Applicable only to students admitted during the 2025-2026 academic year.

East Asian Studies

Interdepartmental Program
College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The East Asian Studies Program offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in East Asian Studies.

Admissions Requirements

Master of Arts

Advising

Advising is a cooperative effort between the student affairs officer and the student’s principal faculty academic adviser.

Areas of Study

Students are expected to concentrate on one cultural area (China, Japan, or Korea), or to combine areas for a cross-cultural program.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students must complete the third-year level of course work in either modern spoken Chinese, Japanese, or Korean or demonstrate and document the equivalent level of ability by taking a language placement exam.

Course Requirements

Nine courses (36 units) are required for the degree, at least five of which (20 units) must be graduate courses. Of the nine courses, at least five must be in the student’s area of concentration. EA STDS M265 may count as one of those five courses, or as one of the nine. No more than two courses (8 units) in the 500 series may apply toward the nine courses and only one of these courses (4 units) may be counted toward the minimum of five graduate courses required for the degree. All students are expected to take at least one course either in a different cultural area, if they concentrate in one cultural area, or otherwise outside the specific parameters of their cross-cultural program.

Except for 500-series courses, students may not apply courses taken on an S/U grading basis toward the master’s degree, as stipulated by university regulations for interdepartmental degree programs.

Courses used to meet the language requirement do not apply toward the total course requirements.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

The capstone plan consists of a comprehensive examination, which involves the submission of three research papers (at least one seminar and two upper division papers). These papers are evaluated by the ad hoc committee, comprised of three faculty members and chaired by the student’s principal adviser. Students have to submit their papers during the last quarter in residence. If the comprehensive examination is failed, it may be retaken only once via the resubmission of qualifying papers by the end of the next academic quarter.

Thesis Plan

The thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research. The thesis option is available by permission of the graduate adviser. Upon obtaining permission, the student, in consultation with the graduate adviser, selects a three-member faculty committee to supervise and assess the thesis. The thesis committee works closely with the student in the development, writing, and revision of the thesis, and is responsible for reading, evaluating, and approving the drafts and final version of the thesis, ensuring thereby that it meets the University standards of scholarship. Once the final version is approved, the thesis committee recommends the award of the M.A. degree.

Time-to-Degree

Upon admission, full-time students are expected to complete all requirements, except those for the language requirement, within six quarters. Students with no language background may require an extra three regular quarters or one term of intensive summer school study.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.