Master of Arts

Students must complete a minimum of 46 units at Stanford (no transfer credits accepted), comprised of:

1. Minimum nine East Asia content courses, at least 30 units of which must be at the graduate level (200 level or above in most courses and 300 level for HISTORY and other select departments), and which also meet the following requirements:  

• Includes EASTASN 330 core course, three units, offered in autumn quarter. Students starting their program in autumn must take this class during their first quarter at Stanford.

• Are on the approved East Asian Studies course lists below, or have been approved by petition (maximum three petitions),

• Are a minimum of three units (excluding specific pre-approved exceptional courses)

• Are taken for a letter grade (if available) and completed with a B or higher (P or higher in GSB courses and Law courses).

• Include at least three courses either i) in the same department; or ii) within the same thematic focus. 

• Language courses may not be used to fulfill content course requirements.

B. Additional coursework as necessary to reach the minimum 46 units for the degree must meet the following criteria:

• Taken for a letter grade,

• At least level 100 or above (above 200 for HISTORY courses), with students strongly encouraged to enroll in graduate-level courses whenever possible, 

EASTASN 330 counts toward the nine content courses.

The following program milestones are additionally required for all students:

1. Program Proposal: 

   By the end of their first quarter at Stanford, MA students must submit a program proposal for the Master’s Degree. The Program Proposal Form opens in a new tab must be signed by the student’s advisor and submitted to CEAS for review and approval. Coterminal Students: The university also requires that the Master’s Degree Program Proposal be completed by the student and approved by the department by the end of the student’s first graduate quarter.

2. Thesis Proposal and Literature Review

   By the end of the quarter before the quarter in which they intend to graduate, MA students must submit an approved thesis proposal and literature review for the Master’s Degree. The proposal is the statement of the research question, the rationale for the research, the theoretical and empirical background the student brings to bear, and the research methodology to be applied. The advisor must review and approve the five to ten-page proposal. The Thesis Proposal and Literature Review Guidelines opens in a new tab contain the cover page for the proposal, signed by the student’s advisor and submitted to CEAS.

3. Thesis Presentation: 

   Once during their time in the MA program, students are required to present their thesis project at a public presentation. CEAS organizes quarterly events for this purpose, allowing students to hone their public speaking skills by giving short informal presentations and receiving feedback from fellow students and faculty. This requirement can be fulfilled at any stage of the thesis development process and does not need to be only for ‘completed’ projects.

Petition to Count Course toward the Nine Content Course Requirement:  

Under some circumstances, students may petition for a non-East Asia-specific course to be counted toward the nine content courses. For example, a petition could be submitted to count a methodology course in a particular discipline that will aid the student in their MA thesis research. Students must submit a “Course Petition Form” and a course syllabus before the second week of classes.  

A maximum of three courses may be petitioned to count toward the nine content course requirement.  

Directed Reading Course Approval Policy:  

Directed reading courses (EASTASN 300) may be taken with relevant Stanford Faculty members to complete independent study projects. The following policies pertain to these courses:

• A maximum of 6 units of EASTASN 300 may be applied to the 46 required degree units.

• To apply EASTASN 300 units to the nine content course requirement, the course must be taken for a minimum of three units and a letter grade. Students must submit an instructor-approved syllabus to the CEAS office by the published deadline each quarter, which includes:

  • Instructor name and email

  • Year and quarter of course

  • Unit count

  • Grading basis (must be letter grade)

  • Approximate meeting time and class duration

  • Course objective (short paragraph)

  • A breakdown of course assignments, such as discussion sections, presentations, short papers, and long-form research papers.

Students must submit a master’s thesis representing a substantial piece of original research with a minimum of 10,000 words in the main body (excluding references, citations, appendices, etc.). With the advisor’s approval, the master’s thesis requirement may be satisfied by expanding upon an existing research paper written for an advanced course. The MA thesis is due in the quarter the student applies to graduate by the date and time specified on the official Stanford Academic Calendar. No filing extensions are permitted.

Students must demonstrate proficiency in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language equivalent to Stanford’s first three full years of language training. This requirement may be fulfilled by one of three methods:

1. Completing the third-year course sequence at Stanford;

2. Examination (i.e., testing into 4th year in the target language) administered by the Stanford Language Center. Students who demonstrate partial completion via this method (for example, testing into third-year Chinese, 2nd quarter) need only complete those courses remaining to fulfill the regular year-long course sequence; 

3. By possessing a degree from a university where the language of instruction is in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

Students completing their language proficiency requirement while attending Stanford must adhere to these policies:

• All language courses taken at Stanford used toward fulfilling the language requirement must be for letter grades and completed with a grade of B or higher.

• Conversation classes cannot be used to meet this requirement.

• The language used to meet the language proficiency requirement should match the student’s country/region of focus.

• Students entering the program without any language preparation should complete first-year language courses during the first year of residence at Stanford.   

• Units from language courses numbered 1-99 do not count toward the 46 units required for the degree. Language courses numbered 100 and above (i.e., 3rd year and above) can be used toward meeting the 46 units minimum for the degree but cannot fulfill the content courses requirement.

• Other Asian languages may be accepted by petition to fulfill this degree requirement.

Language courses are listed under the following subject codes on the Stanford Navigate Classes opens in a new tab website : CHINLANG, JAPANLNG, and KORLANG.