The Field of East Asian Literature at Cornell University offers the M.A./Ph.D. degrees
to students who wish to major in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese Literature. The preferred
method of applying to the graduate programs at Cornell University is on-line. The
on-line application
is available on the Graduate School web site.
Admission
The Field of East Asian Literature is designed primarily for students who wish to obtain
a Ph.D. degree. Students entering with only a B.A. degree (or with an M.A. degree in another
field) earn their M.A. degree in East Asian Literature in the course of working towards the
Ph.D. degree. An M.A. thesis in East Asian Literature is required before proceeding to the
Ph.D. Highly qualified students wishing to work only toward an M.A. degree are
sometimes accepted, but Cornell funding for such students is rare.
Applicants should have a good reading and speaking knowledge (a minimum of three years of
course work) of Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese. Prior work in literature is desirable.
Applicants with less language training might consider entering the M.A. program in Asian Studies
at Cornell, and then applying to East Asian Literature for the Ph.D. degree after the M.A.
program has been completed.
Students whose B.A. degree is from an institution where English is not the language of
instruction should obtain an M.A. degree from an English-speaking university before applying
for a degree in East Asian Literature. Students may apply for an M. A. degree in Asian
Studies or in a literature field at Cornell, as well as programs at other English-speaking
universities.
All applicants must take the Graduate Records Exam (GRE), and most students who are admitted score
above 1200 in the combined Verbal and Quantitative sections. GRE scores are valid for only five
years. Any exams taken before 2003 will not be accepted.
Foreign nationals, whose native language is not English, must take the TOEFL exam and score at
least as follows: Writing 20; Listening 15; Reading 20; Speaking 22. TOEFL scores are valid for
only two years. For the Fall 2008 admission cycle, we will only accept exams taken 2005 and later.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) will send results of the TOEFL and the GRE directly to
the Graduate School so long as the applicant indicates Cornell's institutional code on the exam.
Cornell's institutional code for all versions of the TOEFL and GRE is 2098. The department code for
the GRE is 2299 and the TOEFL is 80. Scores must be submitted directly to the Graduate School by
ETS to be considered official.
Exemption from TOEFL: The TOEFL is not required of applicants who have studied full-time for two or
more years in a college or university where English is the language of instruction AND the college or
university is located in a country where English is the native language.
Each applicant must submit, along with an
on-line application; a statement of purpose, three letters of recommendation, college transcripts
and a sample of academic writing of approximately 25 pages (in English). The letters of recommendation
should include the
recommendation form as a cover sheet. The statement of purpose, recommendation letters, college
transcrips, and writing sample should be mailed directly to the field office at the address below.
The Selection Committee will weigh all of these materials in addition to the student's
academic background in making decisions on admission to the field.
The absolute deadline for completed applications and test scores to reach the Graduate School is
January 10. However, earlier applications are encouraged to enable us to consider each applicant
carefully.
Because of the high cost of mailing application packets, the preferred way to apply
for admission to the graduate programs at Cornell University is on-line. We encourage you to visit the
Graduate School website to access the on-line application.
There is a $70USD application fee for on-line applications. You will also find a downloadable version of the
application form as well as
links to the
recommendation form that should be sent to your three references. Please note that the
application fee for a paper application is $80USD.
The Director of Graduate Studies and appropriate faculty members are happy to talk to or
meet with applicants, but interviews are not required for admission. We encourage applicants
to make personal contact to learn more about our program. Please visit our on-line list of
faculty for a brief description of their research interests and e-mail addresses at List of faculty in East Asian Literature.
Financial Aid
Most students who are accepted into the Ph.D. program are offered a multi-year financial
aid package that combines guaranteed fellowships and teaching assistantships. In order to
apply for fellowships (which are highly competitive) simply check the appropriate boxes in
the "Financial Support Application" part of the application form. Students are also urged
to apply for any national or regional fellowships for which they may be eligible, e.g. Mellon
Fellowships, Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) awards.
If the applicant is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident he/she may be eligible to apply for a
FLAS award. The FLAS awards are administered by the
East Asia area program office. This is an academic year award which covers tuition, health
insurance, and a living stipend. The deadline for the FLAS awards for 2008 - 2009 is February 4, 2008.
For more information about the FLAS awards, other funding opportunities, or for a FLAS application
please see the East Asia area program web page at
http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/EastAsia.
Course of Study
The first two to three years of the Ph.D. course are spent taking classes, learning to teach,
and writing an M.A. thesis. Students take four or five general courses covering both premodern
and modern aspects of their chosen literature and eight or nine specialized seminars in
areas of interest. The M.A. thesis usually develops out of a paper written for a seminar.
Students have the opportunity to participate in teacher training workshops and to teach for
at least two semesters in introductory courses, language courses and freshmen seminars. At least
one year of experience as a teaching assistant is required as part of the Ph.D. training. Teaching
assistantships cover tuition, living stipend, and medical insurance.
Students in the East Asian Literature field will be expected to give a short, formal presentation
to the faculty of the field at the end of their second year of study. This presentation could
summarize a seminar paper, an M.A. thesis, or another work in progress. The purpose of this presentation
is to monitor a student's progress; to make suggestions about additional course work for the third
year if relevant; and to give students an opportunity for professional experience.
Most students go to East Asia during their third or fourth year to do dissertation research
and then return to Cornell for at least a year to finish writing the dissertation and to
search for a job. The Ph.D. course of study requires five to seven years depending on prior
training and language ability.
Language requirements
Fluency in one East Asian language. This means reading, writing and speaking fluency in the
modern language and at least a year of classical language study.
At least a reading knowledge (a minimum of two years of course work) of a second Asian language
and of one European language (in addition to English). The European language requirement may be
waived in some cases at the discretion of the student's special committee.
A Exams
Each student chooses three areas of specialization -- usually two in the major literature and
one in another literature, a theoretical field, or a different discipline -- and chooses one
faculty member to represent each subject. The student works with this faculty committee to
define the three areas and to prepare appropriate readings lists. By the end of the third
year the student must pass written and oral examinations in each subject (this is called
Admission to Candidacy Exams or A Exams).
Terminal M.A. degree
Students must complete at least six semester courses (excluding language training) and write
a thesis. They are expected to be fluent in one East Asian language and to have begun work
in a second by the time their degree is awarded. Financial support is seldom available for
terminal M.A. students.
East Asian Literature Faculty
Please feel free to contact the faculty member whose interests most closely match yours. For more detailed
descriptions, please see our complete
list of faculty.
Daniel Boucher, Chinese religions/Buddhism, e:mail: djb38@cornell.edu
Brett de Bary, modern Japanese literature and film, e-mail: bmd2@cornell.edu
Edward Gunn, modern Chinese literature and drama, e-mail: emg7@cornell.edu
Jane Marie Law, Japanese religons, e-mail: jml16@cornell.edu
Robin McNeal, early Chinese intellectual history, e-mail: rm253@cornell.edu
Lorraine Paterson, Chinese & Vietnamese studies, e-mail: lmp20@cornell.edu
Bruce Rusk, Chinese history, language & literature, e-mail: br79@cornell.edu
Naoki Sakai, Japanese literature and literary theories, e-mail: ns32@cornell.edu>
Michael Shin, Korean literature and history, e-mail: ms329@cornell.edu
Keith W. Taylor, Vietnamese cultural studies, e-mail: kwt3@cornell.edu
Ding Xiang Warner, pre-modern Chinese literature, e-mail: dwx2@cornell.edu
John Whitman, Japanese language and linguistics, e-mail: jbw2@cornell.edu
East Asia Program
East Asian Literature students are members of the
East Asia Program which provides a wide range of programs, opportunities for research and
training, and competitive fellowships for travel, language training and research.
Further Information
For more information about the MA/Ph.D. program in East Asian Literature, write to:
Graduate Field Assistant
350 Rockefeller Hall
Department of Asian Studies
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-2502
Telephone (607) 255-9099
e-mail: east_asian_lit@cornell.edu
