East Asian Religion, Thought and Culture

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures offers an undergraduate major in East Asian Religion, Thought, and Culture. Knowledge of philosophical and religious traditions is important to understanding many aspects of East Asia's diverse cultures. This major seeks to train students in these traditions in a way that is grounded in a familiarity with the texts, languages, and cultures of East Asian societies, while also examining how these traditions have been (and might better be) brought into humanistic disciplines.

Students who major in the department have a variety of backgrounds and many students are double majors in a broad spectrum of other departments and programs, including anthropology, applied mathematics, architecture, art history, art practice, Asian studies, business, comparative literature, computer science, economics, English, linguistics, mass communications, molecular and cell biology, political economy, political science, psychology, rhetoric, and theater arts.

Declaring the Major

Students interested in majoring in the department should consult with the staff undergraduate advisor regarding major requirements, transfer credits, and other academic concerns. Students are admitted to the major only after successful completion (with a grade of C or higher) of the prerequisites to the major; for information regarding the prerequisites, please see the Major Requirements tab on this page. Students are advised to begin preparation for the major as soon as possible in order to satisfy University, college, and department requirements. All students should be familiar with the college requirements for graduation with a Bachelor of Arts degree, as explained in the "Earning Your Degree," a bulletin available from the College of Letters & Science, 206 Evans Hall.

Honors Program

A senior undergraduate student who has completed 12 units of upper division language courses in the department, and who has a GPA of 3.5 in those courses and an overall average of 3.0 may apply for admission to the honors program. If accepted, the student will enroll in an honors course (EA LANG H195A or EA LANG H195B) for two consecutive semesters leading to the completion of an honors thesis, which must be submitted at least two weeks before the end of the semester in which the student expects to graduate. While enrolled in the honors program, the student will undertake independent advanced study under the guidance of the student's honors thesis adviser. Upon completion of the program, a faculty committee will determine the degree of honors to be awarded (honors, high honors, highest honors), taking into consideration both the quality of the thesis and overall performance in the department. Honors will not be granted to a student who does not achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 in all undergraduate work at the University by the time of graduation.

Minor Program

There is no minor program in East Asian Religion, Thought, and Culture. Students interested in Buddhism should consider the Buddhist Studies minor offered by the Group in Buddhist Studies.

Other Majors and Minors Offered by the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures

Chinese Language (Major and Minor)
Japanese Language (Major and Minor)
Korean Language (Minor only)
Tibetan (Minor only)

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• finish secondary school and
• earn a certificate of completion, which allows admission to a university in their home country or country of graduation

In addition:

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