EALC Department Open House

Stop by to meet EALC faculty and learn about our programming.

Book Celebration: The End of Transgression in Japanese Women’s Writing: Gender, Body, Nation

Graduate students in EALC will read passages from The End of Transgression in Japanese Women’s Writing: Gender, Body, Nation (Routledge, 2025).

David S. Holloway's book argues for a new articulation of the ways in which transgression is theorized in contemporary literature by Japanese women. 

A House Divided: Translation, National Identity, and the Rise of Pluricentric Korean

The geopolitical division of the Korean Peninsula in 1945 also resulted in the rupture of many colonial-era (1910-1945) cultural movements, among them the Korean language reform movement headed by the Han’gŭl Society (Han’gŭl hakhoe). Many of the members of this influential society “went North” after 1945, contributing to an emergent North Korean language policy and planning regime that increasingly diverged from its South Korean counterpart.

Fall 2025 Major-Minor Fair

Everything you're curious about all in one place!

Meet faculty and students from across Arts & Sciences, explore research opportunities, and learn how your major can connect to future careers. Whether you're undecided, considering a double major, or just exploring -- stop by!

Learn more details about the Major-Minor Fair, or find a list of all the upcoming Sophomore Series events on the ArtSci Events Calendar.

Weaving “Brocades”: Rules, Textuality, and Games of Reading

This talk centers on a set of word puzzles known as “brocades” to demonstrate how gaming, especially through its rules (dufa), expanded and reimagined the act of reading wen in early modern China. “Jin,” or “brocade,” as an umbrella term, refers to a series of creative applications of the Chinese writing system that mimic everyday objects, in which readers were required to follow a specific trajectory that imitated the process of weaving a piece of brocade. I trace the intricate transformation of the “brocade” puzzles from a hands-on game played across social echelons that required one to see the words and touch them with fingers; to a word diagram, whose animation mimics cosmological movement; and finally, to a word-only notational system encoding coordinates for chess pieces on a Go board. I argue that reading emerges as both material (engaging tactility) and algorithmic (encoding and decoding coordinates), ontological (reflecting on the act of reading itself) and epistemological (reading as a means of knowing the order and movement of the phenomenal world), simultaneously engaging with both the visible textual surface and the underlying structure. These puzzles complicate our understanding of literacy and reading, anticipating aspects of digital textuality in their emphasis on fragmentation, tactile interface, and structural coding.

Biography: Jiayi Chen is an assistant professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on early modern Chinese literature and culture, particularly their intersections with games, theater, visual and material culture, and the history of books and reading. Her current book project, tentatively titled Game On: Epistemic Play in Early Modern China, studies how the critical potential of games to model reading, learning, and thinking, thereby cultivating new epistemological perspectives for navigating reality. Her other research interests include early modern Chinese discourses on immersion, magic, and cultural exchanges in East Asia.

Mijeong Mimi Kim Presents at the A&S Teaching Innovation Showcase

Do you want a first look at the creative approaches that could change the way courses are taught in Arts & Sciences?

2026 Morrell Lecture in Asian Religions: Conflict over the Identity and Future of Korean Buddhism: The Buddhist Purification Movement, 1954–1970

Immediately after liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, celibate Korean Buddhist monks sought to abolish the Temple Ordinance instituted by the Japanese Governor-General’s Office in 1911 by rejecting the practice of clerical marriage and reinstituting celibate monasticism, repealing the Japanese-style system of control over monasteries and temples, and reorienting the Korean Buddhist Order towards the propagation of Sŏn Buddhism. Their attempts were unsuccessful until, on May 20, 1954, the celibate monks Ha Tongsan 河東山 (1890–1965) and Yi Ch’ŏngdam 李靑潭 (1902–1971) appealed to President Syngman Rhee 李承晚 (1875–1965), whose regime had stabilized with the cease fire in the Korean War and who heartily assented to the “de-Japanification” of Korean Buddhism. This became known as the “Buddhist Purification Movement” (Pulgyo chŏnghwa undong 佛敎淨化運動). Refusing any compromise with the married majority of Korean monks, the celibate minority used connections to the presidency, government organs, and the media to advance their case. From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, the married and celibate monks were grid-locked in fierce litigation in South Korean courts. Because the succeeding regime of Park Chung Hee 朴正熙 (1917–1979), the judicial courts, and the Korean population on the whole were sympathetic to the cause of the celibate monks, ultimately the married monks willfully separated themselves from the celibate monks and organized the T’aego Order 太古宗 of Korean Buddhism on May 8, 1970. The celibate monks’ unrelenting emphasis on reestablishing celibate monasticism, their unyielding tenacity in assuming administrative control over the Chogye Order’s 曹溪宗 major monastic complexes, and their persistent championing of Chinul 知訥 (1158–1210) as the founder of the Korean Sŏn tradition functioned as immovable ideological pillars enabling the ultimate success of the celibate monks.

This event is free and open to the public. A reception with light refreshments will follow. 

Richard was raised in Los Angeles, California, and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Korea Pusan Mission from 1988 to 1990. He double majored in Asian Studies and Korean at BYU, graduating in 1993, and later earned a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures (with emphasis on Korean and Chinese Buddhism and early Korean History) at UCLA in 2001. He was a Fulbright Senior Researcher at Dongguk University in Korea from 2007 to 2008, He taught in the History Department at BYU-Hawaii from 2008 to 2018. His wife of 17 years, Younghee Yeon McBride, passed away from pancreatic cancer in February 2018. They are the parents of two sons, David and Sean. 

Annual Stanley Spector Lecture: Democratizing Railroads and the Cultivation of a New Postwar Japan

Democracy was not the inevitable outcome for Japan after World War II. The new constitution set up a legal framework for a democratic system, but after years of authoritarian rule, changing people's attitudes and daily practices to match legal transformations was a major challenge for the builders of democracy in 1945. By training workers and revising labor management structures for changed social conditions, institutions of everyday life like the national railway agency contributed to the popular mindset deemed essential to democracy.

Colloquium Series: Writing a Counter Narrative for Modern Korea: Borders, Borderlands, and Diasporas

This talk explores the possibilities of writing a counter narrative for Korea’s modern history—through borders, borderlands, and diasporas.  Korea’s history has often been told as a story of colonization/victimization on the one hand and freedom fighters/revolutionaries on the other, both perspectives emphasizing the power and gaze of an outside empire.  How do we invert this narrative to center native actors and the transregional dynamics in which they were situated?  I ruminate about reading against and with multiple imperial archives and the conundrum, for a time, of the lack of a Korean “archive.”  The talk offers a view of Korea’s northern borderlands at the turn of the 20th century, as well as the borders and migrants/refugees that suddenly came into being after decolonization (1945-50).

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Alyssa Park is the author of Sovereignty Experiments: Korean Migrants and the Building of Borders in Northeast Asia, 1860-1945 (Cornell University Press, 2019), which examines how questions of sovereignty—claims over land and subjects—became a central concern to multiple states as they confronted the unprecedented mobility of Koreans. Based on sources from Korea, the Russian Far East, St. Petersburg, and Manchuria, the book explores the history of the Korean community across Russia and China, illuminating the process by which this border region and people were claimed as belonging to surrounding states.

Dr. Park is currently working on a book about population displacement in the two Koreas. Through the lens of Korean “refugees,” it brings together the transnational histories of postcolonial Korea, nascent South Korean regime, and Soviet and U.S. occupations during the critical interregnum of 1945-50.

Dr. Park’s research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson Center, Kennan Institute, Yale Council on East Asian Studies, Korea Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies / Mellon, International Research and Exchanges Board, and Fulbright-Hays. She earned an AB from Princeton University and a PhD in History from Columbia University. 

East Asian Language Pedagogy Workshop: AI for East Asian Language Pedagogy: Opportunities, Challenges, and Classroom Strategies

Generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping higher education, offering powerful new tools for teaching, learning, and assessment while raising complex questions about ethics, authenticity, and intercultural understanding. Although AI’s impact on East Asian language education is still emerging, its growing presence across universities is already shaping expectations and classroom practices. Understanding how AI intersects with effective language pedagogy is increasingly essential for instructors.
 

Digital Humanities Working Group: Yu Wang

^{*Note: The venue for the DH Working Group has changed for Spring 2026. We will now be meeting in the DUC, Room 233, for all sessions until further notice.}

The first April session of the Digital Humanities Working Group of Spring 2026 will feature a talk by Prof. Yu Wang, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University. 

Title: Doing Sound Studies with AI: A Non-Coder’s Approach to 750 Hours of Radio Tapes in WashU

Abstract: How to study the past through sound? Why does it matter? Can I still do it if I have no programming background? What are the tips? What new possibilities does AI open up for interdisciplinary research projects? During this talk, I will approach these questions by drawing on the materials from the Robert S. Elegant Collection at the East Asian Library of Washington University in St Louis. Donated to Washington University in 1976 by Mr. Elegant, the collection features 677 reels with more than 750 hours of audio tape recordings of radio broadcasts, interviews, and public events from the height of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1971). I will share how I have explored the vast amount of radio tapes on China, through methods such as text mining, visualization, sentiment and geospatial analysis, to better understand the production of data on China during this period, and more broadly, the value of sound data in the age of information today.

The session will take place on Friday April 10th from 11-12.30, in the DUC, Room 233. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A. Lunch will be provided.

If you plan to attend this session, please RSVP and provide your lunch order here.

The Digital Humanities Working Group working is a space for faculty and advanced graduate students to present works-in-progress for feedback before submitting their work to an external conference, journal or grant body. We also aim to create a regular community gathering space for researchers in the digital humanities across disciplines in Arts and Sciences. Scholars interested in any of the subfields of the digital humanities, including but not limited to humanities data analytics, cultural analytics, media studies, critical digital studies, critical data studies, and history of science and technology, are welcome to attend. The group consists of monthly meetings in which one or two faculty or grad students will present a current project. The working group is a cross-disciplinary intitative sponsored by the Transdisciplinary Institute in Applied Data Sciences and the Humanities Digital Workshop, with the support of Olin Library Data Services.

If you wish to be added to the general mailing list for the DH working group, please fill out this form.

If you have any questions, or if you are interested in presenting to the group, please email Claudia Carroll (claudiac@wustl.edu).

The Changing Hats of Teaching: How AI Can Support a Very Complicated Job

Dr. Gabriel Guillén

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California

Workshop:  Friday, April 3, 2026, at 1 pm in Eads 103

The Changing Hats of Teaching: How AI Can Support a Very Complicated Job

This workshop introduces Brisk Teaching and other AI tools through the lens of the “three teaching hats”: curriculum developer, classroom performer, and assessment mentor. Participants will explore how AI can support intentional lesson design, enhance student tasks and real time classroom improvisation, and provide meaningful formative feedback. Attendees will experiment with concrete language activities, reflect on benefits and limitations, and leave with practical strategies to use AI as a thinking partner across planning, teaching, and assessment.

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*The Ginger Marcus Foreign Language Learning Speaker Series at Washington University in St. Louis is sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature and Thought; the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures; the Department of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies; the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 

Language Education and AI: What We Teach When We Stop Being Afraid

Lecture:  Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 4 pm in Hillman 60

Language Education and AI: What We Teach When We Stop Being Afraid

AI can already translate live speech and handle many everyday communication tasks, leaving many language educators wondering what is left for learners to do. This talk argues that fear is the wrong starting point. Drawing on longstanding research and practices in language education alongside current work on AI, I suggest that this moment invites a renewed focus on identity, intercultural understanding, storytelling, and public service. Rather than replacing language learning, AI pushes us to rethink what we want learners to gain and how we teach, centering play, embodiment, relationship building, and meaningful human and intercultural communication, with technology serving as support rather than substitute.

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*The Ginger Marcus Foreign Language Learning Speaker Series at Washington University in St. Louis is sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature and Thought; the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures; the Department of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies; the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 

Screening: Black Box Diaries (2024)

A film by Shiori Itō
Oscar-nominated documentary chronicling her pursuit of justice after surviving sexual violence

Followed by a conversation with:
Shiori Itō, Japanese journalist and documentary filmmaker; TIME 100 Most Influential People of 2020
Rebecca Wanzo, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Yue Wang, PhD Candidate in Japanese Language and Literature (Moderator)

Sponsored by East Asian Languages and Cultures; Film and Media Studies; Global Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Center for the Humanities

Fall 2026 Classes Begin