East Asian Studies Minor

East Asian studies addresses the three societies of China, Japan, and Korea in northeast Asia. We recognize that they compose a meaningful regional designation that contains a diverse range of peoples, languages, and cultures. Linked by centuries of common use of the Chinese writing system, a shared textual canon, general principles of statecraft, and the continual circulation of people and goods, the three societies nevertheless also possess distinctive languages, histories, and social identities, making it necessary to explore each society in its own right.

In recognition of this diversity within the common bonds, East Asian studies at UC Santa Cruz encourages students to explore East Asia in both depth and breadth. Building first upon developing language skills in Chinese or Japanese, students also begin their studies in a historical survey—HIS 40A, HIS 40B, HIS 80C, or HIS 81—which explore the broad regional forces that contextualize each society’s particular trajectory. From these foundations, students are encouraged to investigate a broad range of questions pertinent to each society in classes across the university, including anthropology, economics, education, feminist studies, film and digital media, history, history of art and visual culture, languages, linguistics, literature, music, politics, sociology, and theater arts.

The East Asian studies minor is administered by the Department of History. For additional information on curriculum and advising, visit the East Asian studies website.

Study Abroad

Because the minor is designed to support the integration of language training with exploration of East Asian societies, we strongly endorse participation in one of the many education abroad programs available for UC students in East Asia where language skills acquired at the university are put to practical use in daily life and research. At present, there are UC Education Abroad Programs in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. Students who complete Chinese or Japanese language courses while studying abroad are expected to complete a language placement exam upon their return to UCSC. Instructions for the placement exam can be found on the Languages and Applied Linguistics website. For more information about study abroad, see the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) and UCSC Study Abroad websites.

Course Requirements

The East Asian studies minor requires a minimum of six courses, five of which must be upper-division (minimum of 25 upper-division credits). Additional lower-division coursework in Chinese or Japanese language may be need in order to gain the proficiency necessary to take the upper-division Chinese or Japanese language courses required for this minor (see below).

Lower-Division Courses

Language

All East Asian studies minors are expected to gain proficiency in Chinese or Japanese language. Students without prior knowledge of Chinese or Japanese should enroll in beginning Chinese (CHIN 1) or Japanese (JAPN 1) no later than fall quarter of their second year. Students with prior knowledge of Chinese or Japanese are required to complete a language placement exam to determine which course of Chinese or Japanese language instruction best suits their skill level. Instructions for the placement exam may be found on the Languages and Applied Linguistics website. Students may also pursue study abroad opportunities as a way of acquiring Chinese or Japanese language instruction.

Either these courses

CHIN 1First-Year Chinese

5

CHIN 2First-Year Chinese

5

CHIN 3First-Year Chinese

5

CHIN 4Second-Year Chinese

5

CHIN 5Second-Year Chinese

5

CHIN 6Second-Year Chinese

5

or these courses

CHIN 4HAccelerated Chinese for Heritage Speakers

5

CHIN 5HAccelerated Chinese for Heritage Speakers

5

CHIN 6Second-Year Chinese

5

or these courses

JAPN 1First-Year Japanese

5

JAPN 2First-Year Japanese

5

JAPN 3First-Year Japanese

5

JAPN 4Second-Year Japanese

5

JAPN 5Second-Year Japanese

5

JAPN 6Second-Year Japanese

5

Core Courses

Choose one of the following courses:

HIS 40AEarly Modern East Asia

5

HIS 40BThe Making of Modern East Asia

5

HIS 80CGlobal China

5

HIS 81Science in the Colonial World

5

Upper-Division Courses

Upper-Division Chinese or Japanese Language

All East Asian studies minors are required to complete two upper-division courses in Chinese language instruction or two upper-division courses in Japanese language instruction. Additional upper-division courses in Chinese or Japanese language may be applied to the upper-division electives requirements (see below).

Chinese Language Courses
CHIN 103Advanced Chinese: Language and Society

5

CHIN 104Advanced Chinese: Readings in Literature

5

CHIN 105Advanced Chinese: Readings in History

5

CHIN 107Introduction to Classical Chinese Prose

5

CHIN 108Introduction to Classical Chinese Poetry

5

Japanese Language Courses
JAPN 103Advanced Japanese

5

JAPN 104Advanced Japanese

5

JAPN 105Advanced Japanese

5

JAPN 109Japanese Language, Culture, and Society

5

Upper-Division Electives

Three additional upper-division courses from the East Asian studies curriculum, one of which may be a topically appropriate individual study: CHIN 199, HIS 199, JAPN 199, LIT 199, etc.

ANTH 130CPolitics and Culture in China

5

ANTH 130GAsian Americans in Ethnography and Film

5

CHIN 103Advanced Chinese: Language and Society

5

CHIN 104Advanced Chinese: Readings in Literature

5

CHIN 105Advanced Chinese: Readings in History

5

CHIN 107Introduction to Classical Chinese Prose

5

CHIN 108Introduction to Classical Chinese Poetry

5

CHIN 199Tutorial

5

ECON 126Why Economies Succeed or Fail: Lessons from Western and Japanese History

5

ECON 149The Economies of East and Southeast Asia

5

EDUC 170East Asian Schooling and Immigration

5

HAVC 122ASacred Geography of China

5

HAVC 122BConstructing Lives in China: Biographies and Portraits

5

HAVC 122CWriting in China

5

HAVC 122DChinese Landscape Painting

5

HAVC 122FBodies in Chinese Culture

5

HAVC 127ABuddhist Visual Worlds

5

HAVC 127BBuddhist Pure Lands

5

HAVC 190DThe World of the Lotus Sutra

5

HAVC 190FChan Texts and Images

5

HAVC 190GBuddhist Wisdom Traditions

5

HIS 101DWorld History of Science

5

HIS 101FGlobal Environmental History

5

HIS 106BAsian and Asian American History, 1941-Present

5

HIS 140BHistory of Qing China, 1644-1911

5

HIS 140CRevolutionary China 1895-1960

5

HIS 140DRecent Chinese History

5

HIS 140EWomen in China's Long 20th Century

5

HIS 145Gender, Colonialism, and Third-World Feminisms

5

HIS 150AEmperors and Outcasts: Ancient Japan

5

HIS 150BTokugawa Japan

5

HIS 150CInventing Modern Japan: The State and the People

5

HIS 150DThe Japanese Empire, 1868-1945

5

HIS 150EHistory and Memory in the Okinawan Islands

5

HIS 150FEngendering Empires: Women in Modern Japan and Korea

5

HIS 194BOkinawan History

5

HIS 194EWomen in Japanese History

5

HIS 194GChina Since the Cultural Revolution: Histories of the Present

5

HIS 194HGender, Family, and State in China: 1600-Present

5

HIS 194MLiterati, Samurai, and Yangban: Comparative History of State and Elite in East Asia, 1600-1900

5

HIS 194UThe Cold War and East Asia

5

HIS 194YMemories of WWII in the U.S. and Japan

5

HIS 194ZHistorical Memory and Historical Narration in China

5

JAPN 103Advanced Japanese

5

JAPN 104Advanced Japanese

5

JAPN 105Advanced Japanese

5

JAPN 109Japanese Language, Culture, and Society

5

JAPN 199Tutorial

5

LIT 133EContemporary Chinese Society, Culture, and Politics

5

LIT 133FPacific Rim Discourse

5

LIT 133GThe Nuclear Pacific

5

LIT 133HHaunted by the Forgotten War: Literature and Film of the Korean War

5

LIT 133IGlobal Japan: Literatures of the Japanese Diaspora

5

LIT 141B
/HIS 141A
Classical Chinese Culture and Literature, 10th Century B.C.E. through Sixth Century C.E

5

LIT 141C
/HIS 141B
Classical Chinese Culture and Literature, Sixth Century through 16th Century

5

LIT 149CThe 1960s

5

LIT 162BLiterature of the Asian Diaspora

5

POLI 140DPolitics of East Asia

5

POLI 141Politics of China

5

POLI 161The Rise of China

5

POLI 190TGovernance and Conflict in East Asia

5

SOCY 128
/LGST 126
Law and Politics in Contemporary Japan and East Asian Societies

5

SOCY 128J
/LGST 128J
The World Jury on Trial

5

THEA 161DAsian Theater: An Anthropological Approach

5