 21
A Salad Bowl with a Sordid Past
This elegant bowl, which is part of W&L’s Reeves Collection, can be traced back to the Opium War of 1839-1842.
Meet the Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
David Bello
Director of East Asian Studies; Professor of History
Sabbatical for the 2024-2025 Academic Year
- P: 540-458-8770
- E: bellod@wlu.edu
Bello teaches courses in Chinese and Japanese history. His research focuses on Qing China and borderland environmental history. He has published a number of notable scholarly works on the subject.
Janet Ikeda
Associate Professor of Japanese
On Leave Fall 2024
- P: 540-458-8936
- E: ikedaj@wlu.edu
Ikeda teaches and researches Japanese language, culture and literature. Ikeda has been involved in U.S.- Japan relations and has been a member of several councils, committees and delegations to promote good relations.
Li Kang
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
- P: 540-458-8304
- E: lkang@wlu.edu
Kang teaches Introduction to Theories of Knowledge and Reality, and Chinese Buddhist Philosophy. Her research deals with metaphysics, Buddhist philosophy, Chinese philosophy and philosophy of science.
Wan-Chuan Kao
Associate Professor of English; Head of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program
- P: 540-458-8345
- E: kaow@wlu.edu
Professor Kao’s teaching and research interests include medieval literature, especially Chaucer; whiteness studies; critical theory; race and ethnicity; gender and sexuality; queer studies; hotel theory; affect; and cute studies.
Melissa R. Kerin
Professor of Art History
- P: 540-458-8858
- E: kerinm@wlu.edu
Kerin teaches courses in South Asian and East Asian art and architecture. Her research focuses on the intricate and multifaceted relationships between art and identity formation, cultural memory and religious praxis.
Robin LeBlanc
Professor of Politics
- P: 540-458-8305
- E: lepagea@wlu.edu
LeBlanc is a political anthropologist focused on the civic engagement of non-elites in rich democracies. She teaches classes on global politics, urban politics, gender and politics, and political theory.
Timothy Lubin
Jessie Ball DuPont Professor of Religion
- P: 540-458-8146
- E: lubint@wlu.edu
Professor Lubin teaches courses on Asian religions and comparative study of religion and law. He researches Hindu religious history, law in ancient Asia, and texts and inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Old Javanese and Old Tamil.
Yanhong Zhu
Department Head; Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures
- P: 540-458-8277
- E: zhuy@wlu.edu
Yanhong Zhu’s research interests include modern Chinese literature and culture, contemporary Chinese cinema, and Chinese language pedagogy. She teaches Chinese language courses at all levels as well as courses on modern Chinese literature and East Asian cinema.