phd japanese literature

Ph.D. in Japanese Literature and Culture

The Ph.D. program is designed to prepare students for a doctoral degree in Japanese literature and culture.

Students should consult the most up-to-date version of the degree plan on the  Stanford Bulletin  as well as the  EALC Graduate Handbook . Each student should meet with their faculty advisor at least once per quarter to discuss the degree requirements and their progress.

Admission to Candidacy

Candidacy is the most important University milestone on the way to the Ph.D. degree. Admission to candidacy rests both on the fulfillment of department requirements and on an assessment by department faculty that the student has the potential to successfully complete the Ph.D.

Following University policy ( GAP 4.6.1 ), students are expected to complete the candidacy requirements by Spring Quarter of the second year of graduate study.

Pre-Candidacy Requirements

Demonstrate proficiency in modern and classical Japanese by completing the following courses or demonstrating equivalent linguistic attainment by passing the appropriate certifying examinations.

• JAPANLNG 213 - Fourth-Year Japanese, Third Quarter (2-4 units)
• JAPAN 264 - Introduction to Premodern Japanese (3-5 units)
• JAPAN 265 - Readings in Premodern Japanese (2-5 units)
• EALC 201 - Proseminar in East Asian Humanities I: Skills and Methodologies (3 units)
• EALC 202 - Proseminar in East Asian Humanities II: Current Scholarship (1 unit)

Complete eight advisor-approved courses numbered above 200 from among the offerings of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. At least four of these eight courses must be advanced seminars numbered above 300. At least one of these eight courses must deal with Japanese linguistics. For students focusing on modern literature, at least two of these eight courses must deal with premodern material. For students focusing on premodern literature, at least two of the eight courses must deal with modern material.

Complete two upper-division or graduate-level courses in two supporting fields for a total of four courses outside of Japanese literature or linguistics. Supporting fields, to be determined in consultation with the student’s primary advisor, may include Japanese anthropology, art, art history, history, philosophy, political science, religious studies, Chinese literature, Korean literature, comparative literature, etc.

All Doctoral students must complete an MA qualifying paper. An MA thesis is accepted instead of a qualifying paper for students initially admitted as EALC MA students. Students seeking an MA en route to the PhD must secure approval from the primary advisor and submit an MA thesis.

A graded MA qualifying paper or thesis must be submitted to the DGS and SSO with an accompanying note from the student’s primary advisor by week five of spring quarter of the second year of study for the annual review and candidacy decision.

During the quarter when students complete the MA qualifying paper or thesis (25-30 pages), they must enroll in  EALC 299 .

Teaching Requirement

• DLCL 301 - The Learning and Teaching of Second Languages (3 units)

Demonstrate pedagogical proficiency by serving as a teaching assistant for at least three quarters, starting no later than autumn quarter of the third year of graduate study. The department may approve exceptions to the timing of the language teaching requirement.

Post-Candidacy Requirements

Demonstrate proficiency in at least one supporting language to be chosen in consultation with the primary advisor according to the candidate’s specific research goals. Students concentrating on classical Japanese literature usually are expected to fulfill the supporting language requirement by completing  kanbun , JAPAN 265 - Readings in Premodern Japanese (2-5 units). For the supporting language, students must be proficient at the second-year level, at the minimum; a higher level of proficiency may be required depending on the advisor’s recommendation. Reading proficiency must be certified through a written examination or an appropriate amount of coursework to be determined on a case-by-case basis. When deemed necessary by the student’s advisor(s), working knowledge of an additional supporting language may also be required.

Pass a comprehensive qualifying examination that tests the candidate’s breadth and depth in the primary field of research and methodological competence in the relevant discipline before advancing to Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status.

Students should submit a dissertation prospectus before advancing to Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status. The prospectus should comprehensively describe the dissertation project and include sections on the project rationale, key research questions, contribution to the dissertation’s field, literature review, chapter-by-chapter description, a projected timeline, and bibliography.

Pass the University Oral Examination (dissertation defense). General regulations governing the oral examination are found in Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures ( GAP 4.7.1 ). The candidate is examined on questions related to the dissertation after acceptable parts have been completed in draft form.

Following university policy ( GAP 4.8.1 ), submit a dissertation demonstrating the ability to undertake original research based on primary and secondary materials in Japanese.

Japanese Literature and Culture Ph.D. students must complete a Qualifying Paper by week 5 of spring quarter of the second year as part of the Candidacy evaluation process. The Qualifying Paper should be 25-30 pages in length not including bibliography and must demonstrate the ability to develop and carry out an original research project using primary and secondary materials in Japanese. The Qualifying Paper can be an extension of a seminar paper, but its topic should be discussed with the student’s primary advisor prior to writing.

The Dissertation Prospectus Defense constitutes the first step toward faculty approval for the student’s proposed dissertation project and should be completed before the student begins to apply for external funding to conduct doctoral research in Japan – typically by Spring quarter of the third year, but sometimes in Spring or Summer quarter of the second year if the student’s research agenda is already well defined by that time. The defense is a two-hour oral exam conducted by the student’s dissertation reading committee (minimum of three faculty members, including the primary advisor). The prospectus, 12-15 pages not including bibliography, must be submitted to committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense.

The Comprehensive Exam is a two-hour oral exam on Japanese literature with three examiners. The reading list (maximum 150 titles) must be approved by them at least one quarter in advance. The list must include primary texts in Japanese literature as well as core texts in methodology; students may also add a subfield and a fourth examiner if deemed necessary by their primary advisor for their research and credentialing. To pass the exam students must demonstrate competency in literary history and critical issues for the field of Japanese literary studies, selected methodologies, and key issues in any subfield. The Comprehensive Exam must be completed by the end of the fourth year.

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Japanese Literature and Cultural Studies

EALAC has long been known for its leadership in Japanese literature and culture, beginning with Donald Keene (university professor emeritus), Ivan Morris, and then Edward Seidensticker, who pioneered the field; today it continues to produce many leading scholars of Japanese literature and visual culture. The program is outstanding both in modern and in premodern studies, enabling the students to receive extensive training both linguistically and across different periods and disciplines. The program is well known for teaching various levels and styles, from advanced modern Japanese to classical Japanese, kanbun, and calligraphic script, all of which is supplemented by strong programs in Chinese and Korean. The program promotes critical methodologies and interdisciplinary or comparative studies, combining, for example, literature with film, visual culture, gender studies, cultural history, and religion, often working across one or more countries in Asia.

A major characteristic of the program is the interface of the studies of literature, cultural history, and media. Haruo Shirane is an expert in classical, medieval and early modern Japanese literature and cultural history, with special interest in poetry and prose fiction, intermedial relations (oral storytelling, painting/print culture, dance, and theater in relationship to literary texts), and the role of popular culture in canon formation. David Lurie, teaching both literature and history, is a leading authority in ancient Japanese history and literature, script and writing systems, linguistic thought, and Japanese myths. In premodern studies, they are aided by Wei Shang (premodern Chinese literature), Michael Como, Bernard Faure, and Max Moerman (early and medieval Japanese religion), and Matthew McKelway (medieval and Edo painting).

Paul Anderer is an authority on 20th century Japanese literature, particularly fiction, literary criticism, and film. Tomi Suzuki is an expert in 19th and 20th century fiction, literary and cultural criticism, and intellectual history. They are complemented by Carol Gluck, Greg Pflugfelder, and Paul Kreitman (19th and 20th c. Japanese history), Jonathan Reynolds (modern Japanese visual culture and architecture), and Marilyn Ivy (anthropology), not to mention those in other modern East Asian literatures and cultural studies, particularly Theodore Hughes (modern Korean literature) and Lydia Liu (modern Chinese and literature).

EALAC created almost the entire first generation of Japanese literature scholars after World War II. The Japanese literature and visual culture program at Columbia has continued its leadership role, training and placing, in just the last two decades, more than forty PhDs graduates in institutions of higher learning throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, more than any other program by far. Graduates of the program occupy positions of leadership both in the field and at many of the leading universities such as UCLA, Stanford, Columbia, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Washington University at St. Louis, Boston University, University of British Columbia, Oxford, SOAS, and University of Hong Kong, among others.

The Japanese literature and cultural studies program also has a MA double degree program with Waseda University which allows PhD students to study and train in Japan for a year, earning a MA as they work toward a PhD at Columbia. Visiting scholars from various Japanese universities also offer workshops and courses on a regular basis.

The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, affiliated with the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, regularly sponsors lectures, workshops, performances, and other events that bring prominent scholars, artists, musicians, and other cultural figures to campus from elsewhere in North America, Europe, Japan, and Asia.

With the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University has one of the strongest library collections in the world for Japanese literature and culture. It has particularly extensive holdings of books and journals in premodern and modern literature, history, and religion.  Its Makino Mamoru Collection on the History of East Asian Film is an important resource for scholarship not only on cinema and popular culture, but also on many other aspects of modern Japanese history.

Our location in New York City also creates close connections to the Japan Society, Asia Society, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and New York Public Library, as well as providing exposure to a wide variety of Japan-related film screenings, gallery shows, talks by writers, and live performances by both traditional and contemporary artists throughout the year.

EALAC Japanese Literature and Cultural Studies – List of Alumni 

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EALAC – Columbia University 407 Kent Hall 1140 Amsterdam Ave. MC 3907  New York, NY 10027 tel:212.854.5027

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Japanese Ph.D. Program

Specialization in linguistics.

[Note: Students interested in pursuing the PhD with a specialization in Japanese linguistics can apply for our  MA in Japanese linguistics (if they do not yet have a related MA degree), and, for the PhD, our PhD program in Asian Languages and Cultures , where they can specialize in Japanese linguistics.]

SPECIALIZATION IN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

I. admission.

Application to the Ph.D. program is recommended for those students who have already earned an M.A. in this field or are in the process of earning one. 

Students already enrolled in this department's M.A. program must submit a Petition to Proceed in order to be admitted to the Ph.D. program. See  department policy 2.5 and consult the Academic Counselor for more information.

II. Course Requirements

In addition to the minimum of 45 credits or its equivalent required for the master's program, the Ph.D. student must take at least 50 credits of course work at the graduate level, 20 of which must be at the 500 level.

The following courses and dissertation credits are required:

• Modern Japanese: JAPAN 431, 432, 433 (may be bypassed with previous training, if approved)
• Classical Japanese and kambun : JAPAN 471, 472, 505 (may be bypassed with previous training, if approved)
• 10 credits in classical Japanese literature & culture (JAPAN 571, 572, or 573)
• 10 credits in modern Japanese literature & culture (JAPAN 531, 532, or 533)
• ASIAN 800 Doctoral Dissertation (27 credits)

Additional course work may be required. Each student develops his or her individualized program of study in consultation with his or her faculty adviser.

III. Language Requirement

In addition to English and Japanese, the student must demonstrate proficiency in a third language related to his or her course of study.  Proficiency must be demonstrated in this third language to the satisfaction of the adviser before the student may proceed to the General Examination.

Students pursue advanced studies in three distinct fields, each of which is supervised by a member of the graduate faculty. At least one of those fields must be classical Japanese literature and at least one must be modern Japanese literature. Each of these fields requires a substantial research paper. The third field, which may be pursued outside the department, will be selected in consultation with the adviser and its requirements will be determined by the supervising faculty member.

V. General Examination

After the above field requirements have been fulfilled and the third language requirement has been satisfied, the student must take and pass an oral General Examination for admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree. The examination is administered by the Doctoral Supervisory Committee.

VI. Dissertation and Final Examination

After achieving Doctoral Candidate (Ph.C.) status, the student engages in research and the writing of the dissertation under the direction of his or her Doctoral Supervisory Committee. When the Doctoral Supervisory Committee deems the student ready, a final examination will be conducted in which the dissertation is evaluated. When the final examination has been passed and the result has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School, then the requirements are complete and the degree is granted.

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• PhD Program in Japanese

The PhD in Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Colorado offers specializations in Chinese or Japanese with concentrations in literary and/or cultural studies of either the pre-modern or modern periods. The program consists of:

• course work
• a Comprehensive Examination consisting of a written and an oral component
• a doctoral dissertation
• an oral defense of the doctoral dissertation.

The following guidelines represent the PhD procedures specific to our department; they are not intended to replace or supersede the University of Colorado at Boulder Catalog nor any other official document issued by the Graduate School. See in particular the  Graduate School Rules .

Course Work

The PhD requires a minimum of 45 credit hours in graduate courses numbered 5000 or above in Japanese and may include a focus in a related field (such as History, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Sociology, Art History, Film Studies, etc.). Students who have completed an MA degree may be able to apply up to 21 hours toward this requirement.

The required 45 credit hours of coursework must be passed with a grade of B or better. If a student receives a grade of B- (or a lesser grade), the course in question will not count toward the total number of credits required to graduate. Upon receiving more than one B- (or lesser grade), a student will normally be dropped from the graduate program.  In order to ensure that special circumstances are taken into account, the department Graduate Committee will review each such case and recommend appropriate action to the department chair.

In addition to superior language skills in English as well as in the classical/literary and modern form of the language, a reading knowledge of one additional language is required (typically one additional Asian language or one European language), to be decided in consultation with the main advisor.

This ability may be determined by completing a college level intermediate course (typically fourth semester) in the language with a grade of B or better (either at CU or prior to arrival on campus); passing with the current minimum acceptable score an appropriate foreign language test; or passing a test of reading knowledge set by appropriate faculty.

New PhD students will select the courses they take during their first year of study in consultation with the Graduate Director of the program. By the end of their second semester, students are required to choose their major advisor, with whom they will plan their program of study thereafter. Normally this faculty member becomes the Chair of the Comprehensive Examination Committee as well as of the Dissertation Committee.

Comprehensive Examination

Before admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree, students must pass a comprehensive examination. The comprehensive exam will cover three fields—the chosen field of concentration and two related fields—to be decided in consultation with the student’s Comprehensive Examination Committee.  

The examination is conducted by an examining board appointed by the chair of the department and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. The board shall consist of the major advisor and additional members as necessary to a minimum of five (one of whom must come from outside the department or from outside the program).

Working in consultation with the Chair (usually this will be the student’s major advisor) and other members of the Comprehensive Examination Committee, the student will formulate a dissertation topic and prepare a reading list of primary texts pertaining to that topic, and a further list of secondary materials composed of critical and theoretical texts intended to inform the student’s approach to the dissertation topic. The reading lists will be circulated to the Comprehensive Examination Committee two weeks before the written exam.

The examination itself consists of a take-home written exam in three fields (the chosen field of concentration and two related fields) followed by an oral examination lasting about 90 minutes that concentrates on the written exam, but may also address texts and topics on the reading lists that are not covered in the written exam.

For the written exam, the student will be given three groups of two or three questions in each field. Usually, the Chair of the Comprehensive Examination Committee will set questions in the student’s chosen field of concentration; the questions for the two related fields are each set by a committee member. The questions for each group will be emailed to the student by the Graduate Program Assistant or the Chair of the Comprehensive Examination Committee, usually in intervals of three weeks. Each time, the student will choose one question from the group and return the response to the committee members within two weeks. What form the response is going to take is decided by the Chair of the committee. Typically, the response will be a scholarly paper of 15 to 30 pages.

The oral examination will cover the student’s broad area of concentration. It takes place within two weeks after the third response is submitted. Students are expected to demonstrate familiarity with primary and secondary sources as well as related issues such as social and historical context, and current theoretical trends in the field. The Comprehensive Examination is only open to the members of the Examination Committee.

The student is responsible for notifying the Graduate Program Assistant of the date of the oral examination to reserve a room.  The Exam Form  should be submitted to the Graduate Program Assistant as soon as the date is confirmed.

Upon successful completion of the Comprehensive Examination, students should fill out the  Candidacy Application for an Advanced Degree .

Dissertation Hours

A minimum of 30 hours of doctoral dissertation credit with no more than 10 of these hours in any one semester are required. Students must be enrolled in a minimum of 5 dissertation hours per semester after passing the comprehensive exam and extending through the semester in which they defend their dissertation.

Dissertation Director and Committee

Students form the Dissertation Committee in consultation with the major advisor. The committee consists of the Dissertation Director (usually this will be the student’s major advisor) and four other graduate faculty members (one of whom must come from outside the department or from outside the program).

Dissertation Prospectus

The dissertation prospectus will be submitted within a month after the Comprehensive Examination, to be followed by its defense a week later.

The dissertation prospectus should provide a clear written outline of the dissertation, including: the major theme or themes of the dissertation; a clearly expressed thesis or argument about the topic itself; an overview of relevant secondary literature; a chapter-by-chapter outline; a timeline for its completion; an extensive bibliography. Students are expected to demonstrate familiarity with their field, a thorough knowledge of primary and secondary sources, current trends in scholarship, and a clearly articulated sense of their contributions to the field. The prospectus should be roughly 4,000–5,000 words long, plus bibliography, and will be circulated to the Dissertation Committee; the Dissertation Committee will decide if a prospectus is acceptable. The prospectus defense will take place with the members of the Dissertation Committee. The defense lasts approximately an hour. If the prospectus is approved, the student begins to write the dissertation.

Dissertation

The PhD dissertation must be based upon original research and demonstrate mature scholarship and critical judgment as well as familiarity with the tools and methods of research. It should be a worthwhile contribution to knowledge in the student’s special field. The dissertation is written in close consultation with the Director and Dissertation Committee.

The dissertation must meet the format requirements of the Graduate School. Students should consult the University Catalog and confer with the Graduate School for specifications and deadlines.

Dissertation Defense

The dissertation defense—an oral examination and discussion lasting about 90 minutes—should take place in the spring semester of the fifth year. The student should schedule the defense before the start of the spring semester. Copies of the dissertation should be delivered to the committee members at least one month prior to the defense date.  The Exam Form  should be submitted to the Graduate Program Assistant as soon as the date is confirmed. A satisfactory vote from at least four committee members is required to pass the defense. The Final Examination is open to anyone who wishes to attend.

Typical Timeline

• Semester 1:   3 seminars
• Semester 2: 3 seminars
• Semester 3: 3 seminars
• Semester 4: 3 seminars
• Semester 5: 2 seminars; 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance; ​preparation of Comprehensive Exam
• Semester 6: 1 seminar; 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance; ​Comprehensive Exam; Submission of Dissertation Prospectus
• Semester 7: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance
• Semester 8: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance
• Semester 9: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance
• Semester 10: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance; Submission and Oral Defense of Dissertation
• MA Program in Japanese
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• Japanese, PhD

UW–Madison offers MA and PhD degrees in Japanese, specializing either in linguistics or in literature and culture. The program provides broad foundations and focused training in these two specialties, assuring that our graduates are amply prepared to teach and conduct research.

The linguistics specialty excels in areas such as functional linguistics, pragmatics, discourse/conversation analysis, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and language pedagogy.

The literature and culture specialty covers the classical Heian through contemporary Reiwa periods, offering a wide range of courses on fiction, poetry, drama, popular culture, visual culture, cinema, acoustic culture, and cutting-edge cross-media and avant-garde topics, particularly manga and anime.

The Japanese Program is housed in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC), along with the Chinese Program and the Asian Languages and Cultures Program. As such, students will have opportunities to interact with all faculty, staff, and graduate students affiliated with the department to examine their area of specialty in broader regional and disciplinary contexts.

Please consult the table below for key information about this degree program’s admissions requirements. The program may have more detailed admissions requirements, which can be found below the table or on the program’s website.

Graduate admissions is a two-step process between academic programs and the Graduate School. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements of the Graduate School as well as the program(s). Once you have researched the graduate program(s) you are interested in, apply online .

Prior to submitting application and materials, applicants should carefully review the information regarding the program of interest and the  faculty’s expertise  to determine the fit between their interest and the program. To this extent, prospective applicants may contact a specific faculty to discuss their research interest prior to submitting applications.

Applicants should also review the  Graduate School's admission process and Graduate School's minimum requirements .

Applicants must upload an academic writing sample or MA thesis to their application. You may submit a seminar paper, thesis chapter, or journal article. This paper should be in English, and may either be published or unpublished.

For more information on application materials, refer to the application and admissions information page.

In order to be considered for fellowships, project assistantships, and teaching assistantships , all application materials must be in by the fall deadline .

If you do not need any funding support, you may submit applications by April 15.

Graduate School Resources

Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid.  Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.

Graduate Student Costs

For tuition and living costs, please view the Cost of Attendance page .  International applicants recommended for admission to the Graduate School are required to show sufficient funds to attend the University during the course of studies (tuition, food and housing, incidentals and health insurance) to be officially accepted by the Graduate School.

Department Resources

The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures offers financial assistance in the forms of fellowships, teaching assistantships (TAships), and project assistantships (PAships). Please make note of the deadline of January 10 for financial assistance consideration . All necessary materials including test scores must be submitted by the deadline.

If you are an international applicant and receive a fellowship, PAship or TAship, please make note that you will likely be required to show additional financial documentation to meet the minimum required for your official acceptance to the Graduate School.

Other Awards & Fellowships

• F o r e i g n Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships: FLAS fellowships are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the UW's National Resource Centers to assist students in acquiring foreign language and either area or international studies competencies. FLAS awards are only available for specific languages and are contingent on federal funding.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Applications by students in professional fields are encouraged. Preference will be given to applicants with a high level of academic ability and with previous language training.

Academic Year and Summer FLAS awards are two separate competitions requiring two separate and complete applications.

Complete details about FLAS at UW-Madison are available on the FLAS FAQs (your first stop) and the FLAS Languages & Coordinators pages (should you have additional questions).

• Adv a n ce d Opportunity Fellowship (AOF): This fellowship is awarded to highly qualified underrepresented students. To be considered for AOF funding, prospective students must be new to the Graduate School and be admissible to a graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For further information: https://grad.wisc.edu/diversity/ .
• Project Assistantships. Availability of PAship varies from one year to another, depending on the types of projects the departmental faculty are engaged in. PAs assist faculty members’ research projects and/or respond to some programmatic needs of the department and other campus units.
• T e a c hin g Assistantships. Availability and types of TAship vary from one year to another, depending on the department’s curricular needs and student enrollment. TAs will support a number of our language and culture courses, typically team-teaching with faculty members. If you are interested in being a teaching assistant in our language programs, you must submit the TA application and necessary materials (1-2 page written autobiography that refers to your prior teaching experience, letter of recommendation that speaks to your teaching experience, video recording of your teaching, if available) through the Graduate School application system by January 10 .
• Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS) Awards Office:  IRIS manages its own funding opportunities (Scott Kloeck-Jenson Fellowships, IRIS Graduate Fieldwork Awards, Incubator Grants), coordinates the campus component of a number of external programs (Boren Fellowships, Fulbright US Student Program, Fulbright-Hays DDRA, Luce Scholars Program), assists students, faculty, and staff in exploring funding options, and much more. Visit:  https://iris.wisc.edu/funding/  for more information on awards. Contact Mark Lilleleht, Assistant Director for Awards, with questions at  [email protected]  & 608-265-6070.
• Other Forms of Financial Aid: Loans and some on-campus job openings are handled through the Office of Student Financial Aid . Please contact them to obtain more information.
• Students may also obtain information from the Grants Information Center in the Memorial Library, Room 262, 728 State St., Madison, WI 53706. Phone 608-262-3242.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

Major requirements.

Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements , in addition to the program requirements listed below.

Mode of Instruction

Mode of instruction definitions.

Accelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students typically take enough credits aimed at completing the program in a year or two.

Evening/Weekend: ​Courses meet on the UW–Madison campus only in evenings and/or on weekends to accommodate typical business schedules.  Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments.

Face-to-Face: Courses typically meet during weekdays on the UW-Madison Campus.

Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats.  Contact the program for more specific information.

Online: These programs are offered 100% online.  Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format.

Curricular Requirements

Required courses, linguistics pathway 1.

These pathways are internal to the program and represent different curricular paths a student can follow to earn this degree. Pathway names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.

It is recommended that students take a research methods course.

Literature Pathway 1

Graduate school policies.

The  Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures  provide essential information regarding general university policies. Program authority to set degree policies beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School lies with the degree program faculty. Policies set by the academic degree program can be found below.

Major-Specific Policies

Prior coursework, graduate credits earned at other institutions.

With program approval, students are allowed to transfer no more than 9 credits of graduate coursework from other institutions. Coursework earned ten years or more prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.

Undergraduate Credits Earned at Other Institutions or UW-Madison

With program approval, no more than 7 credits of graduate coursework (as defined above) completed while a UW–Madison undergraduate may transfer to satisfy degree requirements. Coursework earned ten years or more prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.

Credits Earned as a Professional Student at UW-Madison (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary careers)

Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy.

Credits Earned as a University Special Student at UW–Madison

With program approval, students are allowed to transfer no more than 9 credits of graduate coursework (as defined above) taken as a UW–Madison Special student. Coursework earned ten years or more prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.

A semester GPA below 3.5 will result in the student being placed on academic probation. If a semester GPA of 3.5 is not attained during the subsequent semester of full-time enrollment, the student may be dismissed from the program or allowed to continue for 1 additional semester based on advisor appeal to the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee. A student on probation may not take the preliminary examination.

Advisor / Committee

Starting fall 2018, all students are required to be supervised by co-advisors. One of the co-advisors must be a member of the Japanese Program, but the other co-advisor can be identified from related fields outside of the Japanese Program.

At the point of beginning work on the dissertation, a single dissertation advisor (most likely one of the co-advisors) may be chosen, or the co-advising arrangement may continue for the dissertation as well.

Dissertation committees must have at least four members representing more than one graduate program, three of whom must be UW–Madison graduate faculty or former UW–Madison graduate faculty up to one year after resignation or retirement. At least one of the four members must be from outside of the student’s major program or major field (often from the minor field).

Credits Per Term Allowed

Time limits.

Refer to the Graduate School: Time Limits policy.

Grievances and Appeals

These resources may be helpful in addressing your concerns:

• Bias or Hate Reporting  
• Graduate Assistantship Policies and Procedures
• Office of the Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs
• Employee Assistance (for personal counseling and workplace consultation around communication and conflict involving graduate assistants and other employees, post-doctoral students, faculty and staff)
• Employee Disability Resource Office (for qualified employees or applicants with disabilities to have equal employment opportunities)
• Graduate School (for informal advice at any level of review and for official appeals of program/departmental or school/college grievance decisions)
• Office of Compliance (for class harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual violence)
• Office Student Assistance and Support (OSAS)  (for all students to seek grievance assistance and support)
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (for conflicts involving students)
• Ombuds Office for Faculty and Staff (for employed graduate students and post-docs, as well as faculty and staff)
• Title IX (for concerns about discrimination)

Students should contact the department chair or program director with questions about grievances. They may also contact the L&S Academic Divisional Associate Deans, the L&S Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning Administration, or the L&S Director of Human Resources.

• Professional Development

Take advantage of the Graduate School's  professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career. 

Program Resources

Throughout the academic year, professional development trainings, workshops, and graduate student-organized activities take place. The Director of Graduate Studies is eager to hear from students about what interests they have for such events. 

Graduate School Office of Professional Development

The Graduate School Office of Professional Development (OPD) coordinates, develops, and promotes learning opportunities to foster the academic, professional, and life skills of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and scholars.

Professional development topics include  Individual Development Plans , communication, mentoring, grant writing, dissertation writing, career exploration, job search strategies, and more. OPD collaborates with the Writing Center, Libraries, DoIT Software Training for Students, Delta, career centers, and others to provide a wealth of resources and events tailored to the needs of UW–Madison graduate students.

The office developed and maintains  DiscoverPD , an innovative tool for UW–Madison graduate students to advance their academic and professional goals. DiscoverPD introduces nine areas (or "facets") of professional development, includes a self-assessment, and provides a customized report of areas of strength and weakness. The report comes with recommendations to help graduate students strengthen their ability within each area.

More information on campus resources for student professional development is available at  Graduate Student Professional Development . Students may keep up-to-date by reading  GradConnections , the weekly newsletter for graduate students, and bookmarking the  Events Calendar  to keep tabs on upcoming workshops of interest.

• Learning Outcomes
• Demonstrate a thorough and in-depth understanding of research problems, potentials, and limits with respect to theory, knowledge, or practice in at least one of the following areas of study: Japanese literature and culture, Japanese linguistics, and Transasian studies.
• Formulate ideas, concepts, designs, and/or techniques beyond the current boundaries of knowledge within the specialized field(s).
• Create scholarship and advance knowledge that makes a substantive contribution to the field(s).
• Articulate and communicate complex ideas in a clear and understandable manner to both specialized and general audience.
• Recognize, apply, and foster ethical and professional conduct.

Please visit the  Asian Languages & Cultures website  for a complete list of faculty, instructional, and academic staff.

• Requirements

Contact Information

Asian Languages & Cultures, Graduate Program https://alc.wisc.edu/graduate-programs/

Tiange Wang, Graduate Program Coordinator [email protected]

Tyrell Haberkorn, Director of Graduate Studies [email protected]

Graduate School grad.wisc.edu

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Welcome to the graduate program in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. The program offers the Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC) in the principal fields of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean literature; Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Inner Asian history (including Tibet); East Asian Buddhism; and East Asian Arts, Film and Cultural Studies.  In addition, the program also offers the Ph.D. in History and East Asian Languages (HEAL) in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Inner Asian history. Additional information on the HEAL PhD program is available here .

Instruction in Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese history is also offered in the Department of History . A rough division of emphasis places Chinese and Japanese history after ca. 1850 in the History Department and most teaching in earlier periods in EALC. Courses in Korean and Inner Asian history are offered only in EALC, but many are cross-listed in History.

Faculty holding joint appointments with other departments include specialists in Buddhist studies, Japanese history, the History of Science, and Tibetan studies.

The Department of EALC does not offer a master’s program. Those interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the study of East Asia should consult the Committee on Regional Studies – East Asia .

More detailed information about the graduate program can be found in the Graduate Program Handbook which can be accessed by clicking on the "Handbook" link above.

STAFF 2024-2025

Director of Graduate Studies Professor Tomiko Yoda [email protected]

Graduate Program Coordinator Carolyn Choong [email protected]

Pedagogy Fellow (formerly Departmental TF) Yedong Sh-Chen [email protected]

Departmental Writing Fellow Kaiyi (Cathy) Shen [email protected]  

UCLA Japanese Studies

Within the past decade ucla has significantly expanded its programs in japanese studies. it now provides graduate students with a multi-faceted approach to japan that includes language study, departmental specializations, and programmatic approaches that cut across departments..

For undergraduates the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures offers a program leading to the B.A. degree in Japanese, in which the emphasis is on the language and culture of Japan.

Departments

Anthropology, as a member of our small graduate cohort admitted each year, you will join a tight-knit and dynamic research community with research projects that span the globe and incorporate diverse media and methods in their work..

Departmental interest groups provide a rallying point for research that cross cuts not only the four fields of anthropology, but also many other domains in the physical and social sciences and humanities. Each interest group hosts a diverse selection of speakers from nationally and internationally acclaimed institutions each year creating a vibrant opportunity to participate in and shape the debate in issues critical to contemporary anthropology.

Mariko Tamanoi

Mariko Tamanoi, Professor in the Anthropology Department, is author of Under the Shadow of Nationalism: Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women (1998) and Memory Maps: The State and Manchuria in Postwar Japan (2009) as well as editor of Crossed Histories: Manchuria in the Age of Empire, which has been translated to Japanese. Her publications also include articles in the Journal of Asian Studies, Ethnology, Annual Review of Anthropology, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Critical Asian Studies, Japan Focus, and American Ethnologist. She is currently a member of the Editorial Board for Positions: East Asian Cultures Critique, and an associate of the e-journal Japan Focus: The Asia Pacific Journal.

Architecture and Urban Design

Redefining architectural education in a major research university, we emphasize interaction among the components of our program, design, technology, and critical studies (history and theory), along with the other departments in the school of the arts and architecture and the larger university..

We are especially strong in examining the theory and impact of computerized technology on design, and the latest developments in robotics, and the fabrication of building components. Critical studies at UCLA makes a crucial contribution to the evaluation of new directions in design and issues of contemporary practice, including pressing environmental concerns. We are increasing our interest in cross-cultural studies, exchange programs, and cross industry research. Our undergraduate major allows us to further expand and enrich both our faculty and student body.

Hitoshi Abe

Hitoshi Abe, Professor and Chair in the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at the School of Arts and Architecture and Chair in the Study of Contemporary Japan and the Director of the UCLA Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies. Since 1992, when Dr. Hitoshi Abe won first prize in the Miyagi Stadium Competition and established Atelier Hitoshi Abe, he has maintained an active international design practice based in Sendai, Japan, as well as a schedule of lecturing and publishing, which place him among the leaders in his field. Some of his most recent publications include Hitoshi Abe (Phaidon, 2009), Hitoshi Abe Flicker (Toto shuppan, 2005) and Project Book (Shokokusha, 2005). Known for architecture that is spatially complex and structurally innovative, the work of Atelier Hitoshi Abe has been published internationally and received numerous awards in Japan. His most recent works in progress include a departmental building on the New Campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU).

The Department of Art is committed to a professional art training within the context of a liberal arts university. Visual artists are responsible for some of the most provocative and enduring expressions of culture.

At UCLA, emerging artists are provided with the tools they need to express themselves in ways that are meaningful in the social context in which they live and work. The department attracts gifted and motivated students who thrive in an environment that encourages autonomy. They are drawn not only to the outstanding creative faculty, the University's resources, and its location in one of the world's leading art centers, but also to a program that encourages them to develop as artists. The result is a distinguished list of graduates who have made significant contributions in their field.

Russell Ferguson

Russell Ferguson joined the Department of Art in January 2007, and was chair until 2013. From 2001, he was Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs, and Chief Curator, at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, where he remains an adjunct curator. From 1991 to 2001, he was at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, first as Editor, then as Associate Curator. He has organized many exhibitions. At the Hammer, these included The Undiscovered Country (2004), a survey of various approaches to representation in painting, as well as solo exhibitions by Larry Johnson (2009), Francis Alÿs (2007), Wolfgang Tillmans (2006), Patty Chang (2005), and Christian Marclay (2003). At the Museum of Contemporary Art, he organized In Memory of My Feelings: Frank O’Hara and American Art(1999), an exploration of the circle of artists that revolved around the poet, as well as survey exhibitions of the work of Liz Larner and Douglas Gordon (both 2001). With Kerry Brougher, he organized Open City: Street Photographs Since 1950 (2001) for The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. Also with Brougher, he is the organizer of Damage Control: Art and Destruction since 1950 (2013) for the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington. He is the editor of two collections of critical writing: Discourses: Conversations in Postmodern Art and Culture, and Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures, both published by the MIT Press. He has written about the work of many contemporary artists, including Thomas Eggerer, Olafur Eliasson, Tony Feher, Rodney Graham, Cristina Iglesias, Damian Ortega, Laura Owens, and Gillian Wearing.

Asian Languages and Cultures

The department of asian languages and cultures (alc) at ucla offers an undergraduate major and minor in japanese and three different phd programs in japanese studies: the phd program in japanese literary and cultural studies, with specializations in classical and medieval literary culture, early modern literary and visual culture, and modern and contemporary literature and film; the phd in cultural and comparative studies with an interdisciplinary and comparative focus on japan; and the phd in buddhist studies with a focus on japanese buddhism..

For more information please visit the ALC department website at https://anthro.ucla.edu/academics/graduate/

William M. Bodiford

William M. Bodiford teaches courses on religion in the cultures of Japan and East Asia, and Buddhist Studies. His research spans the medieval, early modern, and contemporary periods of Japanese history. Currently he is investigating religion during the Tokugawa period, especially those aspects of Japanese culture associated with manuscripts, printing, secrecy, education, and proselytizing. Although many of his publications focus on Zen Buddhism (especially Soto Zen), he also researches Tendai and Vinaya Buddhist traditions, Shinto, folklore and popular religions, as well as Japanese martial arts and traditional approaches to health and physical culture. He is the author of Soto Zen in Medieval Japan (University of Hawai’i Press, 1993), of numerous articles on Dōgen and medieval Buddhism, and editor of several books on Buddhism including Going Forth: Visions of Buddhist Vinaya (University of Hawai’i Press, 2005).

Torquil Duthie

Torquil Duthie’s main area of specialization is the literature and cultural history of the Asuka and Nara periods. His research interests include early and classical Japanese poetry, myth, and historical writing, narrative theory and the representation of subjectivity in premodern Japanese literature, the role of literary culture in the representation of the state, and seventeenth and eighteenth century kokugaku (“native learning”) and its relationship to modern and contemporary philology and theory. He teaches classical Japanese and kanbun, and undergraduate classes and graduate seminars on a variety of premodern topics. He is the author of Man’yōshū and the Imperial Imagination in Early Japan (Brill, 2014), of a book of translated selections from the Kokinshū into Spanish, and of research articles in English and Japanese. He is currently working on a book on literary writing, ritual, and historiography in Early Japan, and on a translation into English of selections from the Kokinshū.

Michael Emmerich

Michael Emmerich’s scholarly interests in Japanese literature range from the classical, court-centered prose and poetry of the Heian period to the popular printed fiction of the early modern age, and on from there to the prose fiction of modern and contemporary times. His book The Tale of Genji: Translation, Canonization, and World Literature (Columbia University Press, 2013) examines the role that translations of Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji) into early-modern and modern Japanese, and into English and other languages, have played in creating images of the tale over the past two centuries—reinventing it as a classic of both national and world literature. In addition to his many publications in English and Japanese on early modern, modern, and contemporary Japanese literature, Emmerich is the author of more than a dozen book-length translations of works by writers such as Kawabata Yasunari, Yoshimoto Banana, Takahashi Gen’ichiro, Akasaka Mari, Yamada Taichi, Matsuura Rieko, Kawakami Hiromi, Furukawa Hideo, and Inoue Yasushi.

Seiji M. Lippit

Seiji M. Lippit teaches courses on modern literature and film. His research interests include modernism, mass culture, urban space, minority literature, as well as representations of decolonization, occupation, and the transformation of national consciousness in postwar Japan. His publications include Topographies of Japanese Modernism (Columbia UP, 2002), an examination of modernist fiction in 1920s and 30s Japan, as well as the edited volume The Essential Akutagawa (Marsilio, 1999), an anthology of writings by the celebrated writer Akutagawa Ryūnosuke. He also edited the translation of contemporary philosopher and cultural critic Kojin Karatani's History and Repetition (Columbia UP, 2011). He is currently working on a book project entitled Postwar Tokyo: Capital of a Ruined Empire that examines the cultures of decolonization in Tokyo in the wake of empire’s collapse. Lippit received his A.B. in Literature from Harvard University and his PhD in Japanese literature from Columbia University.

Gender Studies

Gender studies is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary department that provides the unique opportunity to study culture and society from multiple intersecting perspectives that would not be possible within any single discipline..

Our interdisciplinary UCLA Gender Studies Department faculty and graduate students are engaged in theoretical and methodological innovations in a wide range of studies about gender around the world including indigenous, intersectional, legal, masculinity, media, post-colonial, queer, settler colonial, sexuality, and technoscience studies. We focus on these issues in Africa, Americas, Europe, and the Pacific region, as well as east, south, and west Asia. Our disciplinary affiliations include anthropology, ethnic studies, history, literature, and political science. As of July 2014 we have 11 core and 51 affiliated faculty members, plus 24 graduate students.

Other resources include the UCLA Center for the Study of Women and the UCLA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Program plus 17 departments, centers, and programs at other UC campuses .

Sharon Traweek

Sharon Traweek teaches and conducts research on 20th and 21st century “technosciences,” attending to their embodied gendered performance of subject formation of expertise, knowledge crafting, migration, and narrative practices, including their strategic engagements with the global political economies in which they are embedded. She is active is studies of the aftermath of the 3.11 quake, tsunami, and reactor failures. Her ethnographic, archival, and theoretical work is informed by feminist epistemology and science studies, plus debates about affect, governmentalitym intersectionality, performance, and practice. She is now engaged in or advising research collaborations based in Denmark, Japan, Sweden, UK, and the US. She has worked with graduate students engaged in studies of how media, public health, reproduction, science, sex work, and technology are part of Japanese nation-state formation from the 17th to 20th centuries. Former students and postdoctoral researchers with whom she has worked are now faculty members, researchers, and administrators at colleges and universities in Brazil, Ireland, Japan, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, and the US.

The UCLA History Department is acknowledged as one of the great centers for the study of history in the world.

The Japan field constitutes a vital and respected part of the department, with a long history of distinguished scholarly activity, and dozens of graduates teaching at prestigious institutions throughout the country. Its current faculty (Hirano and Marotti) offer complementary approaches and cutting-edge research and instruction across the early modern and modern periods. Our highly selective graduate students form a collegial and energetic cohort, with a diversity of research interests and backgrounds, and receive flexible and comprehensive training facilitating innovative new work. Beyond the resources within the department, students avail themselves of research, instructional, and collaborative activities across the university and the region through a variety of interdisciplinary, regional and intercollegial institutes and exchanges.

Katsuya Hirano

Katsuya Hirano’s teaching and research explore the intersection between history and critical theory with a focus on questions of ideology, political economy, and subject/subjectivity. His first book, The Politics of Dialogic Imagination: Power and Popular Culture in Early Modern Japan, (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 2013) outlines a general theory of the transformation in modes of subject-formation from the Tokugawa regime (1603-1868) to Japan’s first modern state, the early Meiji government, through an analysis centered on the regulation of popular culture. His current book project examines, through the prism of biopolitics, the correlative operations of capitalism and racism in the making of the Japanese empire. Taking the colonization of the Ainu people as the locus of analysis, the project explores the relation between the state’s drive for primitive accumulation (deterritorialization and reterritorialization of Ainu lands) and the construction and implementation of racial categories through academic (linguistic, economic, and anthropological) and legal discourse. The project ultimately seeks to deepen our understanding of the history of Ainu experiences through the perspectives of global histories of empire, capitalism, and colonialism. Hirano is also co-editing a translation volume with Professor Gavin Walker, entitled The Archive of Revolution: Marxist Historiography in Modern Japan. This volume will be the first major introduction of the rich yet long neglected Japanese Marxist historiography that played the decisive role in the formation of critical social science in modern Japan from the late 1920s to the 1970s. Lastly, Hirano has been conducting a series of interviews with the people who have been vocal about the seriousness of Fukushima nuclear disaster and calling for the abolition of nuclear power plants in Japan. He plans to publish them in English translation in the near future.

William Marotti

William Marotti, Assistant Professor in the Department of History. His publications include several journal articles, book chapters, reviews, commentaries and translations. He is currently working on two projects: Money, Trains, and Guillotines: Art and Revolution in 1960s Japan, which is a manuscript based on his dissertation due to be published by Duke University Press in Spring 2012. It is a historical investigation of the politics of culture in postwar Japan, viewed through an analysis centered on movements in avant-garde artistic production and performance; and “The Politics of Violence: Protest, Voice, and the Police in late-1960s Japan”, which is a second, complementary book project exploring the distinctive forms of activism which arose toward the end of the 1960s, and their complex struggles with the state over political recognition and legitimacy.

Established in 1911, the Department of Geography consistently ranks among the top departments in the United States.

Recognized internationally as a leader in research and education in both physical and human geo­graphy, the Department offers under­graduate degrees (B.A.) in Geography and Environ­mental Studies, and graduate degrees (M.A., Ph.D.) in Geography.

Lieba Faier

Lieba Faier is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her first book, Intimate Encounters: Filipina Women and the Remaking of Rural Japan (University of California Press, 2009) is an ethnography of cultural encounters among Filipina migrants and their Japanese families and communities in rural Nagano. She is working on a second book, currently entitled, The Work of Freedom: Bureaucratic Collaborations to Fight Human Trafficking to Japan, that focuses on ongoing efforts among NGOs, government agencies, and international organizations to fight the trafficking of migrant women to Japan. She is also part of The Matsutake Worlds Research Group, a collaborative research team studying matsutake commodity chains across the globe. She has published articles in the Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, American Ethnologist, Cultural Anthropology, Environment and Planning A, and Gender, Place, and Culture.

Founded in the depth of the Great Depression, UCLA Anderson School of Management now ranks among the top-tier business schools in the world.

An award-winning faculty renowned for research and teaching, highly selective admissions, successful alumni and world-class facilities combine to provide an extraordinary learning environment in the heart of Southern California. UCLA Anderson's faculty comprises outstanding educators and researchers who share their scholarship and expertise in areas such as accounting, decisions, operations and technology management, finance, global economics and management and organizations, marketing, and strategy. Leadership themes permeate the curriculum at UCLA Anderson. MBA students have many opportunities to develop leadership skills in safe surroundings. This includes working in teams on real world management challenges through the Applied Management Research and the Global Access Programs. There are also a multitude of leadership experiences available through the school's many student associations and activities.

George Abe is a lecturer and Faculty Director of the Strategic Management Research (SMR) Program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. His teaching responsibilities include entrepreneurship, business plan development and field study program advisories. SMR is the field study program, required of all Executive MBA students. He was Business Development Manager for the UCLA Office of Intellectual Property, which is responsible for patent protection and commercialization of UCLA research. Previously, he was a venture partner with Palomar Ventures, a VC firm in Santa Monica, California. Before Palomar, he was a Business Development Manager at Cisco Systems. Prior to that he was with Infonet Services Corporation (NYSE:IN, now BT) where he designed Infonet's IP data service. From 1998 until 2006, he was a member of the board of directors of Switchcore AB, a publicly traded fabless semiconductor designer in Sweden. He has also held board of director positions with various startup companies and not-for-profit organizations. He is the author of Residential Broadband, which presents an analysis of high-speed residential networking, published by Cisco Press.

Mariko Sakakibara

Mariko Sakakibara, Professor of Management at the Anderson School of Management specializing in Strategy. Her book, Can Japan Compete?, 224 pp., (Perseus Publishing, 2001) was selected as one of the “Books of the Year” by The Economist (2000), featured on the front page of The New York Times (Feb. 2001), and was a finalist at the WH Smith Book Awards in the business category (April 2001). It was also translated into Chinese, Japanese and Korean. She focuses her research on alliances, innovation, entrepreneurship, and multinational corporate strategy. She teaches business strategy, international business and innovation, and initiated a study-trip progam to Japan for the student in all management programs, She is also currently on the Faculty Advisory Committee for the International Institute and the Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies at UCLA, and Area Editor for Journal of International Business Studies and on the Editorial Board of Research Policy

Political Science

Michael thies.

Michael Thies, Associate Professor in the Political Science Department. His most recent book publication is Japan Transformed: Political Change and Economic Restructuring. (Princeton University Press, 2010). He is currently the Chair of the International Institute Undergraduate Area Studies Interdepartmental Programs (East Asian Studies, European Studies, Latin American Studies, Middle East &North African Studies, Southeast Asian Studies) at UCLA and is Chair of the Gabriel Almond Prize Committee for the Best Dissertation in Comparative Politics at the American Political Science Association.

• East Asian Languages & Literatures

Fields for doctoral study are Chinese literature and Japanese literature. (See also the Combined PhD Program in Film and Media Studies.) Although the primary emphasis is on these East Asian subjects, the department welcomes applicants who are seeking to integrate their interests in Chinese or Japanese literature with interdisciplinary studies in such fields as history, history of art, linguistics, religious studies, comparative literature, film and media studies, theater studies, literary theory and criticism, and the social sciences.

• Programs of Study
• PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
• Combined PhD

Mick Hunter (Fall 2024)

Director of Graduate Studies

• [email protected]

Aaron Gerow (Spring 2025)

• [email protected]

Maura Kelly

Departmental Registrar

• [email protected]
• 203-432-2860

Admission Requirements

Standardized testing requirements.

GRE is optional. 

Program-Specific Application Requirements

A writing sample is required by this program. 

English Language Requirement

TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic is required of most applicants whose native language is not English.

You may be exempt from this requirement if you have received (or will receive) an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction, and if you have studied in residence at that institution for at least three years.

Combined Degree Program Application Deadline

*The deadline to submit an application to a combined program is always the earlier deadline of the two individual programs, or December 15, whichever comes first.

Academic Information

Combined phd information.

East Asian Languages & Literatures offers a combined PhD in conjunction with Film and Media Studies .

Program Advising Guidelines

GSAS Advising Guidelines

Academic Resources

Academic calendar.

The Graduate School's academic calendar lists important dates and deadlines related to coursework, registration, financial processes, and milestone events such as graduation.

Featured Resource

Registration Information and Dates

https://registration.yale.edu/

Students must register every term in which they are enrolled in the Graduate School. Registration for a given term takes place the semester prior, and so it's important to stay on top of your academic plan. The University Registrar's Office oversees the systems that students use to register. Instructions about how to use those systems and the dates during which registration occurs can be found on their registration website.

Financial Information

Phd stipend & funding.

PhD students at Yale are normally fully-funded. During their programs, our students receive a twelve-month stipend to cover living expenses and a fellowship that covers the full cost of tuition and student healthcare.

• PhD Student Funding Overview
• Graduate Financial Aid Office
• PhD Stipends
• Health Award
• Tuition and Fees

Alumni Insights

Below you will find alumni placement data for our departments and programs.

Let your curiosity lead the way:

Apply Today

• Arts & Sciences
• Graduate Studies in A&S

PhD in Japanese Language and Literature Requirements

The PhD in Japanese Language and Literature at Washington University provides students with a solid foundation in all periods and forms of Japanese literature while requiring expertise in one’s research concentration.  Students select a complementary minor field in a second Asian literary tradition or another area of Japanese Studies as appropriate. Given present faculty strengths, students are encouraged to focus on Japanese literature of the twentieth century, while appreciating the strong “traditionalist” current that marks much of this literature.

I.  General Degree Requirements

The primary focus of this doctoral program will be the study of classical, pre-modern, and modern Japanese literature, with a secondary focus in an appropriate minor field, bolstered by relevant methodologies.  Doctoral students will be afforded a range of teaching experiences as part of their professional training, with extensive hands-on instruction in pedagogical methodology.  Some students may have the opportunity to teach in related programs outside the Department as well.  Toward the end of their program, students will conduct research in Japan.

PhD candidates:

1)  Complete 72 hours of graduate units, which may include up to 12 hours of dissertation research credit. Students who have completed their MA at Washington University may transfer up to 30 units; students coming with a similar MA from another American university may transfer up to 24 units.  Transfer credits for students from non-American universities are treated on a case-by-case basis.  The total will include:

• A maximum of 48 units from courses, comprised of seminars and advanced classes selected so as to yield a broad and deep familiarity with Japanese literary and cultural history and one’s area(s) of concentration.
• Of the 48 required units, the following distribution will apply:
• 9 units of required courses in literary and cultural theory, methodology, and pedagogy to be determined in consultation with advisor.  (May include CompLit 402 Introduction to Comparative Literature: Theory and Methods; Japan 537 Proseminar; Japan 573 Seminar in Japanese Language Teaching.) 
• 6 units must comprise Japan-related courses offered through other departments and programs.  Students will either concentrate on one discipline for their secondary area or take courses from several in order to broaden their expertise.
• 6 units must comprise courses in the literary and cultural traditions of China or Korea.

2)  Demonstrate native or near-native competence in both Japanese and English.

3)  If needed for research in the chosen area of specialization, achieve sufficient proficiency in one or more languages in addition to Japanese and English (normally French or German among the European languages, Chinese or Korean among Asian languages).

4)  Successfully complete the Qualifying and Comprehensive examinations. 

5)  Successfully complete a doctoral dissertation based on extensive research on a literary or cultural topic that produces new knowledge of publishable quality in the field of Japanese studies.  Normally dissertation research and writing is completed in the last two years of graduate study.

Examinations:

Qualifying Evaluation : toward the end of the first year of the PhD program, students submit a portfolio including all research papers written for classes taken in the first semester and work in progress for the second semester as determined in consultation with the advisor and advisory committee.  Students subsequently meet with the committee to discuss the contents of the portfolio and their progress in the program.  During the discussion, the student will also be asked to describe future research goals. The second element of this qualifying evaluation assesses students' progress in their primary languages. (This will be waived in the case of native speakers of Japanese.)

Comprehensive Examinations : Near the end of formal courses, normally at the end of the third year of full-time study, students complete three Comprehensive Examinations, preferably in a single semester, on: 1) Major field: premodern or modern/contemporary Japanese literature, 2) Minor field: premodern Japanese literature in the case of students whose major field in modern literature; modern and contemporary Japanese literature for those whose major field is premodern, and 3) A comparative and/or theoretical field relating to the candidate’s area of research specialization, defined in consultation with and approved by the advisory committee.  For guidance and preparation of their field exams, students will prepare a comprehensive bibliography.  Following successful completion of the three examinations, students will present their dissertation prospectus in a public forum before a panel of relevant faculty.

• In conjunction with the Comprehensive Examinations, and before the beginning of the fourth year, students must submit a Dissertation Prospectus for committee approval.

Implementation Plan for the Japanese Literature PhD Advanced level communication

In order to give our graduate students ample opportunity to experience advanced level communication, the faculty in the Japanese Literature PhD program will conduct the following:

1) require presentations in graduate-level seminars.

2) actively encourage participation (paper presentation, panel organization) in regional and national conferences, such as the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs.  In addition, we encourage participation in annual graduate-student-organized conferences (Columbia University, University of Colorado-Boulder, etc.)  We also expect our students to participate yearly in the symposium sponsored by the Comparative Literature Program.

3) in preparation for these conferences we arrange for our students to give small-group readings of their work.

4) we develop symposia and seminars on campus, and expect our students to participate actively.  We arrange for them to have lunch or otherwise interact with the guest speakers.

5) in preparation for job interviews, we arrange for our students to conduct mock interviews and job talks.

6) following committee approval of the dissertation prospectus, we require students to offer a colloquium-style presentation of the dissertation project

Probation and Dismissal Policy

Refer to the EALC Probation and Dismissal Policy for details.

II. Selection of Candidates and Admissions Criteria

Applicants for this program will be expected to have advanced proficiency in modern Japanese and a demonstrated ability to write analytically and to think critically in English.  Applicants should have completed the MA degree in: a) Japanese literature or cultural studies, b) East Asian Studies with focus on Japanese literature/culture, or c) another relevant field.  Additionally applicants will be screened for their commitment to the study of Japanese literature and culture, and their interests in areas of research strength among our faculty (early modern, modern, and contemporary Japanese literature). The Japanese Graduate Committee, comprised of tenure-line Japanese literature faculty in East Asian Languages and Cultures, will choose candidates from among applicants for recommendation to the Office of Graduate Studies in Arts & Sciences.

III . Resources and Support

The Office of Graduate Studies in Arts & Sciences will provide the usual support in the form of A&S Fellowships.

Washington University has several special fellowship programs such as the Olin Fellowship for Women or the Chancellor's Graduate Fellowship Program for outstanding and diverse American students interested in careers as college or university professors. The McDonnell International Scholars Academy may also be an additional source of support for candidates in this program, given the strengths of the Academy’s connections with top-ranked Tokyo University.

IV. Language Study and Research Abroad 

The Department maintains ties with other institutions in this country and abroad where the students might carry out their advanced studies and research.  Exchange arrangements may be made with Tsukuba University near Tokyo, where students may apply for government-sponsored funding.  Faculty may also be able to assist students in making arrangements with Dôshisha University in Kyoto.