East Asian Studies Program
East Asian Studies
The East Asian Studies Major and Minor
Students with a major in East Asian Studies must fulfill the following requirements:
- Four semesters of Chinese or Japanese language course work or the equivalent. Majors are encouraged to begin their language work at Denison during their first year.
- Two core courses surveying traditional and modern East Asian civilization, selected from the following list:
- Traditional East Asian Civilization
- Religions of China and Japan
- Dream and Fantasy in East Asian Literature
- Art of Japan or Art of China
- Modern East Asian Civilization
- Introduction to Modern Chinese and Japanese Literature
- Five East Asian area studies courses, selected from the following list:
- History of Asian Art Survey
- Tea/Aesthetic Japan
- Art of Japan
- Art of China
- East Asian Art and Ideas
- Classical Chinese Literature in Translation
- Dream and Fantasy in East Asian Literature
- Philosophical Taoism and Chinese Literature
- Chinese Cinema in English
- Traditional East Asian Civilization
- Modern Japan in Film and Literature
- Introduction to Modern Chinese and Japanese Literature
- Japan's Modern Canon
- The Confucian Classics
- East Asia Since WWII
- Religions of China and Japan
- Independent and Directed Study (examples):
- Advanced Chinese
- Readings in Chinese Texts
- Readings in Japanese Texts
- East Asian Economies
- Geography of China
- Directed Study in East Asian Studies
- Independent Study in East Asian Studies.
- Comparative courses:
- East Asia in comparison with another region of the world
- History of Asian Art Survey
- International Communication
- Economic Development in the Third World
- International Trade
- Human Rights and Asian Values
- Politics of the Third World
- International Political Economy
- Buddhism.
- A senior research project.
Students with a minor in East Asian studies must fulfill the following requirements:
- Four semesters of Chinese or Japanese language course work or the equivalent.
- Two core courses surveying traditional and modern East Asian civilization, from the list above.
- Three East Asian area studies courses from the list above.
Student Research
All East Asian studies majors must do a senior research project, applying the methodologies of two disciplines to a research topic normally focusing on China, Japan, or their interaction.
Rising seniors and below may apply for summer research grants, focussed on the East Asian region. The research is guided by a faculty member and culminates in a writing or artistic project and a presentation to other summer scholars. Student scholars live on Denison's campus. The following lists the titles of some of the research projects undertaken in recent years by East Asian Studies majors:
- "An Exploration of He shang as a Text and Socio-political Commentary"
- "Ba Jin and Jia: An Introspective Glimpse into the Mind of a Writer and Patriot As Well as His Most Famous Work"
- "An Analysis of the Japanese Family Institution through Contemporary Popular Media"
- "A Challenge to the People's Republic of China's Sovereignty and Authority: The Presence and Historical Relevance of Civil Unrest in the People's Republic of China's Xinjiang Uygyr Autonomous Region"
- "China's Banking System: Entering the WTO"
- "Propaganda Art: the Fuel of a Revolution"
- "The East Asian Miracle Revisited: A Case Study of Taiwan and South Korea from the Historical and Economic Perspective"
- "A study of Singapore's Economic Growth"
- "The 1950 Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China and its Effects on Family Structure and Women's Rights"
- "Trapped Inside the Iron House: The Life of Lu Xun and Three of His Short Stories"
- "Export Performance in Shanghai"
What do East Asian studies majors do after Denison?
Many of our graduates have gone on to careers that make direct use of their East Asian studies majors:
- Jeremy Foust '02 - Director of Global Purchasing for L.J. Smith, a leading staircase manufacturer, a job that involves traveling abroad, including to China, to visit international suppliers. Foust says, "Almost 90% of the reason I was hired for this job was my East Asian degree and full junior year abroad in China. Chinese language and business cultural skills are crucial for American manufacturers."
- Katie Pongonis '91 - Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State stationed in the Beijing Embassy in the fall of 2001.
- Faith Brewitt '93 - Faith served in Dow Jones, and Company in Shanghai and with Edelman Public Relations International in Taiwan and is now Account Supervisor with Neihaus, Ryan, Wong, Inc. in San Francisco.
- Dan Olds '97 - Program Director, Asia, Council on International Educational Exchange in New York City. Dan taught English at Sichuan Union University, then ran the CIEE program in Shanghai at East China Normal University as Resident Director in the summer of 2000. In 2002, he joined the CIEE senior management team as one of their eight directors.
- John Robinson '99 - Business Development Manager for commercial real estate in Shanghai for DTZ Debenham Tie Leung. John earned his certificate from the Nanjing-Hopkins program
- Jason Fatchett '97 - Jason finished an M.A. in Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii, specializing in Chinese thought.
- Donald O'Kieffe '91 - Marketing Department, Asia Net, Hong Kong. Don taught English in Taiwan and began a business career in Taiwan before moving to Hong Kong.
- Caroline Thoms '97 - Special Agent Naval Criminal Investigation Service, Washington, D.C. Caroline spent her junior year at Waseda and completed an M.A. in Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
- Michael Tangeman '91 - Associate Professor in Japanese language and literature, Denison University. Mike earned his Ph.D. in the East Asian Languages and Literatures Department at Ohio State University.
- Yuko Chong '00 - English teacher with NOVA program in Tokyo, Japan.
- John Neumann '94 - Finished the M.A. program in International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and became an aide for a congressman on Capitol Hill.
Who are our professors?
- Assistant Professor of Japanese and Director of East Asian Studies Michael S. Tangeman joined the faculty at Denison in 2001. He earned his B.A. at Denison University and his M.A. and Ph.D at Ohio State University. His research interests are in Japanese literature, particularly the modern Japanese novel.
- Professor of Religion John E. Cort joined the faculty at Denison in 1992. He earned a B.A. and an M.A. at the University of Wisconsin and an M.A. and a Ph.D. at Harvard University. His research interests include Asian, Indian and comparative religions, Indian history and culture and the history of religion.
- Associate Professor of Geology and Geography Todd A. Frolking joined the faculty at Denison in 1984. He earned a B.A. at the University of New Hampshire and an M.S. and a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin. His specialties are physical geography and surface processes. His current research concerns the impacts of glaciation on central Ohio's river systems, water resource issues, both local and global and geoarchaeology projects linking soils to prehistoric land use in both central Ohio and eastern Hungary.
- Associate Professor of Music Ching-Chu Hu joined the faculty at Denison in 2000. He earned a B.A. at Yale University, an M.A. and M.F.A. at University of Iowa and a D.M.A. at University of Michigan. Hu teaches composition, theory, arranging and conducting. Hu is the recipient of the 2002-2003 and 2004-2005 ASCAP Award. In 2004 he received the Bayley-Bowen Faculty Fellowship.
- Professor of History Barry C. Keenan joined the faculty at Denison in 1976. He earned a B.A. at Yale University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Claremont University. He teaches Traditional East Asian Civilization, Modern East Asia, Confucian Classics and East Asia since World War II. His research focuses on the history of Chinese education, Confucianism and social change in modern China.
- Professor of Chinese Xinda Lian joined the faculty at Denison in 1994. He earned his M.A. at Fujian Teachers University and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. His research interests are in Chinese literature, particularly Song Dynasty poetry.
- Assistant Professor of Economics Songhua Lin joined the faculty in 2002. She teaches Macroeconomics, Econometrics and International Trade. She earned a B.A. and M.A. from Jilin University in P.R., China, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California-Davis.
For more information about the program and curriculum, go to:
or contact:
Michael Tangeman
East Asian Studies Program
Fellows Hall, Room 212B
Denison University
Granville, Ohio 43023
Phone: (740) 587-6253
Fax: (740) 587-8285
E-mail: keenan@denison.edu