What is East Asian Studies and what are the pros and cons of going into it? This testimony, I hope, would be helpful for first year students deciding whether East Asian Studies is the right choice for them.
According to the Departmental website,
“In a time of globalization, a degree in East Asian Studies can be an excellent springboard from which to launch a career in fields where multilingualism, critical analytical skills, and in-depth knowledge of the socio-historical and cultural contexts of East Asian texts and ideas are essential.”
As such, going into East Asian Studies may be useful if you are hoping for a career in international diplomacy, or as a subsidiary degree that complements a more “practical” major working for a western company that values in their employees an intimate connection to East Asia cultures.
However, I am not in East Asian Studies for those reasons. As a career goal, I am interested in going into Public Policy or Law for postgraduate studies. These schools do not care what your undergraduate degree is; somebody who gets a 4.0 majoring in East Asian Studies will have a higher chance in getting into UofT Law than another candidate getting a 3.8 majoring in Ethics, Society and Law.
As such, my decision to minor in East Asian Studies was driven more by personal interest than “practicality”, so to speak. As a Chinese person myself, I loved learning about various aspects of my home country; its language, culture and history. My personal interest in EAS have also led to me getting much higher grades in said courses as compared to my grades in my major, the much more mundane, boring and unimaginative Political Sciences. East Asian Studies is fun, and I genuinely look forward to going to EAS classes. That isn’t to say, however, that EAS is a “GPA booster”; EAS courses generally have average grade medians (C+ to B).
I would go as far to say that the 6 courses I have taken with the East Asian Studies department has provided more insight in the world than the 12 courses I have taken in Political Science. I am somewhat of a celebrity with my relatives back in China. Whenever they want to know about the political situation in the region, they come to me!
In conclusion, I feel like going into East Asian Studies is a fantastic choice if you are passionate about the region and want to genuinely enjoy studying things in university. The breadth of courses are incredible too; there are courses on history, culture, cuisine and politics.
Even though East Asian Studies does not score super high marks on real world practicality, prospective students who are interested in the region can, on top of their “main major” (maths, anthropology, computer science, etc), do a minor, or a double major in East Asian Studies to round off their university experience. If you are super interested in East Asian Studies and are hoping to go into law/med school, consider an EAS specialist!
Besides, once you’re in this program, you can officially partake in all the activities we’ll be hosting over the next year!
Read more about what is needed to complete a degree in East Asian Studies on the UofT Academic Calendar. Whether you are taking a specialist, major or minor, it is highly recommended that you take EAS103 and EAS105 in your first year so you get a feel for the discipline.
By Vittorio Wang, a 3rd year student majoring in Political Science and minoring in East Asian Studies and History.