East Asian Studies

At Dickinson, the East Asian studies major focuses on China and Japan but with increasing attention to the broader East Asian and global contexts of these two civilizations. Students explore East Asia from multiple perspectives: from ancient origins to contemporary realities through the study of history, society, politics, business and economics, literature and culture.

The major is language-based (Japanese or Chinese is required through the intermediate level) and multidisciplinary, offering students many directions for in-depth analysis and reflection.

New Majors

Additionally, Dickinson has recently made available majors in both Chinese and Japanese. These majors combine intensive language study through the advanced level with topical coursework on each country's society, politics and culture.

David G. Strand's Rickshaw Beijing: City People and Politics in the 1920s (University of California Press, 1989)
David G. Strand's An Unfinished Republic: Leading by Word and Deed in Modern China (University of California Press, 2011)
David G. Strand's Cities in Motion: Interior, Coast, and Diaspora in Transnational China (Institute of East Asian Studies, UC Berkeley, 2007)
Rae Yang's Spider Eaters: A Memoir (University of California Press, 1997)
Neil Diamant's Revolutionizing the Family: Politics, Love, and Divorce in Urban and Rural China, 1949-1968 (University of California Press, 2000)
Neil Diamant's Engaging the Law in China: State, Society, and Possibilities for Justice (Stanford University Press, 2005)
Neil Diamant's Embattled Glory: Veterans, Military Families, and the Politics of Patriotism in China, 1949-2007 (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2009)
Shawn M. Bender's Taiko Boom: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion (University of California Press, 2012)
Alex Bates' The Culture of the Quake: The Great Kanto Earthquake and Taisho Japan (University of Michigan Press, 2015)