East Asian Languages and Civilizations (Chinese), PHD
Program Description
Degree Awarded: PHD East Asian Languages and Civilizations (Chinese)
The PhD program in East Asian languages and civilizations is a research-intensive, transdisciplinary, area-based degree in the study of traditional and modern languages and cultures of China. Students may focus on:
- comparative cultural studies
- cultural history
- linguistics
- literary criticism
- literary thought
In every case, students are expected to acquire a solid grounding in the classical and modern versions of Chinese.
Courses and Electives
Training in East Asian languages and civilizations (Chinese) program encourages students to work closely with a committee of faculty. However, depending on the student’s interests, the student may participate in several subject areas within East Asian languages and civilizations. The goals of the program are to train students through a series of projects and courses and to become independent and creative professionals.
Curriculum
The program requires a minimum of 84 credit hours. Up to 30 hours earned in a Master’s degree program that is directly relevant to the degree may be counted toward that number. Students who enter directly from the BA can be granted an MA in passing after completing the Comprehensive Examinations.
| Admitted with a master’s | Admitted with a bachelor’s | |
| Core | 3 | 3 |
| Concentration | 6 | 6 |
| Other requirements | 39 | 39 |
| Electives | 0 | 24 |
| Dissertation | 12 | 12 |
| Total semester hours required | 54 | 84 |
"My professors have provided plenty of opportunities to develop professionally (especially in the classroom) and autonomy to choose for myself what routes to take toward that development while being available to provide guidance and direction when desired. Equally important is that I have greatly enhanced my skills in reading texts closely (especially in literary Chinese) and evaluating and devising arguments while gaining familiarity with my field."
Degree Requirements
Curriculum Plan Options
- 84 credit hours, two foreign language exams, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation
Required Core (3 credit hours)
CHI 501 Proseminar: East Asian Humanities (3)
Concentration (6 credit hours)
CHI 514 Advanced Classical Chinese (6)
Other Requirements (39 credit hours)
CHI 502 Academic Writing (3)
CHI 598 Topic: Proseminar: Chinese Literary History (3)
CHI 598 Topic: History of the Chinese Language (3)
CHI 598 Special Topics (15)
CHI 691 Seminar (15)
Electives (24 credit hours)
Culminating Experience (12 credit hours)
CHI 799 Dissertation (12)
Additional Curriculum Information
15 credit hours of CHI 598 Special Topics must be comprised of five courses, and 15 credit hours of CHI 691 must be comprised of five seminar courses. Other requirements and elective coursework for the degree are to be chosen in consultation with the program chair.
Courses for the other requirements may be substituted with the approval of the academic unit.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in any field from a regionally accredited institution. Applicants specializing in Chinese should have completed at least three years of modern Chinese and one year of classical Chinese.
Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.
All applicants must submit:
- graduate admission application and application fee
- official transcripts
- personal statement
- writing sample
- speech sample in Chinese or Japanese
- resume or curriculum vitae
- GRE scores
- three letters of recommendation
- proof of English proficiency
Additional Application Information
An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.
ASU does not accept the GRE® General Test at home edition.
The writing sample, which should be no more than 15 pages, should represent the applicant's skills in thinking and writing, and it should be on a topic connected with Chinese, Japanese or East Asian culture.
The speech sample is required if the applicant is applying for teaching assistantship funding. The speech sample should be a recorded message approximately four minutes in length, in Chinese or Japanese, on a topic of the applicant's choosing. (Applicants are asked to not read the message. This is to help the committee evaluate the level of proficiency, and the message should realistically reflect the applicant's spoken Chinese or Japanese). Recordings should be emailed to SILC@asu.edu.
Applicants should see the department website for more information.
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Application Deadlines
Fall
Career Opportunities
Professionals with this degree can confidently move into academic, business and international fields. The skills they possess are valued for teaching positions, translation work and career opportunities in larger sectors such as government, diplomacy and international business.
Career examples include:
- historians
- interpreters and translators
- lawyers
- reporters and correspondents
- social and community service managers
- teachers or professors of area, ethnic and cultural studies
- teachers or professors of foreign language and literature
Program Contact Information
If you have questions related to admission, please click here to request information and an admission specialist will reach out to you directly. For questions regarding faculty or courses, please use the contact information below.
- silc@asu.edu
- 480/965-6281