Under the unified EALC major, students may choose to study across disciplinary and geographic boundaries, or they may pursue a more focused approach to their studies. Our language programs continue to offer their full sequence of courses in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Students are able to choose among the range of non-language courses to enhance their grounding in the East Asian nation of their choice. Students who major in EALC will be equipped with the sort of training in East Asian languages and cultures that will best prepare them to be productive scholars and professionals, and educated global citizens.

The Languages: Chinese, Japanese, Korean

The modern Chinese language curriculum is arranged in a five-year sequence of courses offering a balanced emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. EALC also offers three levels of Heritage Chinese for students who speak Chinese at home, but may not have had formal training in Chinese.

Japanese offers four years of language training in an intensive, interactive classroom experience, and aims at fostering natural fluency and cultural competence from the very beginning stages of study.

The four-year Korean language program enables students to attain a high level of proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, and to acquire the cultural knowledge and competency needed to communicate effectively in a Korean environment.

Each language program offers its students chances for language practice outside the classroom with extracurricular activities, including language tables, cultural events, and guest lectures.