East Asian Languages and Cultures

Asian studies has long been an important area of pursuit for students, faculty members, and administrators at Connecticut College. One of the first colleges among its peers to establish a Department of Chinese (1965), the college expanded its unique commitment to the field through the creation of an interdepartmental Asian Studies Program in 1970, and again in 1985 with the addition of the Department of Japanese. This steady progression, and the experience gained by it, has made the college acutely aware of the developments in the field during the past thirty-five years ­ and has informed the evolution of outstanding programs in Asian studies up to the present day.

Most recently, a new configuration for Asian studies at Connecticut College has taken place, spurred on by the steady rise of East Asia as integral to the stability and success of global society, and by the need to study the region in more complex and dedicated ways.

The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, conceived and implemented through the merger of the Chinese and Japanese Departments in 1998, is built upon the conviction that extensive language training coupled with a learning perspective that is more Asia-centered allows students to gain true insight into Asia in a variety of contexts.