The Program in East Asian Studies (link is external)is an interdepartmental plan of study directed by representatives of the cooperating departments--anthropology, art and archaeology, comparative literature, East Asian studies, economics, history, politics, religion, and sociology--as well as the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. It provides an opportunity for students who plan to major in the humanities, social sciences, or other disciplines to simultaneously pursue the study of East Asian language and culture. The program's purpose is to educate internationally minded men and women with basic competence in an Asian area as well as to enhance the student's understanding of Western civilization through perspectives gained from the study of the non-Western world. The student's work is supervised by the appropriate representative of a cooperating department in consultation with the East Asian studies program director. For the purposes of this program, East Asia is defined as those areas where Chinese, Korean, or Japanese is the dominant language.
Students pursuing the program certificate are encouraged to take advantage of intensive summer language programs and of the numerous opportunities for study or travel in Asia, including an intervening year abroad. A limited amount of scholarship aid is available for this purpose. Applications for summer funding and a list of approved centers in East Asia can be found on the program's website; deadlines usually fall in late December or January. Students contemplating an intervening year of study should aim to complete at least two years' study of the relevant language before junior year or earlier and should consult with the program director.