Course Requirements

EALAC offers three tracks: the EALAC PhD program, East Asian History PhD (History-East Asia) program, and the East Asian Religion PhD program. Many of the attendant requirements regarding degree applications, teaching responsibilities, dissertation defense, etc. are identical; however, there are slight differences in the program of coursework for each tract. Please consult the appropriate coursework requirements below.

EALAC PhD Program Course Requirements

The student must take twelve one-semester courses for grade credit, at least six of which must be graduate-level colloquia or seminars. One of the twelve courses must be outside the student’s East Asian country of specialization. The student is strongly urged to take a methodology course appropriate to his or her discipline to be determined in consultation with the advisor. The student should take a bibliography course dealing with or appropriate to the country of specialization when available. The methodology and bibliography courses are counted as two of the twelve required courses. The choice of courses must be approved by the student’s advisor and by the DGS. The second semester of first-year classical Chinese can be counted toward the twelve courses for students whose specialty is not Chinese literature/history or premodern Korean history. If you take two semesters of second-year classical Chinese you may count these two courses as one seminar to fulfill your graduate seminar requirements.

Grades of A are considered to be truly positive. Grades of A- indicate acceptable academic progress, but register that the work can be taken a step further in future.  Grades of B+ signal work that raises concerns, and a pattern of B+ grades would indicate someone who should not go on in the program unless he or she is doing significantly better work in other courses.  Under exceptional circumstances, B is the minimum grade for counting a course toward degree requirements.

East Asian History PhD Program (History-East Asia Program) Course Requirements

Students in East Asian History are required to enroll in a total of twelve one-semester courses for grade credit. Of these, one must be History GR8910 (Introduction to History and Historiography), to be taken in their first year, and one must be a bibliography course or the equivalent. Of the remaining ten courses, eight must be colloquia or seminars or the equivalent selected in consultation with the advisor. The remaining courses may include directed-reading courses. The second semester of first-year classical Chinese can be counted toward the twelve courses for students whose specialty is not Chinese literature/history or premodern Korean history. If you take two semesters of second-year classical Chinese you may count these two courses as one seminar to fulfill your graduate seminar requirements. Additional courses above the required twelve may be taken in consultation with the student’s advisor.

East Asian Religion PhD Program Requirements

The student must take twelve one-semester courses for a grade, at least six of which must be graduate-level colloquia or seminars. One of the twelve courses must be outside the student’s East Asian country of specialization. The student is required to take Religion GR6901, the primary methodology seminar of the Religion Department. Students are also strongly encouraged to take a bibliography course dealing with or appropriate to the country of specialization when available. The methodology and bibliography courses are counted as two of the twelve required courses. The choice of courses must be approved by the student’s adviser and by the DGS. Courses in first-year classical Chinese, first-year classical Japanese and Kanbun can be counted toward the twelve courses. Second-year classical Chinese can be counted as a graduate colloquium/seminar.