East Asian Studies, Ph.D.
The Department offers a Ph.D. program in East Asian Studies, with specializations in Chinese, Japanese, and East Asian Cultural Studies. The M.A. may be awarded to Ph.D. students in progress toward the doctoral degree.
The graduate program emphasizes rigorous training in language and textual analysis, with equal attention given to the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of literary study. In addition to more traditional vocabularies of criticism and theory, the curriculum encourages exploration of recent challenges to established conceptual and methodological frameworks. The program builds on the foundation of a faculty whose research interests engage major issues in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean literature and culture, while developing connections with the larger community of scholarship at UCI.
Because the graduate program is designed to prepare students for both college-level teaching and advanced research, each student will be required to serve, under direct faculty supervision, as a teaching assistant in an appropriate undergraduate course offered through the Department.
Assuming that a student is enrolled full-time and enters the program with no major deficiencies in background or training, the normative time needed to complete the Ph.D. is seven years from matriculation. The maximum time permitted is eight years. For students admitted with an M.A. or its equivalent from another institution, certain course requirements may be waived upon the approval of a faculty advisory committee, with a consequent reduction in normative time for completion of the Ph.D.
The following graduate emphases are available: Asian American (see the Humanities Special Programs section); Critical Theory (see the Emphasis in Critical Theory section); Feminist Studies (see the Gender and Sexuality Studies section); Latin American Studies (see the Humanities Special Programs section); Medical Humanities (see the Humanities Special Programs section); and Visual Studies (see the Visual Studies section).
Master of Arts in East Asian Studies
Students are not admitted to an M.A.-only program but may be granted an M.A. in recognition of progress toward the Ph.D., normally after six quarters of course work and submission of two approved seminar papers, which will serve as the M.A. examination.
In addition to meeting the general requirements for admission to graduate study at UCI, specified by the Graduate Division, all students must present the following for review by an admissions committee composed of members of the faculty in East Asian Studies: records of prior scholastic performance, including all college transcripts; three letters of recommendation; and samples of written work. Although the Department does not require entering students to have received an undergraduate degree comparable to its own, it recommends as much preparation in an East Asian language as possible. It also welcomes applications from students whose language training may not be as extensive but who have shown promise in the study of related disciplines. The study of appropriate European languages is encouraged as well.
Upon admission to the program, the student is assigned a graduate advisor, in consultation with whom an advisory committee consisting of two additional faculty members is constituted. The student and committee plan a program of study consisting of 15 graduate courses.
Before advancement to candidacy (normally after three years of graduate study), the student must have (1) completed required course work as detailed below; (2) prepared one paper of publishable quality; (3) completed language requirements as listed below; (4) prepared five research reports on current scholarly articles to be decided upon in consultation with the faculty advisor; and (5) passed the qualifying examinations on four topics to be selected in consultation with the faculty advisory committee no more than two quarters before the examinations are to be taken. At least one of the topics should be related directly to the student’s projected area of specialization in dissertation research.
Students who complete the qualifying examinations successfully are advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. The normative time for advancement to candidacy is four years. They then write their doctoral dissertation on a topic developed in consultation with the faculty advisory committee. Some period of study abroad, for enhancement of language proficiency and/or dissertation research, is strongly encouraged.
Specialization in Chinese Course Requirements
| A. Select three courses from Chinese 201-204. | |
| B. Select either: | |
| Studies in Traditional Chinese Narrative and Prose and Studies in Traditional Chinese Narrative and Prose |
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or
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| Studies in Traditional Chinese Poetry and Studies in Traditional Chinese Poetry |
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| C. Complete: | |
| CHINESE 213A | Studies in Modern Chinese Literature |
| CHINESE 214 | Studies in Chinese Literature and Cultural Theory |
| D. Select seven additional courses (of which one may be HUMAN 398A or HUMAN 398B) as determined upon consultation with faculty advisors. At least three of these additional courses must be taken outside the Department on a relevant topic in literary or cultural theory. Courses taken to fulfill language requirements may not be counted toward the course work requirement. | |
Language Requirements. Before advancement to candidacy, all students must have completed four years of modern Chinese, two years of classical Chinese, and three years of modern Japanese, and have demonstrated reading proficiency in another appropriate language. Much of this work may, of course, have been completed prior to admission. In addition, the requirement for a second year of classical Chinese may be fulfilled by taking three reading courses in classical literature.
Specialization in Japanese Course Requirements
| A. Select three courses from Japanese 201-205. | |
| B. Select either: | |
| Studies in Traditional Japanese Prose and Studies in Traditional Japanese Prose |
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or
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| Studies in Traditional Japanese Poetry or Drama and Studies in Traditional Japanese Poetry or Drama |
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| C. Complete: | |
| JAPANSE 213A- 213B | Studies in Modern Japanese Literature and Studies in Modern Japanese Literature |
| JAPANSE 214 | Studies in Japanese Literary and Cultural Theory |
| D. Select seven additional courses (of which one may be HUMAN 398A or HUMAN 398B) as determined upon consultation with faculty advisors. At least three of these additional courses must be taken outside the Department on relevant topics in literary or cultural theory. Courses taken to fulfill language requirements may not be counted toward the course work requirement. | |
Language Requirements. Before advancement to candidacy, all students must have completed four years of modern Japanese and one year of classical Japanese, and have demonstrated reading proficiency in another appropriate language. In addition, students emphasizing classical Japanese are required to take one year of classical Chinese. Much of this work may, of course, have been completed prior to admission.
Specialization in East Asian Cultural Studies Course Requirements
| A. Select four Theory and Cultural Studies graduate courses | |
| B. Select four graduate courses in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean | |
| C. Select seven additional courses (of which one may be HUMAN 398A or HUMAN 398B) as determined upon consultation with faculty advisors. At least three of these additional courses must be taken outside the Department on relevant topics. Courses taken to fulfill language requirements may not be counted toward the course work requirement. |
Other Requirements. Before advancement to candidacy, all students must have completed examinations in four areas as determined upon consultation with faculty advisors. These areas will vary according to the interests of the student; examples might be Colonial and Postcolonial Theories; Modernity and East Asia; Critique of Asian Studies as a field; Gender, Class and East Asia; Visual Culture and Japan; and Theorizing Minority Status in East Asia. All students must have completed four years of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, or the equivalent. Three years or the equivalent in a second East Asian language is recommended. Much of this work may, of course, have been completed prior to admission.