Updates to the EALC Undergraduate Programs

Dear Majors and Minors int he Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures,

 

I hope you are enjoying your summer, wherever you are and whatever exciting endeavors you are undertaking. I am writing to inform you of some important changes to our undergraduate program that will go into effect this coming fall. These changes are not retrospective and you will be grandfathered in under the existing requirements. However, if you have not yet taken CHINGEN 91 (for Chinese majors/minors) or JAPANGEN 92 (for Japanese majors/minors), then one of the changes will have an impact on your course selection in the remainder of your study. If you have already completed one of these two courses, I nonetheless still urge you to get acquainted with the new developments in the program, which are part of the department’s ongoing efforts to better support our students’ interests and to enhance public recognition of the program.

Starting September 1, 2016, the department’s existing majors and minors in Chinese, Japanese, and East Asian Studies will be consolidated into a single East Asian Studies major that comprises three subplans (China, Japan, Korea). That is, students who declare after September 1 will declare one of the following:

  • a general East Asian Studies major/minor; the equivalent of the existing East Asian Studies major/minor
  • an East Asian Studies major/minor with a China subplan; the equivalent of the existing Chinese major/minor
  • an East Asian Studies major/minor with a Japan subplan; the equivalent of the existing Japanese major/minor
  • an East Asian Studies major/minor with a Korea subplan; this is a newly created option and has not previous equivalent.

In conjunction with the just-mentioned consolidation, we have changed the gateway course requirements. CHINGEN 91: Introduction to China and JAPANGEN 92: Introduction to Japan will no longer be offered. Instead, students will be required to take two gateway courses form the EALC Gateway Course Clusters, one of which must be offered by the department. Depending on the sublet, students will choose from the appropriate list (e.g. students int he East Asian Studies, China Subplan, may take courses in the “East Asian Gateway Course Cluster” and the “Gateway Course Cluster for CHINA Subplan”). Please see the attached document for the list of gateway courses.

If you have not yet taken CHINGEN 91 or JAPANGEN 92:

  • For current Chinese majors/minors: choose one course from the Gateway Course Cluster for CHINA Subplan that is taught by a faculty member in the EALC department
  • For current Japanese majors/minors: choose one course from the Gateway Course Cluster for JAPAN Subplan that is taught by a  faculty member in the EALC department

IMPORTANT: While courses for the 2016-17 academic year were released on August 1, 2016, our department has noticed that there are some scheduling inconsistencies (ie. some courses we intend to offer are not listed, some time schedules are not listed, some courses that were not meant to be offered for 16-17 AY are listed as offered). We are currently working with the Registrar’s office to fix these corrections. We apologize for the inconvenience and will send out an update as soon as the errors have been corrected.

If you have any questions or concerns about the changes described in this message, please let me (yzhou1 [at] stanford.edu (yzhou1[at]stanford[dot]edu)) or Ai (aitran [at] stanford.edu (aitran[at]stanford[dot]edu)) know. We are committed to making the transition as smooth as possible, and we look forward to continuing to work with all of you.

 

Thank you for your attention and best wishes,
Yiqun Zhou
Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures