
Dedicated to the languages, literatures, linguistics, and cultures of East Asia
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures prepares students for B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Chinese and Japanese, and has a thriving program in Korean language and literature.

In the Spotlight
Professor Ariel Stilerman publishes new book "Los cien poemas del arte del té". This book reveals the role of classical court poetry (waka) in the development of the tea ceremony during the late medieval and early modern periods in Japan. The culture of tea in Japan has its roots in cultural practices and institutional arrangements that produced a constellation of descriptive and prescriptive discourses on human behavior, as well as ideological and economic formations. Across that complexity, this book traces the crucial role of classical aesthetics, of their mediation through the practice of medieval collective verse (renga), and of the pedagogical arrangements originally developed for the transmission of knowledge about poetry and of the culture of the imperial court. This analysis is supplemented by a consideration of early modern anecdotal and commentarial work, of their areas of overlap with Buddhist soteriology, and of the impact of print technology on the circulation of knowledge about specific disciplines.
This book includes a complete and annotated translation of Chanoyu hyakushu based on the version preserved on sliding doors to the room Dairo no Ma at the Urasenke Konnichian complex in Kyoto and known today as the Hogo-busuma. The text is illustrated with more than thirty reproductions illustrating how the practice of the art of tea was represented in ink and woodblock works.
"At the risk of sounding schmaltzy, I likely would not be the learner nor teacher that I am today without the EALC Department. I had a wonderful time studying Japanese in the then-Department of Asian Languages. So much so that I moonlighted as a department assistant sorting mail and restocking the copy machine during my time there. Thanks to Stanford, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to study abroad in the Bing Overseas Studies Program (Kyoto-SCTI) and, after graduation, to teach English at a medical school in Shikoku through departmental connections. I have so many fond memories from classes with Professors Carter, Reichert, and Matsumoto, as well as studying Japanese language with Nakamura Sensei and Kubo-Lowdermilk Sensei. I credit the department with instilling in me a passion for studying Japanese language, literature, and culture, as well as introducing me to manga and pop culture-related topics and texts that I continue to research to this day. Being able to complete a senior honors thesis under the supervision of Professor Reichert was also a fantastic experience and a great primer for the graduate school theses I would write in the future."
- Ben Whaley, B.A. in Japanese '07
Associate Professor of Japanese at the University of Calgary
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