East Asian Languages and Literatures First Year Courses

Chair: Y. Hirata
Department Site
The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures offers courses in the languages and cultures of China and Japan. Each language teaches a great deal about the people and the culture it represents. Students who continue through the four-year sequences of rigorous classroom language training, combined with study abroad experiences, acquire the proficiency they need to open doors to a wide variety of careers related to East Asia. Courses taught in English include literature and film, Tea Ceremony, Japanese Popular Culture and Media, and Chinese Medical Culture and Practice. The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures welcomes participation in its courses by first-year students. It offers Chinese and Japanese language courses on four levels, and literature and culture courses that require no knowledge of Chinese or Japanese.

The beginning language courses, CHIN 121 (meets four periods per week) and JAPN 121 (meets five periods per week), are the primary requirement for subsequent participation in the higher-level language courses, study groups, and majors. The intermediate and advanced language courses are open to first-year students who have had previous training. Those interested in CHIN 201 or CHIN 303 must contact Professor Crespi (jcrespi@colgate.edu); those interested in JAPN 201 or JAPN 301 must contact Professor Hirata (yhirata@colgate.edu). First-year students who have language experience should take the Language Background survey.

The department sponsors the Japan Study Group, which affords students the opportunity to spend the spring semester in Japan and includes a four-month home-stay with a Japanese family in Kyoto. Prerequisites are a year of language study and CORE C167, Japan. The China Study Group is offered in alternate years during the fall or spring semester. Participants are based in Shanghai and also visit Taiwan and Hong Kong . Field trips to cities and historical sites in the People's Republic of China are normally included. One year of language study and CORE C165, China are prerequisites. Study group participants are encouraged to seek Colgate-sponsored support of summer language study before their semester abroad.

The department offers majors and minors in either Chinese or Japanese language and literature. Either language may be applied toward a major in Asian Studies or International Relations. Our students have gone on to graduate study, law school, business school, and careers in law, business, academia, and foreign affairs.

Class meetings and other activities take place in and around the Ho Center for Chinese Studies and the Japanese Studies Center. Both are open for evening study. Students have additional opportunities to practice their skills with peer tutors, and with our language interns from China and Japan, who assist with language instruction and serve as resources for cultural exchange. Outside class, the department supports activities of the Chinese Interest Association, Japan Club, and the Tea Club.