What do students in the East Asian Languages and Cultures program learn?
In addition to becoming proficient in at least one of three challenging languages, you'll learn how to think and write critically, present and discuss Asia and Asian culture intelligibly to others, and apply what you've learned at UMass Amherst to careers beyond graduation.
Many students spend at least one semester in an East Asian country, acquiring sensitivity to and knowledge of the differences between East Asian and American cultures—the most important step you'll take toward becoming a global citizen.
Our faculty teach a wide array of courses in various disciplines, such as political science, religion, women’s studies, theater, premodern and modern literature, cinema, popular culture, gay/queer culture, linguistics, second-language pedagogy, and warrior and court cultures. The East Asian languages and cultures faculty teach subjects and courses with an interdisciplinary approach and through a transhistorical lens.
