MA Requirements

The MA program in East Asian Languages and Literatures offers concentrations in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean and tracks in language/linguistics and literature. We also offer a track in Korean for Professionals. More information about this track can found found at this link.

The degree requirements have been updated below as of Fall 2018. A summary flowchart of the new requirements can be found here.

For information about the old MA degree requirements (prior to Fall 2018), click here.

1. Language/Linguistics and Korean for Professionals Track

1.1 Course work

In consultation with their academic advisors, students must take the following courses:
- a minimum of 4 CJK language/linguistics courses,
- at least 1 CJK literature course,
- a maximum of 2 elective courses,
- a CJK research seminar (CHN 750, JPN 730, KOR 730 and their equivalent).
Note that:
- the minimum grade required for a course to count towards a graduate degree is a grade of C.
- elective courses may include courses offered outside of EALL.
- a maximum of two 400-level courses will count toward the degree. A maximum of 3 credits of 699 may count toward the degree.
- a minimum of 18 (Plan A: Thesis) or 24 (Plan B: Capstone paper) credits should come from 600 or higher.
- any courses that are officially audited do not count toward the degree and full-time/part-time enrollment status and are not included in your financial aid eligibility.
- incomplete grades must be cleared before the following deadlines: April 1 for Fall semester incompletes and November 1 for Spring or Summer session incompletes

	Plan A	Plan B
CJK Lang/Linguistics Courses	3 credits x 4	3 credits x 4
CJK Literature Course	3 credits x 1	3 credits x 1
CJK Research Seminar Course	3 credits x 1	3 credits x 1
Elective Courses	3 credits x 2	3 credits x 4
EALL 700	6 credits	NA
Total credits	30 credits	30 credits

Study abroad (Korean for Professionals students only)
- Korean for Professionals MA students are required to participate in a study abroad program for at least one semester. However, students have the option to extend their overseas study and stay for two semesters.
- Students may choose any institute as their study abroad host. Students may apply to an institute as an exchange student via Manoa student exchange program (MIX), or they may apply to an institute individually as a visiting student.
- Study abroad component may be exempt for qualifying students.

1.2 Plan A or B

In consultation with their academic advisors, students should choose between Plan A or B as soon as possible and inform the Graduate Advisor, Cherry Lacsina.

Plan A (Thesis)

In consultation with their academic advisors, students form a three-member thesis committee who will evaluate their MA thesis then complete a Form II via Kuali Build.
If students plan to conduct research involving the use of human subjects, they must obtain approval from the Office of Research Compliance Human Studies Program.
Students with Plan A need to register for EALL 700 for 6 credits usually during the last semester in the program.
The submission deadline for the initial draft of the thesis is due to the students’ advisors by April 1 in the Spring semester and November 1 in the Fall semester.
Thesis must be orally defended. A defense should be scheduled with the Graduate Advisor at the latest two weeks before the end of a semester to allow for sufficient time for the necessary paperwork to be processed and revisions to the thesis to be completed. Before the defense, students must complete a Form III and Form IV via Kuali Build so that it’s ready for the committee’s approval after the defense.

Given the current restrictions due to the pandemic, MA thesis defenses must be carried out as a videoconference or a teleconference. For the time being, students are not required to complete and submit a Petition for Remote Committee Participation.

Scheduling a virtual defense

The defense must be two hours in length. It should be scheduled between 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (HST) on any work day, to the extent practically possible, during both instructional and non-instructional periods.
Students will contact the members of their dissertation committee and find a mutually agreeable time for the dissertation defense.
Students should make sure that the committee members have access to the videoconferencing software that will be used for the defense (e.g., Zoom) and provide sufficient information about the video-conferencing software in case the committee members are not familiar with it.
- Use of Zoom is strongly recommended because UH has a license with Zoom and ITS can provide technical support if needed. If you need information about using Zoom, please visit this link.
- If students plan to use Zoom, their Thesis Chair should create the zoom link using their hawaii.edu email to be the host of the event. S/he should also create a breakout room for the committee members to go to after the defense to discuss the defense privately.
- For any technical issues on the day of your conference please contact the Video Operations Center at (808) 956-5191. For assistance after hours, weekends, or holidays, you may contact the ITS Help Desk at (808) 956-8883 / toll free: (800) 558-2669, or email: help@hawaii.edu.
Videoconference or teleconference must be of sufficient and consistent quality such that the participants are at minimum able to hear any presentation being made and any discussions as appropriate, and preferably to see any such presentation and discussion.
Contact Graduate Advisor (Cherry Lacsina) and Graduate Chair (Shin Fukuda) and inform your plan to them

Before and during the defense:

All materials including powerpoint slides, a handout, any other visual aids, that will be used during the defense should be distributed in advance to the committee members no later than 48 hours prior to the scheduled defense.
Audio/video recording of a thesis defense will not be permitted unless students obtain the written consent of all committee members prior to the event (e-mail messages will be acceptable).
If the defense will be video-recorded, that information must be included in an announcement of the defense so that public attendees would be aware.
Public attendees must be able to hear and see the defense presentation and at a minimum hear the committee members’ interventions/discussions.

Final thesis must be submitted to Graduate Division through ProQuest ETD by the graduating student himself/herself before May 1 in the Spring semester and December 1 in the Fall semester.For more information: http://www.manoa.hawaii.edu/graduate/content/proquest-etd-submission-publication
A copy of their final thesis should be submitted to the department.

Plan B (Capstone paper)

Students write a capstone paper under the guidance of their advisors.
Students with Plan B need to take two additional 3 credit courses
Two reviewers (designated by their advisors) will assess the quality of capstone papers.
Korean for Professionals students will write their Capstone paper in Korean.
The submission deadline for the initial draft of the capstone paper is due to the students’ advisors by April 1 in the Spring semester and November 1 in the Fall semester.
- The submission deadline for the final version of the capstone paper is due to the advisor by May 1 in the Spring semester and December 1 in the Fall semester. A pdf copy should also be emailed to the Graduate Advisor.
Students need to present the research on which their capstone papers are based at a public forum, such as a conference, workshop, EALL talk series, etc.

1.3 Graduation

Check STAR for Graduate Division Requirements and your Graduate Program (Graduate Advisor: Cherry Lacsina) for all other degree related requirements.
Once the final version or capstone paper or thesis is approved, Form IV should be completed and submitted to EALL Graduate Advisor who will submit the form to Graduate Division for its approval.
Students are expected to complete all degree requirements in 7 years. After they have reached their 7th year, students are placed on academic probation and required to obtain Graduate Division’s approval for a petition to extend graduation in order to register for the following semester.
Records of academic probation will be removed once all the degree requirements are completed
Before graduation, students must
- Apply for graduation by submitting the Graduate Application for Degree form by the posted deadlines in the UHM Academic Calendar.
- Students who plan to attend the commencement should inform Graduate Advisor their intention to attend commencement, register online.

2. Literature Track

2.1 Course work

In consultation with their academic advisors, students must take:
- a minimum of 4 CJK literature courses,
- at least 1 CJK language/linguistics course,
- a maximum of 2 elective courses,
- a CJK research seminar (CHN 753, JPN 710, KOR 720 and their equivalent).
Note that:
- elective courses may include courses offered outside of EALL.
- a maximum of two 400-level courses will count toward the degree. A maximum of 3 credits of 699 may count toward the degree.
- a minimum of 18 (Plan A: Thesis) or 24 (Plan B: Capstone paper) credits should come from 600 or higher
- any courses that are officially audited do not count toward the degree and full-time/part-time enrollment status and are not included in your financial aid eligibility.
- incomplete grades must be cleared before the following deadlines: April 1 for Fall semester incompletes and November 1 for Spring or Summer session incompletes

	Plan A	Plan B
CJK Literature Courses	3 credits x 4	3 credits x 4
CJK Lang/Linguistics Course	3 credits x 1	3 credits x 1
CJK Research Seminar Course	3 credits x 1	3 credits x 1
Elective Courses	3 credits x 2	3 credits x 4
EALL 700	6 credits	NA
Total credits	30 credits	30 credits

2.2 Plan A or B

In consultation with their academic advisors, students should choose between Plan A or B as soon as possible and inform the Graduate Advisor, Cherry Lacsina.