Master of Arts - Asian Languages: Japanese

The East Asian faculty in the School of International Letters and Cultures offers a graduate program leading to a Master of Arts degree in Asian Languages and Civilizations: Japanese. The program prepares some students for further academic training, and helps others to prepare for jobs relating to Japan and for entrance to professional schools in such fields as business, education, government service, journalism, law, and NGOs. It aims, therefore, to enroll students who see a sophisticated understanding of Japanese language and culture as a valuable asset to a professional career, as well as students who want eventually to pursue doctoral studies.

In keeping with the idea of in situ experience as a key ingredient for advanced intellectual understanding, all degree candidates must have spent at least nine continuous months in a Japanese language environment within four years of completing the program. Applications are therefore welcomed from those who have already spent time in such an environment, with academic programs or business enterprises, or with such organizations as the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET), missionary societies or government agencies. For those who have not recently lived in Japan for an extended period, advisors will be able to suggest means of fulfilling this requirement. The experience is intended to ensure that all degree candidates are able to communicate well in spoken Japanese, to have a first-hand sense of Japanese society and to read modern Japanese at an advanced level. Passing a general language test is one of the requirements for completion of the degree.

In place of a comprehensive examination, all degree candidates are required to write either a research or a translation thesis. The research thesis is traditional. It demonstrates the student's ability to handle original (written) sources and to stake out and defend his or her own position on an intellectual issue. The translation thesis, an option in all M.A. programs in the School of International Letters and Cultures, requires the student to read and interpret a primary text in Japanese, to become familiar with all important studies of it and then to annotate it and render it into proper English. Either type of thesis is intended to demonstrate the synthesis of intellectual insights and actual experience that every candidate is expected to achieve.