Exciting opportunities
EALC News
- The next Korean Proficiency and Placement Test (KPT) will be scheduled for an in-person administration at 9:30 AM [CT] on Friday, August 22, 2025. Please note that this test will not be administered online. Time: 9:30 am to 12 pm (... Read full story FA25 Korean Proficiency and Placement Test on Friday August 22, 2025
- Study Abroad Info Session LAS Study Abroad Programs in East Asia Location Lucy Ellis Lounge, 1080 LCLB Date Nov 6, 2024 2:30 - 4:00 pm Read full story Study Abroad Info Session
Faculty Spotlight: Three New Instructors/Lecturers to join EALC in Fall 2024
We are delighted to announce that three new faculty will join the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures starting Fall 2024: Quillon Arkenstone (Lecturer in Modern-Contemporary Japanese Literature), Yujie Pu (Instructor in Imperial Chinese History), and Jihye Yun (Instructor in Korean Language). Our new colleagues will add to our strengths in the study and teaching of Japan, China, and Korea. Dr. Quillon Arkenstone Dr. Arkenstone holds a PhD in Japanese literature from the University of Hawai’i. His research, which involves literary studies, theory,...
Faculty Spotlight: Anna Jungeun Lee to join EALC faculty in Fall 2024
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Anna Jungeun Lee will join the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures as Assistant Professor of Korean History. Dr. Lee, previously the Global Korean Studies Invited Professor at the College of International Studies at Korea University, is a historian of Korea’s transnational consumption. Her research focuses on the intersection of state and society in consumer spaces in modern South Korea. Her first book project, “Resisting Consumers: Transnational Consumption in Authoritarian South Korea” examines the irony of foreign and luxury...
Event Spotlight: Lecture by renowned scholar Peter Kornicki
Printing began in Japan in the 8th century with the production of the Hyakumantō darani, though they were produced for ritual purposes not for reading. Texts were printed for reading from the 11th century onwards and from the beginning of the 17th century commercial publication took off rapidly and so successfully that by the 1660s catalogues of books in print were printed. So surely it is perverse to describe the Edo period as a manuscript culture? Well, no. Because the focus on Japan as a print society like that of contemporary Europe has blinded us to the dominance of manuscript culture...
Student Spotlight: Jinsub Song Wins The Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize for 2024 MCAA
Jinsub Song, who graduated this summer with his PhD from EALC, won the Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize for the China and Inner Asian Region at the 2024 Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs. His paper is titled “The Divergence of Self in the Dasheng Qixin Lun and True Self as A Priori Foundation” and a description of his research is shared below. Jinsub has also been nominated to present this paper to the Council of Conferences at AAS in 2025. Congratulations, Dr. Song! Paper Abstract This research investigates the divergence...
Student Spotlight: UIUC Cameron Roberts wins highest standing award in the 5th Midwest Korean Speech Contest
Cameron (Cam) Roberts, the winner of the Beginning Level at the 8th UIUC Korean Speech Contest, won the Highest Standing Award of the Beginning Level at the 5th Midwest Korean Speech Contest held on April 6, 2024. Cam will receive a scholarship to study at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea, in addition to an $800 cash airfare support award. Congratulations, Cam! Cam is receiving his award from Mr. Moon, Director of the Korean Education Center in Chicago, at the 5th Midwest Korean Speech Contest held on April 6, 2024.
Publication Spotlight: New book by EALC Professor Emeritus Ronald Toby: Engaging the Other: 'Japan' and Its Alter-Egos, 1550-1850
In Engaging the Other: “Japan and Its Alter-Egos”, 1550-1850, Ronald P. Toby examines new discourses of identity and difference in early modern Japan, a discourse catalyzed by the “Iberian irruption,” the appearance of Portuguese and other new, radical others in the sixteenth century. The encounter with peoples and countries unimagined in earlier discourse provoked an identity crisis, a paradigm shift from a view of the world as comprising only “three countries” (sangoku), i.e., Japan, China and India, to a world of “myriad countries” ( bankoku) and...
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Why Study EALC?
A degree from the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures equips you with the knowledge and skills for a successful career in a variety of fields while nourishing your interest in different languages and cultures.