MASTER’S DEGREE

Frequently Asked Questions

The Master of Arts (M.A.) Program in East Asian Studies is a multi-disciplinary program offering a concentrated course of study designed to provide a broad understanding of the people, history, culture, contemporary society, politics, and economy of China, Japan or a transnational region within East Asia.

This program is designed for students preparing to go on to the doctorate in one of the disciplines of East Asian Studies (i.e., anthropology; economics; history; history of art; language and literature, including comparative literature, film studies, and theater studies; political science; sociology, etc.), as well as for those students seeking a terminal M.A. degree before entering the business world, the media, government service, or a professional school.

The number of students in the Master’s program generally ranges from 6 to 12 students each year. Students come to the program with a variety of experiences, skills, academic preparation and interests. Many have had some experience working or living in East Asia and all are expected to have had substantial language training in Chinese or Japanese. Each student, working in conjunction with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in East Asian Studies, plans an integrated program conforming flexibly to his or her particular needs and goals. The environment is very demanding, as M.A. candidates share classes with Ph.D. candidates with disciplinary specializations. It is also collegial as Ph.D. and Master's students interact professionally and socially with faculty, members, and visiting scholars at the Council on East Asian Studies and the larger University community.

The DGS for 2012-2013 is Aaron Gerow, Professor of East Asian Languages & Literatures and Film Studies (Japan).

The EAS M.A. program is designed to be completed in one year. In general, students focus their coursework on the study of China, Japan or transnational East Asia. Some students may prefer to focus much of their coursework on one or two disciplines, in addition to language study and courses focused on East Asia. Others may create a highly interdisciplinary program, taking courses in traditional disciplines such as history, literature, political science, art history or anthropology, as well as in Yale’s professional schools.

A program of study for completion of the degree in one year consists of eight term courses that must include two terms of language study at Yale’s third-year level (unless the language requirement has already been met through previous study) plus six other courses selected from the current year’s offerings of advanced language study and seminars related to East Asia at the graduate level. For those who meet the language requirement at matriculation, one or two of the required eight courses may be advanced training in a particular discipline (e.g., economics, history, political theory, statistics, etc.) with no explicit focus on East Asia, but related to the student’s professional goals. The course of study must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).

Students who wish to complete the EAS Master’s Degree must show evidence of having completed at least two years of intensive Chinese or Japanese language study or the equivalent at the time of matriculation.

Students must earn two Honors grades ("H") over the course of their two terms at Yale. Honors grades earned in any language course cannot be counted toward satisfying the requirement, except with the permission of the Director of Graduate Studies.

As the East Asian Studies M.A. degree program is a one-year program, there are no joint-degree programs available. Students interested in pursuing additional degrees in the Yale professional schools should consider applying separately to those programs in order to complete such degrees before or after the East Asian Studies M.A. degree.

IplanYale: East Asia
IplanYale (a next generation enhancement of E-Assisted Planning - East Asia, which was developed with a generous grant from the Richard U. Light Foundation and in concert with the Richard U. Light Fellowship Program at Yale) has been designed to assist current and prospective Yale University students in effectively finding, documenting, and following through on a wealth of opportunities and resources related to languages and cultures across the globe. By selecting the region of East Asia, IplanYale provides a central portal for students and faculty to efficiently access a wide range of resources about East Asian studies and activities at Yale University. No other tool at Yale exists that offers this kind of comprehensive detail for East Asian studies. For more information on resources at Yale related to the study of East Asian languages and cultures, please visit the IplanYale website and select the region of East Asia when asked to specify your interests.

Yale Graduate School Admissions
Please note that official Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences program information is available online at http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/. To view an on-line map of the Graduate School offices in the Hall of Graduate Studies (320 York Street), please visit http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/offices/index.html.

Official Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences course information can be found at the Yale Online Course Information web site, http://www.yale.edu/courseinfo/.

The application to the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is an ONLINE process—all policies, procedures, instructions, frequently asked questions, as well as access to the on-line application, can be found at http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/admissions.

Information regarding funding opportunities, financial aid, tuition and living costs, as well as student loans, can be found at http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/financial/index.html.

The Yale University Graduate School Information Viewbook can also be viewed and downloaded from http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/prospective/index.html.

For more general information regarding admissions for international students and fellowship opportunities, please visit http://world.yale.edu/admissions. In addition, information regarding services for international students can be found at http://www.yale.edu/oiss.

Examination Requirements for the M.A. Program in East Asian Studies
GRE Requirement
The Graduate Record Examinations General Test is required of all applicants. Applicants must receive a minimum GRE score (combination of verbal and quantitative scores) of 1200 (prior scale) / 308 (current scale). The Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey, administers the GRE in the United States, as well as abroad. (Testing dates and information are available at www.ets.org.) Other standardized tests, such as the GMAT or the LSAT, may not be substituted for the GRE.

TOEFL Requirement
International applicants whose native language is not English must receive a minimum TOEFL score of 610 on the paper-based test or 102 on the internet-based test offered by the Educational Testing Service. The TOEFL requirement is waived only for applicants who will have received a baccalaureate degree, or its foreign equivalent, prior to matriculation at Yale, from a university or college where English is the primary language of instruction.

As part of the application process, official score reports for the GRE and TOEFL must be “released” to Yale University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (code 3987). Paper copies are not acceptable and scores released to other schools of Yale University cannot be transferred or used.

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores are acceptable in addition to or in lieu of TOEFL test scores. International applicants whose native language is not English must receive a minimum IELTS score of 7.5 for the East Asian Studies M.A. Program. For details about this testing alternative, please visit www.ielts.org. At the time of test-taking you will want to specify ‘Yale University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.’ Official score reports must be released to Yale University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Paper copies are not acceptable and scores released to other schools of Yale University cannot be transferred or used.

Graduate Writing Center
The Graduate Writing Center helps GSAS students with their written coursework, seminar papers, prospectuses, papers for publication, fellowships, grant applications, and dissertation chapters.  We believe that all writers benefit from sharing work in the collaborative and supportive environment, and the Graduate Writing Center offers such an environment where students come at any stage of their writing process: when pre-writing, crafting the first draft, or revising their written work. The center offers individual writing consultations, workshops and seminars, and writing groups. For more information, please visit the Graduate Writing Center's website found at www.yale.edu/graduateschool/writing.

PH.D. PROGRAM

The Council of East Asian Studies at Yale University does NOT offer a Ph.D. program. However, on occasion, some students will use the East Asian Studies Master's Program as a stepping stone to a Ph.D. program. Usually, this path is chosen when the student aspires toward a Doctorate, but is not certain of the field through which to pursue it. The broad-based nature of the East Asian Studies M.A. program allows the student time to explore before deciding on a specific field.

For comprehensive information on all departments and programs at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, please visit http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool.

For more information on the East Asian Studies Master's Degree Program, please visit our page for Frequently Asked Questions.