Welcome
Department Chair Fabio Rambelli creates the first book series outside of Japan on the Shinto tradition.
Read more on The Current.
The Department offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in three areas: Asian Studies, Chinese, and Japanese. We also offer a special 5-year B.A./M.A. program in each of these areas. All majors include coursework in East Asian cultural studies (involving one or more East Asian country) and studying Chinese or Japanese. In addition, we have an innovative and exciting graduate program in East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies with 5 academic emphases, which combine rigorous language training, innovative research supervision by internationally renowned faculty, and keep awareness of cultural analysis and other methodological tools.
The ability to master the Chinese or Japanese language at a professional level, together with deep cultural knowledge of East Asia allows our graduates to become true global citizens in an increasingly interconnected world. We offer exciting and new perspectives for a deeper understanding of East Asia, both as it is today and throughout its long history, but also precious competences that may open the path for professional careers in the US and abroad.
Alumni of our majors have gone on to pursue successful careers in fields as diverse as software and game design, academia, law, banking, broadcasting, diplomacy, international business, public service, teaching and the arts, in the US and abroad. Indeed, China, Japan, and Korea offer attractive job markets for US graduates with linguistic and cultural competence.
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WORDS FROM THE CHAIR
Fabio Rambelli – Chair
The East Asian region is more and more relevant in international society and culture, and developments there also affect our lives in the US in significant ways. Economic developments, political events, international conflicts and cooperation, and cultural activities receive wide coverage in the international media.
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies serves as an important hub for research, education, and cultural awareness on East Asian matters at the University of California, Santa Barbara and in the larger Santa Barbara community. Our mission is to make the news more intelligible by providing linguistic, cultural, and historical contexts to current developments, but also to challenge mainstream media coverage by offering our students deeper knowledge and alternative visions of East Asian cultures in the present and in the past. A new faculty member at UCSB, closely related to our field, is Naoki Yamamoto (Department of Film and Media Studies), an expert on Japanese film.