Calendar of Progress - First Year

Courses

The student normally takes 6 courses, usually three per term. The majority of these courses are likely to be in EALL, but, depending upon the student’s interests and background, courses in other departments should also be considered. To maintain good academic standing, the student must achieve at least two grades of Honors each year.  The student should try to work with each member of the EALL Department (including visiting faculty) who is a specialist in their field (Chinese or Japanese), if possible. Depending on the extent of previous preparation, the student may need to take a course with readings in English in an area or period of Chinese or Japanese literature with which they are not very familiar. Although it is not a requirement, students in Chinese are urged to take such courses on Japanese literature, media, or theater, and students of Japanese are urged to take such courses on the China side, if they have not already done so. Students in Chinese may need to begin or continue the study of literary Chinese. Students in Japanese should begin the study of literary Japanese if they have not already done so. Students specializing in pre-modern Japanese literature should begin or prepare for the study of literary Chinese. In addition, all students may wish to enrich their studies with courses in Chinese and/or Japanese anthropology/ archaeology, history, history of art, religious studies, comparative literature, or other literatures, including English. Considering the fact that each student is expected to take the qualifying exam at the end of the third year it might be a good idea to plan to focus the courses in three distinct fields after consultation with the adviser and DGS.

Language Requirements

See above regarding the study of Chinese and Japanese. The student must also take steps to prepare to fulfill the language requirement by the end of the second year. The French and German departments offer courses in the reading of these languages: if the student presents evidence of completion of these courses with a passing grade in the final exam, the requirement shall be fulfilled. Students with prior preparation in European languages may take a standardized test given by the appropriate department or administered by the Graduate School. If the student plans to offer other languages or other forms of evidence in fulfillment of this requirement, permission to do so must be obtained from the DGS by the end of the first term; in particular, students in Japanese who wish to offer Chinese—or students in Chinese who wish to offer Japanese. It should be noted that although those who elect to use Chinese or Japanese to fulfill the language requirement will be examined at the end of the second year, the expected level of proficiency in these languages is at the third year level.

Summer Funding

The Graduate School provides doctoral students with five summers of support. Grants from other sources such as the Council on East Asian Studies are available.