The logic of your plan of study

Before filling in the blanks in a plan of study, you should give careful thought to the next few pages. The key to making the EAS concentration a rich academic experience is constructing a coherent program of study. Your choices within each category (language, tutorial, area courses) should meet your interests. Your choices should also cohere across the three categories, reinforcing and building upon each other.

As a first-year student if possible, and by no means later than sophomore year, you should begin your language studies. For native English speakers, East Asian languages require more years of study than European languages to reach fluency, and our two or three year requirement will bring you to a minimium floor of proficiency, not a ceiling. Many students will wish to gain further language proficiency while in college, either through summer schools or term-time study abroad. To make best use of study abroad, you should have already completed at least two years of language study before going to Asia, so an early start is crucial. And of course, reaching a high level of language proficiency as soon as possible will help you in your advanced area courses, tutorials, and senior thesis.

Also in your first year at Harvard, you should take a general survey course in East Asian Studies, either Historical Studies A-13 or A-14, on China and Japan, respectively, Korean History 111 or 114 on traditional or modern Korea, or History 1820 or 1821 on Vietnam. Any of these will count as one of your "area courses," and they will also make your studies in sophomore and junior tutorial more meaningful.

Careful choice of tutorial tracks is another key to devising your concentration. This said, the sophomore tutorial, EAS 97, is the same for all concentrators. But, by exposing you to different methods as well as themes in East Asian studies, it also helps you choose between the humanities and social science tracks for junior tutorial. The tutorial introduces you to the culture, literature, and society of Korea, Japan, and China in pre-modern and modern times. It gives particular attention to some of the larger themes of East Asian history, and the various analytic disciplines used in studying East Asia today. It also seeks to train students to write clearly and persuasively, and to read and thinking critically.

Toward the end of the spring semester in sophomore year, we will ask you to indicate your choice of track and country for junior tutorial, although you do not formally enroll until the next semester. Please consult the Tutorial office if you wish to change your track.

Choice of area courses should be made with an eye toward relatedness among these courses, and between them and your tutorial track and potential thesis topic. Several core curriculum courses qualify as area courses, and they offer a good general introduction to concentrators. As noted above, you should take one introductory course, such as Historical Studies A-13 or A-14, in freshman or sophomore year. But we strongly encourage you to go beyond the core as well, to take some of the many departmental courses on East Asia to meet your area course requirement. Indeed, Harvard's unique strength in the field of East Asian studies lies above all in the rich array of such courses. They tend to have smaller enrollments than core courses and allow you to get to know the faculty better. Taking departmental courses in an area of particular interest in your sophomore or junior year will also help you explore possible topics for a senior honors thesis and get to know a potential advisor.

Space and credit for additional area or language courses can be gained by taking advantage of the flexible line between the language and area course requirements. You can satisfy the language requirement by reaching second or third year proficiency as measured in a placement test, taking advantage of summer study, study abroad, or previous exposure to the language. This does not reduce your overall course requirement in the concentration, but it frees you to either take more advanced language courses or to replace language with additional area courses, or do both. Conversely, it is permissible for students in any track to count up to two half courses of language study beyond the basic requirement toward your area course requirement. This is not, however, encouraged for honors students, who only have to take four area courses in the first place.

Preparing for an honors thesis should begin in your junior year. Ask professors in your language and area courses, and your tutorial instructors, for suggestions about possible thesis topics. Explore them in your papers written for tutorial or other courses. Harvard offers several grants to allow students to travel to East Asia in the summer between junior and senior year. By all means apply for these, and consult the EAS office for imformation. As applications are due in March, you need to begin thinking about topics and writing a proposal early in the spring semester, or before.

Senior tutorial, EAS 99, is a full-year course for those seniors writing honors theses. Students work in individual tutorials with a faculty advisor and a tutor. Not all students write theses, and the decision to do so or not is important. By all means consult widely, talking to upperclass students in the concentration, tutors, and faculty members. For those who elect this option, the senior honors thesis is an important and rewarding part of their college experience. Humanities concentrators are expected to employ primary language skills in the course of their research. It should be a thesis, with a sound and persuasive argument, and it should satisfy the student as much as the readers.