CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT:
Xudong Zhang

DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE STUDIES:
Associate Professor Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto

The Department of East Asian Studies of New York University offers a doctoral and a master's program in East Asian cultures. The graduate program is concerned with culture, media, and questions of representation as they relate to the formation of East Asian societies such as China, Japan, and Korea in modern times. Rather than pursue the practice of area studies in the traditional sense, the program is committed to a critical and, whenever possible, interdisciplinary examination of East Asia's modernity in a global configuration.

In the course of their study, students are challenged to develop a critical awareness of the political, institutional, and methodological consequences, as well as the historical provenance of both disciplinary-based and area studies inquiry. Working with their advisers and other faculty inside and outside of the department, students are encouraged to design their programs around literary and film studies, as well as studies of other media and forms of representation; theoretical or intellectual debates; historical inquiry; questions of gender and sexuality; social and political movements; or any combination of the above.

The intellectual strength and identity of our graduate program lies, first of all, in its sharp focus on the modern period and in its dedication to a theoretically informed, interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture and society of modern East Asia. Our core faculty members specialize in modern Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages and literatures; Chinese and Japanese film and media studies; modern Chinese and Japanese intellectual and cultural history; modern Korean society; and comparative studies of nationalism, colonialism, revolution, and cultural politics. This unit of expertise is further reinforced by our truly impressive array of associated members in history, anthropology, religious studies, art history, and cinema studies whose work is mainly concerned with modern East Asia.

As a part of the University community, the graduate program in East Asian studies shares the general dynamic of NYU, which has been embarking on its pursuit to become a truly global university. The program closely works with and benefits from a plethora of interdisciplinary programs, centers, and institutes with a distinct international tendency, such as the International Center for Advanced Studies; the Center for Media, Culture, and History; the Asian/Pacific/ American Studies Program and Institute; the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality; the Institute of Fine Arts; the Institute of the History of Production of Knowledge; the Institute for Law and Society; and so forth, with which our faculty have affiliations or working relations. This internal network of knowledge and knowledge production, coupled with the University-wide resources committed to international student and scholarly exchanges, visits, and coordination, has created a truly stimulating environment in which the student can thrive in his or her study of modern East Asia.

Faculty

The intellectual strength and identity of our graduate program lies, first of all, in its sharp focus on the modern period and in its dedication to a theoretically informed, interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture and society of modern East Asia. Our core faculty members specialize in modern Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages and literatures, Chinese and Japanese film and media studies, modern Chinese and Japanese intellectual and cultural history, modern Korean society, and comparative studies of nationalism, colonialism, revolution, and cultural politics. This unit of expertise is further reinforced by an array of associated members in history, anthropology, religious studies, art history, and cinema studies whose work is mainly concerned with modern East Asia. This intellectual configuration, both sound in a traditional academic sense and marking a departure from the older area studies model, allows us to address many deep-seated and pressing issues of modern East Asia-as they take shape in the complex of global relations-with a depth of knowledge and critical rigor.

Harry Harootunian, Professor, History, East Asian Studies. Ph.D. 1958 (history), M.A. 1953 (Far Eastern studies), Michigan; B.A. 1951, Wayne State.
Early modern and modern Japanese history; historical theory.

Rebecca Karl, Associate Professor, East Asian Studies, History. Ph.D. 1995 (history), Duke; M.A. 1989 (international relations), New York; B.A. 1982 (Russian language and literature), Barnard College.
Modern Chinese intellectual history, with a focus on nationalism at the turn of the 20 century; contemporary critical theory; comparative history.

Thomas Looser, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1999 (anthropology), Chicago; B.A. 1979 (cultural anthropology), California (Santa Cruz).
Cultural anthropology and Japanese studies; theatre; mass culture and critical theory.

Moss Roberts, Professor. Ph.D. 1966 (Chinese), M.A. 1960 (English), B.A. 1958, Columbia.
Classical Chinese language, literature, and philosophy; modern and contemporary history.

Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1993 (comparative literature), M.A. 1990 (comparative literature), California (San Diego); M.A. 1987 (film and television studies), California (Los Angeles); B.A. 1985 (cinema), SUNY (Binghamton).
Film studies and Japanese studies; television and media studies; visual culture.

Xudong Zhang, Professor, East Asian Studies, Comparative Literature; Chair, Department of East Asian Studies. Ph.D. 1995 (literature), Duke; B.A. 1986 (Chinese), Peking.
Modern Chinese literature; Chinese film, intellectual history, aesthetic theory, and political philosophy.

AFFILIATED FACULTY IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS

Jung-Bong Choi, Cinema Studies; Nina Cornyetz, Gallatin School of Individualized Study; Jonathan Hay, Fine Arts; Joanna Waley-Cohen, History; Marilyn Young, History; Zhen Zhang, Cinema Studies; Angela Zito, Anthropology.