The Applied Career Track of the EALC MA combines advanced and real-world-applicable language training in Chinese, Japanese, and/or Korean with the development of deep regional and country-specific cultural fluency, substantive expertise, and research and analytical skills.
This track prepares students for impactful careers related to East Asia for which advanced language skills are essential. Future career tracks or which graduates are qualified include but are not limited to business, civil society, diplomacy, education, intelligence analysis, interpretation, journalism, law, library/archival work, linguistics, media, public policy, research, and translation.
This degree track is also the home for MA-level dual degrees with other professional schools on campus including the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Kelley School of Business.
Graduates of the Applied Career Track of the EALC MA can:
Note: EALC is accepting applications for students focusing on China, Japan, and/or Korea in all of its degree tracks, including the MA (Applied Career Track), the MA (Language Pedagogy Track), and the PhD, in the Fall 2026 application cycle. However, the technical infrastructure for applications in our new degree model is still under construction. Students interested in graduate study should contact the EALC department office, ealc@iu.edu, directly to indicate their interest and discuss the proper mode of application.
An undergraduate major in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or East Asian Studies, or the equivalent. Please contact ealc@iu.edu with any questions about degree equivalency.
Students must demonstrate professional-level proficiency (fourth-year or higher) in the major language (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean), either by completing the second semester of fourth-year language courses with a grade of C or higher, or by passing the department's placement/proficiency test at an equivalent level.
Students must complete a total of 30 credit hours, including MA project hours (see below), in courses approved by the student's primary academic advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. Ordinarily, at least 20 of these credit hours must be from non-language courses in EALC. Language courses at first-and second-year levels will not count toward the 30-credit-hour requirement, but up to 10 credits of third- and fourth-year East Asian language courses can. Except for overseas study credits, normally a maximum of 3 credit hours of E595 (Individual Readings) may be counted toward the degree. The remaining credit hours, beyond the 20 that must be taken in EALC, may be taken from other departments at the discretion of the student's primary advisor and EALC's Director of Graduate Studies.
As the culminating project for the degree, the student may compose either a thesis or an essay. A thesis demonstrates the student's research and analytical skills, including extensive use of primary sources in the student's major language(s). An essay demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate a body of scholarly literature in the student's field, including engaging with secondary sources in the student's major language(s).
Specific requirements such as length, methodology, etc., will be determined in consultation with the student's advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. Students may enroll in up to 4 credit hours of EALC-C/J/K 701 to represent work on the thesis, or EALC-E 595 to represent work on the essay.
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