East Asian Languages and Cultures (BA)

The core requirements for the EALC major (24 units plus language requirement) allow students flexibility in designing their own course of study. Majors typically select one language and cultural area (Chinese, Japanese or Korean) in which they do most of their course work. For this reason, one frequently hears students on campus speaking about “majoring” in Japanese, Chinese or Korean, though strictly speaking all these students are actually majoring in EALC. Majors are encouraged to explore beyond their individual language focus by enrolling in the full range of EALC courses available in literature, film, history, media and other aspects of East Asian cultures.

Core requirements for EALC majors consist of a cross-cultural survey course, a cultural studies course and a language requirement that may be waived by placement test. Students then also take four upper-division elective courses (16 units), two of which can be replaced by fourth-year language courses. Additional information can be found on the EALC website: dornsife.usc.edu/ealc.