East Asian Languages and Literatures
Why Study EALL at W&L?
Language courses in the EALL Department develop advanced communication skills in Japanese and Chinese through intensive language training and provide a foundation for understanding cultural traditions of China and Japan. The literature in translation courses foster an awareness and understanding of East Asian cultures through an interdisciplinary approach, introducing historical background, social, philosophical, political issues and other cultural concerns relevant and necessary to the understanding of the literary and other cultural texts.
Opportunities for Students
The department encourages close interactions between students and the faculty. Diverse East Asian cultural activities such as A Taste of Asia and the Lunar New Year Celebration give students opportunities to practice their language skills outside the classroom in a relaxed, social setting. The department also sponsors Spring Term study abroad programs to China and Japan, where students are not only engaged in immersion language learning, but also in studying East Asian cultures through close contacts with their peoples.
EALL majors are encouraged to spend a summer, a semester or a year studying abroad in China and Japan to enhance their proficiency in language and to broaden their knowledge of East Asian cultures.
Each year the department awards The Andrew M. Hemm Prize of Excellence to two students with the highest average grades during their first two years of Chinese and Japanese studies respectively. In addition, the department offers The James Boardman Study Abroad Scholarship to two students preparing to study abroad.
Foreign Language FDR
One of the Foundation and Distribution Requirements at Washington and Lee is proficiency in a foreign language. The EALL Department offers coursework towards language proficiency in Chinese and Japanese.
Sample Courses
Intro to Business & Legal Chinese
This course provides basic knowledge of the Chinese language necessary for doing business and for handling legal issues. Topics are selected that represent typical business and legal use of the language, and discussion of the grammar. Certain language features and their use and context are provided. Extensive drills and practices of the sentence patterns and specialized vocabulary, both in and out of class, further help students use the business and legal Chinese appropriately.
Advanced Chinese I
Advanced readings with discussion in Chinese. This course reinforces Chinese structural patterns and extensive acquisition of Chinese characters and enhances students' ability to speak and to write. Topics involving current Chinese culture are introduced and discussed.
Advanced Japanese I
Advanced readings, discussion in Japanese and written responses to a variety of literary materials, including relevant journal and newspaper articles.
Pre-Modern Chinese Lit in Translation
A survey of Chinese literature from the earliest period to the founding of the Republic in 1912. Taught in English, the course presupposes no previous knowledge of China or Chinese culture. The literature is presented in the context of its intellectual, philosophical and cultural background. Texts used may vary from year to year and include a wide selection of fiction, poetry, historical documents, Chinese drama (opera) and prose works.
Japanese Lit in Translation
An introduction to Japanese literature in its historical and cultural contexts from premodern to modern times. The course materials draw upon selections from the earliest prose works to contemporary fiction of representative modern writers.
Meet the Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
