| Oberlin has a long-standing commitment to East Asian Studies. Its ties to China go back to the late nineteenth century when graduates began going there to live and work. Over the years, students have come from China, Japan, and Korea to study at Oberlin, and the campus has been greatly enriched by their presence. The College has constantly emphasized the need for well informed, liberally educated Americans to have a knowledge of non-Western cultures, and has recently reinforced that commitment with commitment of significant resources to international and cross-cultural studies.
The East Asian Studies
Program is the oldest interdisciplinary program at Oberlin
College. Building on a tradition of scholarship and commitment
to Chinese Studies, the East Asian Studies Program was established
in 1965. From a faculty consisting of a Chinese historian,
a Chinese language specialist, and an historian of Chinese
religions, we have grown to include numerous specialists on
various aspects of Chinese, Japanese, and most recently, Korean
histories, cultures, languages, and societies. We have faculty
members in the departments of East Asian Studies Chinese,
Japanese, History,
Religion,
Politics,
and
Art History.
We offer our students opportunities to major with concentrations in Chinese or Japanese language and literature, Chinese or Japanese studies, or regional studies with a variety of disciplinary or methodological focuses. Our students have ample opportunity to study in China or Japan through a variety of programs that we sponsor or co-sponsor. In China, our students ordinarily go to Beijing, though occasionally some choose Taiwan or other sites instead. In Japan they go to Kyoto or Tokyo.
On campus, a number of
our majors live in Asia
House, a program dormitory which offers year-round events
relating to Asia. Graduates of the East Asian Studies Program
can be found in various fields. Many enroll at top graduate
schools in such areas as literature, law, sociology, history,
political science, art history, religious studies, and business.
Several invariably win prestigious scholarships for graduate
work in America or abroad. Others enter careers directly in
such fields as publishing and editing, journalism, translation
work, teaching, business and banking, government service,
international agencies, and non-profit organizations. Many
have been awarded two-year study and teaching fellowships
in China or Japan through the Oberlin
Shansi Memorial Association, an independent organization
on campus dedicated to educational exchange and international
understanding between Asia and the U.S. The Paul & Edith
Cooper International Learning Center is a state of the art
learning center specializing in foreign language education.
The "Language
Lab" is located on the third floor of Peters Hall
directly across from the EAS office.
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