East Asian Studies

East Asian Studies became a separate department directed by James Wrenn and Jerome Grieder in 1987. In the fall of 1965 an East Asia Language and Area Center was established in connection with the Department of Political Science, and Professsor Lea E. Williams was named director. The U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under the National Defense Education Act assigned a grant toward the cost of instruction in the Chinese language. Chinese courses had begun in 1962 in the Department of Linguistics, instructed by James Wrenn, who was joined in 1965 by David Lattimore, and in 1975 by Chieh-fang Ou Lee. Student interest led to the creation of a Department of Asian History in 1969 with a staff composed of chairman Lea Williams and professors Jerome Grieder and Eric Widmer, all of them formerly members of the Political Science faculty. The Asian History Department was absorbed by the Department of History in 1976. Japanese history was introduced in the History Department in 1979, when James McClain joined the department. In 1987 the East Asian Language and Area Center was restructured as the foundation of the Department of East Asian Studies. Japanese courses were added in the Department of Linguistics in 1979 and were taught by Steve Rabson. Kikuko Yamashita joined the Japanese staff in 1981. Classes in Hindi were started in 1983 by Lecturer Robert Hueckstedt, and ended in 1988. Classes in Korean were started by Visiting Lecturer Yeon Lee Choi in 1987. Lecturer Andrew Kim replaced Ms. Choi in 1988. East Asian Studies is a multidisciplinary concentration which requires language study in Chinese or Japanese, and other related courses in the departments of Comparative Literature, History, Political Science, Religious Studies, American Civilization, Anthropology, Economics, Engineering, History of Art and Architecture, Music, Sociology, and other disciplines. The department offers an undergraduate degree program and coordinates course offerings on China, Japan, and Korea.