Exciting opportunities
EALC News
- Looking for a flexible and engaging summer course? KOR 201: Beginning Korean (Online) runs from June 15 to August 6, 2026 (5 credit hours) in an asynchronous format with two weekly live sessions. Open to all students, this course builds foundational Korean skills through... Read full story Summer Online KOR 201
- The dates for Summer Online JAPN 201 are June 15 – August 6, 2026. This course is 5 credit hours. JAPN 201 is an asynchronous format with two synchronous meetings per week (typically Tuesdays and Fridays, 7-8 pm. There are no status restrictions (open to... Read full story Summer Online JAPN 201
- The Japanese placement test consists of two parts and will take place on Wednesday, August 19 and Thursday, August 20, 2026.After you register, you will receive a confirmation email. Please keep a copy of it just in case it is needed to verify your registration. You can cancel your registration... Read full story (Summer 2026) JAPANESE LANGUAGE PLACEMENT TEST
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Yunxin Li to join EALC faculty in August 2026
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures is delighted to welcome Dr. Yunxin Li to the faculty. Trained across history, literature, and digital humanities, Dr. Li brings an exciting interdisciplinary perspective to the study of early China that speaks to questions of power, gender, social relations, and knowledge across time. Her scholarship and teaching exemplify a thoughtful integration of rigorous humanistic inquiry with innovative digital methods, and her work resonates strongly with EALC’s commitment to collaborative, cross-field engagement. We are excited to have Dr. Li join...
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Belinda Qian HE joins EALC faculty in Fall 2025
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Belinda Qian He has joined the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures as Assistant Professor of East Asian Cinema and Media Studies.Dr. Hé's work lies at the intersection of film/media studies, art history, and legal humanities, exploring the role of film, photography, video, and emerging media in policing, punishing, and justice making. She pays specific attention to the history of East Asian and global cinema, exhibitions, and participatory media, associated with atrocity, witnessing, sexual violence and ...
Event Spotlight: Spring 2025 End-of-Semester Reception Recap
To wrap up the Spring 2025 semester, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures hosted an end-of-semester reception to celebrate our students, faculty, and staff. It was a warm and lively gathering, filled with conversation, shared memories, and a variety of East Asian snacks and Kimbap provided by the department. We’re grateful to everyone who joined us and helped make the event a success. Special thanks to our student volunteers who assisted with setup and cleanup! As we look ahead to EALC’s 25th anniversary celebration in AY 2025-2026, we’re excited to continue highlighting the...
Student Spotlight: Student Spotlight: 2026 MATK Korean Speech Contest
Jana Karunakaran and Frances Ivy-Barrett, winners of the Beginning and Advanced Levels at the 10th UIUC Korean Speech Contest, represented the Korean Language Program at the 7th Midwest Korean Speech Contest on April 4, 2026. We are proud to share that Jana received the Excellence Award in the Beginning Level category, which includes a $500 cash prize. We warmly congratulate both Jana and Frances for their outstanding efforts and achievements, and for representing our program with such distinction.
Student Spotlight: EALC Ph.D. Candidate Yating Li Awarded HRI and IGI Fellowships
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures warmly congratulates Yating Li, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate, on receiving both the 2026–27 HRI Campus Fellowship, themed “Up Against Erasure,” and the 2026 Illinois Global Institute Summer Research Fellowship. Her dissertation project, “Pathologizing the Womb: Medical Knowledge, Women’s Body, and Mirage of Health in China (1900s–1940s),” examines the intersections of gender, medicine, and modernity in Republican-era China. These prestigious awards recognize the originality and significance of her research, and...
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.