gorup of students stand outside entrance to a nature park listening to Asian tour guide.
Students pepare to explore a park in Hong Kong’s New Territories, a region of wetlands, gardens, parks, and mountains, during a winter-term trip focusing local and global environmental and socioeconomic challenges in the area, Photo credit: Courtesy of Tim Pelliing
Program Overview

East Asian Studies

Program Type: Major, Minor
  • Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department: East Asian Studies

The East Asian Studies Program is an interdisciplinary major and minor focusing on the region that includes China, Japan, and Korea. The program provides training and practice in East Asian languages and introduces majors to the societies, cultures, and histories of the region through courses in anthropology, art history, cinema, economics, history, literature, politics and religion.

Program Director

Emer O’Dwyer Associate Professor of History and East Asian Studies

Contact

Dale Alexander Administrative Assistant 440-775-8313

Why Study East Asian Studies at Oberlin?

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Variety of Courses
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Digital Collection
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Study Away Programs

Study Abroad

We strongly encourage students majoring in East Asian Studies to study abroad in East Asia. We offer programs at multiple locations in China and Japan. Students may apply for the An Family Scholarship, which awards funding to study in Korea.

Winter Term

East Asian Studies majors have used the four-week winter term for everything from taking water samples in Hong Kong to study water quality, to an on-campus, virtual exploration of climate change in the Tibetan Plateau. 

Language Placement

All students who major in East Asian Studies are required to take at least two semesters of language. Any student who wishes to begin at a level higher than 101-level courses will need to take a placement test to help determine your mastery level. This includes students who studied Japanese or Chinese in high school, on their own, or in classes in the United States or abroad (even for AP credit).

Careers and Graduate Study

Oberlin’s East Asian Studies majors attend top graduate schools to pursue advanced degrees in business, literature, law, sociology, history, art history, or religious studies. Others enter the workforce, obtaining jobs with the State Department, or in law, library science, journalism and publishing, arts, music, banking, and translation work.

Sample Courses

  • EAST 120 - Chinese Calligraphy 4 credits
  • EAST 143 - Approaches to Chinese and Japanese Art 4 credits
  • EAST 322 - Avant Garde in Japanese Literature, Art and Film 4 credits
  • CHIN 456 - Development of the Chinese Language 2 credits
Curriculum and requirements

East Asian Studies Faculty

Faculty in East Asian Studies are both scholars and teachers who devote their careers to making important contributions to their disciplines through writing and research. The interdisciplinary nature of the program encourages collaboration across many fields, including economics, world languages, history, religion, and cinema. They are committed to undergraduate education and teach everything from first-year seminars to advanced courses.

Explore Faculty within East Asian Studies

“Teaching as an East Asianist and Comparatist, I follow Horace, ‘to instruct and delight,’ and Confucius, ‘to analyze and practice what we have just learned.’”

Hsiu-Chuang Deppman, Professor of Chinese and Cinema Studies
See Profile

East Asian Studies Faculty

East Asian Studies News

Woman smiling.

From Double Major to Law School: Emily Kelly-Olsen ’19

July 22, 2020
A student athlete, Kelly-Olsen discovered her passion for politics and East Asian studies at Oberlin. She is currently a student at University of Michigan Law School and working as an associate at a law firm in her hometown of Portland, Oregon.
View all East Asian Studies news