KU Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures

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Lawrence, KS
KU Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures

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This is the official page for Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at KU. South Korea and Taiwan are key U.S. trading partners.

The department offers a full program of instruction in the languages, literatures, and cultures of China, Japan, and Korea. These areas of East Asia represent three of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world. Japan and mainland China are the world’s largest economies, after the United States. The economic and political relationship between the U.S. and East Asia will be among the most important for the U.S. in the 21st century. With an EALC B.A., students can pursue a range of careers in business, government, education, nonprofit organizations, to name a few, or continue on to graduate study in East Asian languages and literatures. Some students choose EALC related courses to connect with their heritages or to fulfill personal interests.

10/21/2026

The adult delegation from Hiratsuka, including the Mayor, came to Lawrence last week to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Lawrence–Hiratsuka sister-city relationship. They visited KU on Wednesday, including two of our Japanese classes.

10/17/2026

Today we attended the Major/Minors fair for the College Of Liberal Arts & Sciences. We had a great time showing all prospective students at KU about our study abroad programs and details about our programs.

10/16/2026

MANDARIN KARAOKE NIGHT❗️❗️

10/13/2026

Looking for an interesting elective?

Happiness in East Asia (EALC 303 / GEOG 303 / GIST 302) explores how people in East Asia understand and pursue happiness and well-being. Drawing on perspectives from anthropology, sociology, and human geography, the course examines philosophical and religious traditions as well as contemporary practices and policies related to well-being. The course is offered online and asynchronous, and no prior knowledge of Korean, Japanese, or Chinese is required.

Questions? Contact Quinton Dotzert ([email protected]).

10/06/2026

This past Saturday, EALC joined the annual Greater Kansas City Japan Festival at JCCC! 🇯🇵✨

Dr. Galvane and multimedia artist M. Willie Garcia led a poetry writing and printmaking workshop, while our EALC/CEAS team connected with festival attendees at our joint information table.

Thank you to our faculty and graduate student volunteers for representing EALC! ❤️

🇯🇵

05/19/2026

Our students—Justin Ritterbush, Jay Knight, Cash Schroeder, and Aimee Cummings—participated in the Midwest Chinese Speech Contest, competing at the first-, second-, and third-year levels of Chinese. Among participants from eight states and twelve universities across the Midwest, they earned Gold Medals across all levels for their speeches and a cultural talent performance. Their performances demonstrated not only strong language proficiency, but also confidence, creativity, cultural understanding, and dedication to Chinese language study. Notably, they devoted additional practice time even during final exam week. All of the faculty and the program are extremely proud of their achievements. These accomplishments are a testament to their talent, hard work and dedication, as well as the strength of our program.

05/19/2026

Congratulations to Sydney Moroney (KOR 108) on winning third prize at the Beginning level of the 2026 Midwest Korean Speech Contest on Saturday, April 4!KU was also proudly represented by Jessi Stillman (KOR 208) and Brooke Reinecke (KOR 598). Many thanks to our Korean instructors for their coaching and to Quin Dozert for his remarkable generosity in driving the students to and from Chicago. We are so proud of our students!

05/15/2026

🎌 Success at the 28th Annual Heartland Japanese Language Contest! 🎌 KU proudly hosted 122 students from universities across Kansas and Missouri for a day celebrating Japanese language and culture. KU students earned 16 of 43 awards, with standout performances in upper-level language competitions and speech. Congratulations to all the winners—and thank you to everyone who made this event a success! 🇯🇵👏

03/31/2026

Join us on April 10th for the annual John Dardess Research Forum at Watson Library! It's an opportunity to hear about the research of our faculty and graduate students!

02/27/2026

The next East Asian Literature Book Club meeting will be Mar 25 at 6pm in WES 2106! 📖

Address

1445 Jayhawk Boulevard, 2118 Wescoe Hall
Lawrence, KS
66045

Website

http://www2.ku.edu/~ealc/about/

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