南加州大学

The Marshall School of Business in conjunction with the East Asian Studies Center offers a joint MBA/MA degree that combines graduate business education with training in the cultures and societies of East Asia. Applicants for the joint MBA/MA must first apply and be accepted into the full-time Marshall School of Business MBA program. Students may apply for the MA in East Asian Area Studies during their first year of study in the MBA program. A separate online application to the MA program in East Asian Area Studies should be submitted during the first year of the MBA program.

In addition to the course requirements for the MBA program, students must take East Asia-related coursework offered by departments and professional schools across the university, as well as write a Master's thesis or pass a comprehensive examination at the end. Students may concentrate on one country (China, Japan, or Korea) or develop region-wide expertise, and work closely with faculty advisors to design their program of study and complete the Master's thesis. There are over 100 faculty members affiliated with the East Asian Studies Center whose teaching and research interests focus on the countries of East Asia.

Learning Objectives

• Ability to apply methods of critical and social analysis from anthropology, sociology, international relations, political science, economics, literature, arts, and/or history to the study of East Asia.
• Ability to apply interdisciplinary methods to the analysis of East Asian cultures, polities, and societies.
• Ability to analyze both primary and secondary source reading by identifying the main arguments or thought, placing it in contact, and interpreting it critically based on the logic and evidence presented.
• Ability to analyze the interplay between human action and institutions and organizations in East Asia, either historically or in the contemporary world.
• Knowledge of the key facets of East Asia’s place in our globalized world and the ability to analyze the influence of globalization in East Asia.
• Ability to identify strategies and choices East Asian countries have made in pursuing economic, political, and social development.
• Sixth semester or better competence in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language.
• Ability to conduct research, collect and analyze sources, write clear and coherent prose, and make compelling and original arguments as demonstrated in a thesis paper.