FALL 2015:
ANT 251 Women and Modernity in China and
Vietnam
ARH 280 Mountains and Rivers without End: An
Introduction to Chinese Landscape Painting
EAS 100 Introduction to Modern East Asia
EAS 219 Modern Korean History
EAS 200 Colloquium: Beauty and Violence in
Korean Film
EAS 220 Colloquium: Environment and Society in
Contemporary China
EAS/GOV 228 Government and Politics of Japan
GOV 348 Conflict and Cooperation in Asia
HST 211 The Emergence of China
HST 223 Women in Japanese History from
Ancient Times to the 19 th Century
SPRING 2016:
ARH 224 Art of Japan
EAS 210 Colloquium: Culture and
Diplomacy in Asia
EAS 216 Colloquium: Gangnam Style: Seoul and
Its Layered Histories
EAS 217 Modernity and Contested Traditions in
Korea
EAS 270 Colloquium: The Art of Chinese and
Japanese Gardens
GOV 230 Government and Politics of
China
GOV 251 Foreign Policy of Japan
HST 217 World War Two in East Asia: History and
Memory
History and East Asian Studies
(Director, 2015-16)
History
East Asian Studies
Anthropology and East Asian Studies
Art and East Asian Studies
Government and East Asian Studies
History and East Asian Studies
Government
Art
Religion and Buddhist Studies
East Asian Languages and Literatures
Comparative Literature
East Asian Languages and Literatures
East Asian Languages and Literatures
East Asia has taken center stage internationally. Analysts predict that it will be the most powerful economic force in the world in the 21st century.
To understand today’s world we must understand East Asia today. But it isn’t the present alone that deserves study.
China, Japan, and Korea represent some of the oldest and richest cultural traditions in the world. Their millennia of art, religion, literature, and history inspire and challenge us.
East Asian Studies combines language study with work in anthropology, history, religion, art and government.
Majors graduate from the program with a firm grasp on the culture and history of the region, as well as a command of at least one language.


 East Asia has experienced the most rapid economic growth of any region since the 1980s (askasia.org).
 China is ranked 2 nd in leading exporters of world merchandise trade, Japan ranked 4 th , Republic of Korea ranked
11 th (WTO, 2007).
 Japan spends the highest proportion of
GDP on research and development of new technology in the world
(jetro.go.jp).
 Mandarin Chinese is the world’s most spoken language with over 870 million speakers.
 The world’s first movable print was made in Korea in the early 15 th century.
 Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. Japanese people live an average 4 years longer than U.S. citizens.
 South Korea ranked 1 st for the highest percentage of households accessing the internet via broadband with 95 percent,
Taiwan ranked 5 th with 81 percent, and the U.S. 20 th with 60 percent (Global
Household Broadband Penetration
Rankings, 2008).
 Paper was first made in China – one of the earliest known examples is preserved in a Central Asian tomb from the 3 rd century A.D.
Graduates of Smith’s EAS major have gone on to work in:
-
Law (Real Estate Attorney,
Underwriter)
Software Programming
-
-
Nonprofit foundations (Human
-
Rights Director, Director of
Development & Communications)
Museums/Arts (Gallery Manager,
Professional Photographer,
Reference Librarian)
-
Medicine (Optometrist, Physician,
Physician Assistant)
-
Finance/Banking (Investor
Relations, Financial Advising,
Accounting, Research Associate)
-
Education (High School Teachers in
Japan and U.S. and College professors)
-
Sales/Marketing (Advertising
Account Executive, International
Sales Representative, Director of
Sales)
-
Mass Media/Communications
(Journalist, TV/Radio Broadcaster,
Freelance Writer and Editor,
Manager of Diversity Initiatives)
Graduates in Smith’s EAS program also continued their studies in:
East Asian Studies (MA)
Law (SJD)
Economics (Masters)
Journalism
Library/Information Sciences (Masters)
Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Medicine (M.D.)
History (Ph.D.)
Anthropology (Ph.D.)
Basis Courses:
1) 2 nd year of an East Asian language
2) EAS 100 Intro to Modern East Asia
3) One survey course on the pre-modern civilization of an East Asian country
Elective Courses: Six elective courses, four of which should constitute an area of concentration in one civilization (China,
Japan, Korea) or a thematic concentration
(e.g. comparative modernization, religious traditions, women and gender, political economy, thought and art). Other concentrations may be formulated in consultation with an advisor. Electives must include courses in both the Humanities and
Social Sciences, courses on more than one
East Asian country and one of the elective courses must be a Smith seminar on East
Asia. No more than one 100-level course shall count as an elective. At least half of the Major credits must be taken at Smith.
Basis Courses: EAS 100 Intro to Modern
East Asia
Elective Courses: Five elective courses at the 200 or 300 level.