Minor Description

The East Asian Studies Minor (CEAS) enables students to enhance their knowledge of the history, culture, contemporary issues, and the languages of China, Japan, and Korea. Students complete any five CEAS courses, one of which may be from an approved study-abroad program. Courses may include archaeology, history, literature, culture, philosophy, religion, and political economies of the region. A key component of the CEAS Minor is the study of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean languages, in which students are expected to reach an intermediate competence level. 

Admission to the Minor

Upon completion of any College of East Asian Studies (CEAS) course, students may apply to enter the CEAS minor. Students must fill out an online CEAS new minor student information form and then submit a minor declaration via the Minor Declaration Tool in the electronic portfolio.

Minor Requirements

The minor requires completion of any five CEAS courses and intermediate-level competence completed second year in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Starting with the class of 2020, only courses taken for a grade (unless they are only offered CR/U, such as CLACs and some specific courses) can be counted towards the minor.

No more than two of the five courses may be language courses. No more than two of the five courses can be performance or studio art courses. No more than one of the five courses can be a study abroad course.

The rule that no more than two of the five courses can be language courses means that students beginning their Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language study at Wesleyan may have to take as many as seven courses to fulfill the minor (because four courses would be required to reach intermediate competence, but only two will count toward the minor).

Note that while the CEAS major requires that native speakers of a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language must study a different Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language, that does not apply to the minor, so a native speaker of Korean, for example, can pass the intermediate competence standard without taking any language classes and can simply take any five CEAS classes. All students, including native speakers, must contact a language instructor and pass a placement exam in order to certify intermediate competence. Please contact the appropriate language coordinator (Chinese—Gong, Japanese—Maruta, Korean—Back) immediately, or no later than one year prior to graduation (i.e. Spring of Junior year), if you intend to exercise this option to allow for sufficient time to take additional language if necessary.

To graduate with a minor in CEAS, seniors must complete their minor certification form in their portfolio.