The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures offers an undergraduate major in Japanese Language. The course of study is designed to train students in the humanistic investigation of major East Asian traditions, through a curriculum that centers on the acquisition of the modern and classical forms of the language, the informed and engaged reading of a wide variety of East Asian texts in their historical and cultural contexts, and the development of effective writing skills and critical thinking. Students are introduced to the vast and variegated literary, artistic, philosophical, and cultural traditions of East Asia and their transformations in modernity. Course offerings situate the study of East Asia in a global context and expose students to a variety of disciplinary and comparative approaches.<br><br>The major provides training in speaking, reading, and writing the relevant modern languages as well as a basic familiarity with one or more of the language's earlier forms. Students complete the major by selecting from a broad range of courses in literature, popular culture, philosophy, and linguistics both in translation and in the original languages.<br><br>Students who major in the program have a variety of backgrounds and many students are double majors in a broad spectrum of other departments and programs including: anthropology, applied mathematics, architecture, art history, art practice, Asian studies, business, comparative literature, computer science, economics, English, linguistics, mass communications, molecular and cell biology, political economy, political science, psychology, rhetoric, and theater arts.