Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, 220 Folwell Hall, 9 Pleasant Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-625-6534; fax: 612-624-5513)

The Asian literatures, cultures, and media (ALCM) program enables students to pursue the study of Asian texts and media, broadly understood. The program encourages work that questions the boundaries of traditional area studies, demands proficiency in the language(s) of concentration, and provides opportunities for students to design a flexible program of study. Students must designate a language of concentration on their ALCM program application form. Currently, students may select Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Hindi/Urdu for their language of concentration. However, it is possible to select another South Asian language with permission of the director of graduate studies. For details, see the graduate program website at www.all.umn.edu

Note: Only applications from students seeking the Ph.D. degree are considered, although applicants are not required to have taken graduate coursework before entering the program. The M.A. is offered only as an exit degree or interim credential. A bachelor's degree from an accredited U.S. institution (or its foreign equivalent) is required for admission. Students entering with an M.A. in a related field will have the appropriate number of credits and courses applied to their program of study (as determined by the director of graduate studies). Applicants are expected to have a strong academic record from a relevant humanities or social science discipline and at least three years of college-level study in the proposed language of concentration, or a demonstration of comparable linguistic proficiency.

For the doctoral minor, students are expected to take a minimum of 15 credits in graduate courses offered in the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, 8 of which must be at the 8xxx level; the student must also pass the reading language exam that is part of the Ph.D. qualifying exam for ALCM (see above). The director of graduate studies acts as the student's adviser and approves a course of study.