MA in East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies in Santa Barbara United States | University of California, Santa Barbara

The Master of Arts program in East Asian Languages & Cultural Studies focuses on advanced language instruction as the cornerstone for investigating East Asian cultures. This graduate program aims to equip students with strong proficiency in one or more East Asian languages while offering extensive options for interdisciplinary and cross-cultural exploration of both traditional and contemporary East Asian societies. The curriculum emphasizes humanities disciplines such as history, literature, religious studies, anthropology, linguistics, and arts, along with social and cultural anthropology and sociology. Students follow a structured progression through required core seminars that establish fundamental methodological and theoretical frameworks for East Asian scholarship. Prospective students should possess at least two years (three years preferred) of prior study or heritage language experience in either Chinese or Japanese. Graduation requirements include completing third-year modern language coursework, with fourth-year proficiency strongly encouraged, along with studies in Classical Chinese and Japanese.