Department of East Asian Studies
Welcome to the Department of East Asian Studies, the academic heart of East Asian Studies in the University of Cambridge. The department is home to an international faculty of scholars and teachers engaged in the study of China, Japan and Korea. We offer full subject undergraduate and graduate courses in Chinese and Japanese, as well as a graduate-only course in East Asian Studies. Supported by world-class library holdings we strive to accomplish the highest achievements in undergraduate education and research on the languages, literatures, religions, history and politics of East Asian societies past and present.
A course in Korean language will be run throughout the year (two hours per week). No previous knowledge is assumed. For further details, please see the Korean Language Classes page.
For information on research projects currently being undertaken by members of staff, please see the research projects page.
Asian Studies Seminar Series
Programme - Michaelmas Term, 2012
China Research Seminar
Programme - Michaelmas Term, 2012
Lecture in Honour of Dr Michael Loewe's 90th Birthday
Divination and Mantic Access: Some Texts and Problems
2012 Ra Jong-Yil Lecture in Korean Studies
The Challenges of Democratic Experiments in South Korean politics
Chuan Lyu Lectures in Taiwan Studies
Programme of lectures for 2012
Humanitas 2012 Visiting Professorship in Chinese Studies
Reading Absences in Chinese Art and Material Culture
Department News & Events
Humanitas 2012 Visiting Professorship in Statecraft and Diplomacy
Dr John Swenson-Wright took part in a panel discussion which formed part of the seminar series on development in the 21st century led by Helen Clark, (Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and Chair of the United Nations Development Group; former Prime Minister of New Zealand) who holds the Humanitas 2012 Visiting Professorship in Statecraft and Diplomacy.
Philip Kuhn presents China Research Seminar
Professor Philip Kuhn (Francis Lee Higinson Professor of History and East Asian Langauges and Civilizations at Harvard University) visited the Faculty on Wednesday, 7th March, 2012 and gave a lecture in the Department's China Research Seminar Series.
His lecture pointed out important continuities in relations between business and officialdom from the seventeenth century to reform China and how this can shed light on our understanding of Chinese cultures of migration. The event attracted a large and appreciative audience not just from Cambridge but from across England. The audience listened in hushed silence as Professor Kuhn provided a master class in historical analysis.
Radiation Exposure Levels in Japan
Juvenile Delinquency in 19th and 20th Centuries: East-West Comparisons
Dr Barak Kushner gave the keynote speech at this conference in Berlin.
Kim Dae-Jung Lecture Series Inaugurated
The Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge is pleased to announce the establishment of the Kim Dae-Jung Memorial Lecture in Korean Studies.
The inaugural Kim Dae-Jung Memorial Lecture was given by Professor Moon Chung-in of the Department of Political Science at Yonsei University.
North Korea: Breaking the Deadlock
- A Different Approach
Professor Lord Alton of Liverpool gave a talk on this subject in the Asian Studies Centre's Seminar Series on Monday, 31st January, 2011.
The text of his talk and photographs of the event are now available.
Cold War Workshop Conference
Dr Barak Kushner and Dr John Swenson-Wright hosted a conference at the Faculty in December, 2010 as part of the British Academy funded workshop "Regional and National Identities in the Cold War in East Asia: the integration of East Asian and Western Perspectives (1945-1991).
The Hitler costume fiasco shows Japan has lost touch with its past
Dr Barak Kushner, University Lecturer in Modern Japanese History, writes in The Guardian's Comment is Free section.
guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/13/japan-hitler-outfit-past
Former Student awarded Philip Leverhulme prize
The Philip Leverhulme Prizes, with a value of £70,000 each, are awarded annually to outstanding scholars who have made a substantial and recognised contribution to their particular field of study, recognised at an international level, and where the expectation is that their greatest achievement is yet to come.
Dr Julia Lovell, a former student and Affiliated Lecturer of Chinese Studies at the Faculty who is now with the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck, University of London, was among the prizewinners for 2010. Her prize was awarded in the Medieval, Early Modern and Modern History category for her work on Modern Chinese History.
Dr Swenson-Wright discusses the Korean exchange of fire on Radio 4
John Swenson-Wright, University Senior Lecturer in Modern Japanese Politics and International Relations, spoke on the BBC Radio 4's Today program on Tuesday, 23rd November, 2010 in response to the North Korean exhange of fire with South Korea.
news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9218000/9218548.stm
Dr Swenson-Wright was also cited in articles on the developing situation in the New York Times, in the Independent, in the Korea Times, on the Channel 4 news and on the Chatham House website.
Reflections on War & Peace: Sixty Years After the Korean War
British Association for Korean Studies Symposium
Saturday, 20th November, 2010 from 9:30am to 6:00pm
Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP
Speakers include Dr Mark Morris, University of Cambridge
Booking Fee £10 - Advanced registration essential. For details see: baks.org.uk
Sophie’s Revenge (非常完美)
Film screening and Q&A with director Jin Yimeng
Leading female politican delivers Ra Jong-Yil Lecture
The Devil Inside: the image of Japan in 20th century Chinese humor
Dr Barak Kushner was recently invited to Pennsylvania State University in the USA to give two talks. One of these talks, "The Devil Inside: the image of Japan in 20th century Chinese humor", was delivered on Monday, 25th October, 2010. Penn State recorded it and it can be viewed (a bit muffled unfortunately and preceded by an advertisement) at the address below:
cnet.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=7fde8058679b4926b263f041214c958c
Dr John Swenson Wright's hugely popular Festival of Ideas talk
featured by University Press Office
North Korea: A Real and Present Danger?
Professor Roel Sterckx on BBC Radio 4's A History of the World in 100 Objects
Graduate awarded Japanese MEXT scholarship
New book published by Japanese Studies Alumna
More Leadership Uncertainty in Japan
Expert comment by Dr John Swenson-Wright, Associate Fellow, Chatham House Asia Programme - see chathamhouse.org.uk/media/comment/japan0610
Formation of Japanese Studies alumni group
Professor Wang Gungwu of the National University of Singapore
Departmental Newsletter
First Issue now available online
In the Fields of Shennong
New publication by Professor Roel Sterckx
- An inaugural lecture delivered on 30 September 2008 to mark the establishment of the Joseph Needham Professorship of Chinese History, Science and Civilization, published by the Needham Research Institute.
Chinese Premier donates 200,000 e-books
Wen Jiabao's donation to the University Library
Thomas Wade Society
The Society now has a Facebook page
