Duke University 2008-2009 - Office of the Registrar - Duke University

The Program encourages the crossing of traditional disciplinary boundaries through
thematic seminars while retaining a firm grounding in a disciplinary base. The temporal
focus of the Program is on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with fields of
specialization available in Art and Art History, Cultural Anthropology, History, Modern
Literature, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, and Sociology. The thematic foci of the
Program include cultural and literary studies, development and policy studies, gender,
sexuality and ethnicity, institutional transformation, and politics and society.
Degree Requirements
The master’s degree in East Asian studies requires ten courses (30 credit hours,
including an integrated required core course), of which at least eight (24 credit hours) must
be in East Asian studies. These must be drawn from a list of approved courses, with no more
than four taken in any one department. Fourth-year college-level East Asian language
courses may be counted toward the eight-course requirement. In all, no more than two of the
ten required courses may be lower level language (third year or below) or non–East Asian.
In lieu of a thesis, the Program requires the completion of a capstone course and a research
paper or annotated bibiography in area or topic of specialization. The degree is dependent
on the acceptance of the research paper or annotated bibiography by the Graduate
Committee and successful completion of an oral examination on this paper or bibiography
by an MA advisory committee of three faculty members, two of whom must be APSI core
faculty members.
Students are directed in their course of study by the APSI Director of Graduate Studies
along with an individual faculty advisor. The capstone course is to be chosen with the help
of the advisor, who must be a member of the core faculty of the Asian/Pacific Studies
Institute.
At the conclusion of the Program, students must have attained advanced proficiency in
one East Asian language, equivalent to three years of college-level study. It is strongly
recommended that applicants complete at least one year of such language study before
beginning the program at Duke. Students who are native speakers of an East Asian language
are encouraged to take one year (two semesters) of another East Asian language.
Joint JD/MA Degree
The Asian/Pacific Studies Institute also administers a joint JD/MA degree. Admission
to this program is contingent upon admission to the Duke Law School. Degree requirements
for the MA portion are eight graduate courses focusing on East Asia (must be graded).
Students also need to register for six units of research, which can be ungraded. While some
law courses pertaining to East Asia can be counted as graduate courses, students must
register them as Graduate School courses, rather than Law School courses.
Certificate in East Asian Studies
The Asian/Pacific Studies Institute offers a Certificate in East Asian Studies to allow
graduate students at Duke to demonstrate their training and competence in East Asian
Studies. To receive the Certificate, students enrolled in the graduate school or in the
professional schools must formally apply for the program and must complete at least four
courses from an approved list of courses in East Asian Studies, from at least two different
departments or programs, together with minimum language proficiency (two years) in an
East Asian language (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean).
COURSES ON EAST ASIAN STUDIES OFFERED BY DEPARTMENTS
AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS
Asian and African American Studies
200S. Seminar in Asian and African Cultural Studies. C-L: see Asian & African Languages and Literature
Studies 200S; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology 288S, Literature 200S
Courses of Instruction 119