East Asian Studies Center (EASC) offers outstanding students pursuing a degree in East Asian Area Studies (EAAS) the opportunity to apply to and participate in the EAAS Honors Program. Students in the Honors Program will conduct an independent research project under the guidance of an EASC faculty member during their junior and/or senior year. The program is ideal for students who intend to pursue graduate education or want additional experience conducting original research.
Prerequisites
- Maintain a 3.0 cumulative overall GPA with a 3.5 GPA in EAAS major coursework
- Complete at least one upper-division (300 or 400 level) seminar with the faculty member you wish to work with
Before applying to the Honors Program
Students interested in pursuing admission to the Honors Program should meet with the EAAS undergraduate advisor, Alex Eloriaga (ajwroble@usc.edu), before the end of their junior year to integrate the program requirements into their course plan. Ideally, a student should have completed an upper-division (300 or 400 level) seminar and discussed their thesis topic with the faculty member who they wish to work with before applying to the program. If admitted to the Honors Program, students will engage in a research project and write a thesis paper over the course of two semesters in addition to their East Asian Area Studies major coursework.
Admission to the Honors Program
Students who have met the prerequisites must meet with Alex Eloriaga to obtain the EAAS Honors Program application and the EASC 490: Directed Research Contract. The application deadline is based on the semester you wish to enroll in EASC 490:
- Fall – March 1
- Spring – September 1
- Summer – February 1
Honors students will enroll in EASC 490: Directed Research and begin developing their thesis project with the faculty member who has agreed to support the work as the thesis advisor. The following semester, students will enroll in EASC 495: Honors Thesis. The emphasis of the seminar will be on the support and evaluation of the student writing their honors thesis.
For students interested in pursuing graduate education, EASC offers the East Asian Area Studies Master of Arts program. The EAAS MA is an interdisciplinary program designed to provide advanced academic background on East Asia. Candidates are able to design a program of study based on individual scholarly and professional goals, concentrating on one country (China, Japan, or Korea) or developing region-wide expertise. For more information about the EAAS MA program, please contact Grace Ryu (gryu@usc.edu) to schedule a meeting.