East Asian Studies (BA)

Program Requirements:

Students must take five elective courses from the EAS curriculum, including at least one of either HIST 201, HIST 202, or HIST 206. No more than three courses may be taken in any one department.

EAS Curriculum (20 semester hours)

ART 252	Arts of China and Japan	4
CHIN 214	Contemporary Chinese Cinema	4
CHIN 202	Intermediate Chinese II	4
CHIN 245	Advanced Intermediate Chinese	4
CHIN 246	Advanced Intermediate Chinese II	4
CHIN 250	Masterpieces in Chinese Literature	4
CHIN 260	Chinese Calligraphy	4
CHIN 320	Reading Chinese Newspapers	4
CHIN 325	Masterworks of Chinese Modern Literature	4
ECON 222	Comparative Economies of East Asia	4
HIST 201	Dynamics Japanese History	4
HIST 202	Asia to the Eighteenth Century	4
HIST 203	Power & Culture: East Asia	4
HIST 204	Japanese Culture: Gender, Family and Society	4
HIST 206	Rise of Modern China	4
HIST 207	Gender, Family and Society in Modern China	4
HIST 362	Reform and Revolutions in Asia	4
HIST 364	Rape of Nanjing	4
HON 208	Art of Dissent	4
HON 211	Balance, Harmony, and Happiness: A New Look At Classical China	4
JAPN 202	Intermediate Japanese II	4
JAPN 245	Composition and Conversation	4
JAPN 320	Newspaper Kanji and Translation	4
JAPN 325	Japanese Fables and Onomatopoeia	4
PHIL 133	Asian Philosophy	4
PHIL 390/WGST 390	Seminar	4
POLS 225	International Politics of East Asia	4
POLS 245M	Politics of Newly Industrialized Countries	4
SOCI 267	Globalization	4

Language Courses (20 semester hours)

Students are required to study a single East Asian language offered at Simmons for four consecutive semesters. Courses taken to fulfill this part of the requirement, therefore, cannot also count among the five electives from the EAS curriculum. Students who enter the Program with at least an intermediate knowledge of an Asian language may satisfy the requirement by completing four semesters’ continued study of either the same or another Asian language once correct placement has been determined. Alternatively, in special cases pending the Director’s approval, the student may complete four additional courses from the EAS curriculum. Students who enter Simmons with an understanding of an Asian language below the intermediate level can satisfy the language requirement by study that would raise their competence to that of advanced intermediate in addition to either further language courses or those from the EAS curriculum.

Capstone Cross-Cultural Experience (8 semester hours)

This requirement consists of two phases:

Study abroad, community-based or independent learning. To encourage cross-cultural experience, students complete for semester hours through either study abroad or community-based learning within an Asian American community. Students should have adequate language preparation and a significant portion of coursework completed before undertaking this experience. Thus, most students will satisfy this requirement during the junior or senior year. The precise timing will be decided in consultation with the student’s advisor. Alternatively, the student may undertake an independent study with an EAS faculty member that would culminate in a research paper on a topic of the student’s own design.
Integrative Seminar. Successful completion of either EAS 390 or, when not offered, an alternate course is mandatory for all students in the major. In this seminar, the student will produce either a research paper or some form of creative work associated with a special interest. The nature and scope of the project will be collaboratively determined with the seminar instructor and/or their advisor. HIST 364 and 362 may be undertaken in lieu of the Seminar for 2018-20.