UW–Madison offers MA and PhD degrees in Japanese, specializing either in linguistics or in literature and culture. The program provides broad foundations and focused training in these two specialties, assuring that our graduates are amply prepared to teach and conduct research.
The linguistics specialty excels in areas such as functional linguistics, pragmatics, discourse/conversation analysis, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and language pedagogy.
The literature and culture specialty covers the classical Heian through contemporary Reiwa periods, offering a wide range of courses on fiction, poetry, drama, popular culture, visual culture, cinema, acoustic culture, and cutting-edge cross-media and avant-garde topics, particularly manga and anime.
The Japanese Program is housed in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC), along with the Chinese Program and the Asian Languages and Cultures Program. As such, students will have opportunities to interact with all faculty, staff, and graduate students affiliated with the department to examine their area of specialty in broader regional and disciplinary contexts.
Admissions
Please consult the table below for key information about this degree program’s admissions requirements. The program may have more detailed admissions requirements, which can be found below the table or on the program’s website.
Graduate admissions is a two-step process between academic programs and the Graduate School. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements of the Graduate School as well as the program(s). Once you have researched the graduate program(s) you are interested in, apply online.
| Fall Deadline | January 10 |
| Spring Deadline | This program does not admit for the spring. |
| Summer Deadline | This program does not admit for the summer. |
| GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) | Not Required. |
| English Proficiency Test | Every applicant whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not exclusively in English, must provide an English proficiency test score earned within two years of the anticipated term of enrollment. Refer to the Graduate School: Minimum Requirements for Admission policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1241. |
| Other Test(s) (e.g., GMAT, MCAT) | n/a |
| Letters of Recommendation Required | 3 |
Prior to submitting application and materials, applicants should carefully review the faculty’s expertise to determine the fit between their interest and the program. To this extent, prospective applicants may contact a specific faculty to discuss their research interest prior to submitting applications.
Applicants should also review the Graduate School's admission process and Graduate School's minimum requirements.
Applicants to the Japanese Literature track are required to submit a writing sample (it is optional for Japanese Linguistics). You may submit a seminar paper, thesis chapter, or journal article. This paper should be in English, and may either be published or unpublished.
Applicants without an equivalent UW-Madison Japanese undergraduate degree prior to enrollment will need to address deficiencies. Admissions with deficiencies is possible. Students will be expected to complete these courses while in the program.
For more information on application materials, refer to the application and admissions information page.
Deadlines
In order to be considered for fellowships, project assistantships, and teaching assistantships, all application materials must be in by the fall deadline.
If you do not need any funding support, you may submit applications by April 15.
Funding
Graduate School Resources
Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.
Graduate Student Costs
For tuition and living costs, please view the Cost of Attendance page. International applicants recommended for admission to the Graduate School are required to show sufficient funds to attend the University during the course of studies (tuition, food and housing, incidentals and health insurance) to be officially accepted by the Graduate School.
Department Resources
The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures offers financial assistance in the forms of fellowships, teaching assistantships (TAships), and project assistantships (PAships). Please make note of the deadline of January 10 for financial assistance consideration. All necessary materials including test scores must be submitted by the deadline.
If you are an international applicant and receive a fellowship, PAship or TAship, please make note that you will likely be required to show additional financial documentation to meet the minimum required for your official acceptance to the Graduate School.
Other Awards & Fellowships
- Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships: FLAS fellowships are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the UW's National Resource Centers to assist students in acquiring foreign language and either area or international studies competencies. FLAS awards are only available for specific languages and are contingent on federal funding.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Applications by students in professional fields are encouraged. Preference will be given to applicants with a high level of academic ability and with previous language training.
Academic Year and Summer FLAS awards are two separate competitions requiring two separate and complete applications.
Complete details about FLAS at UW-Madison are available on the FLAS FAQs (your first stop) and the FLAS Languages & Coordinators pages (should you have additional questions).
- Advanced Opportunity Fellowship (AOF): This fellowship is awarded to highly qualified underrepresented students. To be considered for AOF funding, prospective students must be new to the Graduate School and be admissible to a graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For further information: https://grad.wisc.edu/diversity/.
- Project Assistantships. Availability of PAship varies from one year to another, depending on the types of projects the departmental faculty are engaged in. PAs assist faculty members’ research projects and/or respond to some programmatic needs of the department and other campus units.
- Teaching Assistantships. Availability and types of TAship vary from one year to another, depending on the department’s curricular needs and student enrollment. TAs will support a number of our language and culture courses, typically team-teaching with faculty members. If you are interested in being a teaching assistant in our language programs, you must submit the TA application and necessary materials (1-2 page written autobiography that refers to your prior teaching experience, letter of recommendation that speaks to your teaching experience, video recording of your teaching, if available) through the Graduate School application system by January 10.
- Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS) Awards Office: IRIS manages its own funding opportunities (Scott Kloeck-Jenson Fellowships, IRIS Graduate Fieldwork Awards, Incubator Grants), coordinates the campus component of a number of external programs (Boren Fellowships, Fulbright US Student Program, Fulbright-Hays DDRA, Luce Scholars Program), assists students, faculty, and staff in exploring funding options, and much more. Visit: https://iris.wisc.edu/funding/ for more information on awards. Contact Mark Lilleleht, Assistant Director for Awards, with questions at awards@iris.wisc.edu & 608-265-6070.
- Other Forms of Financial Aid: Loans and some on-campus job openings are handled through the Office of Student Financial Aid. Please contact them to obtain more information.
- Students may also obtain information from the Grants Information Center in the Memorial Library, Room 262, 728 State St., Madison, WI 53706. Phone 608-262-3242.
Minimum Graduate School Requirements
Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements, in addition to the program requirements listed below.
Major Requirements
Mode of Instruction
| Face to Face | Evening/Weekend | Online | Hybrid | Accelerated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | No | No | No |
Mode of Instruction Definitions
Accelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students typically take enough credits aimed at completing the program in a year or two.
Evening/Weekend: Courses meet on the UW–Madison campus only in evenings and/or on weekends to accommodate typical business schedules. Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments.
Face-to-Face: Courses typically meet during weekdays on the UW-Madison Campus.
Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats. Contact the program for more specific information.
Online: These programs are offered 100% online. Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format.
Curricular Requirements
| Minimum Credit Requirement | 30 credits |
| Minimum Residence Credit Requirement | 16 credits |
| Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement | 15 credits must be graduate-level coursework. Refer to the Graduate School: Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1244. |
| Overall Graduate GPA Requirement | 3.00 GPA required. Refer to the Graduate School: Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1203. |
| Other Grade Requirements | Students must earn a B or above in all coursework taken as a graduate student. |
| Assessments and Examinations | Japanese linguistics students are required to pass two in-class exams on Japanese Pedagogy and Japanese Linguistics; and to successfully deliver an MA project presentation based on a research project or a pedagogy-oriented project. For Japanese literature/culture students, a final examination is required. |
| Language Requirements | Advanced proficiency in modern Japanese is required. |
Required Courses
Linguistics Pathway1
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses: | ||
| ASIAN 358 | Language in Japanese Society | 3 |
| ASIAN 434 | Introduction to Japanese Linguistics | 3 |
| ASIAN 435 | Teaching of Japanese | 3 |
| ASIAN 775 | Japanese Applied Linguistics | 3 |
| Additional Credits (Within Asian Languages and Cultures) | 9-21 | |
| The following is a list of recommended courses. Other courses may be chosen in consultation with your advisor. | ||
| Topics in Asian Studies | ||
| Lovers, Warriors and Monks: Survey of Japanese Literature | ||
| Early Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Japanese Ghost Stories | ||
| Love and Politics: The Tale of Genji | ||
| Haiku | ||
| Manga | ||
| Anime | ||
| Readings in Early Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Readings in Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Readings in Classical Japanese Literature | ||
| Japanese Applied Linguistics | ||
| Directed Study | ||
| Additional Credits (Outside of Asian Languages and Cultures) | 0-12 | |
| The following is a list of recommended courses. Other courses may be chosen in consultation with your advisor. | ||
| Introduction to Linguistics: Descriptive and Theoretical 2 | ||
| Second Language Acquisition | ||
| Language, Race, and Identity | ||
| Introduction to TESOL Methods | ||
| Topics in English Language and Linguistics | ||
| Research Methods in Applied Linguistics | ||
| Issues in Methods of Teaching French and Italian | ||
| Topics in Applied Linguistics | ||
| Contemporary Issues in Applied Spanish Linguistics | ||
| Total Credits | 30 | |
- 1
These pathways are internal to the program and represent different curricular paths a student can follow to earn this degree. Pathway names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.
- 2
If you do not have sufficient linguistics background, you are encouraged to take LINGUIS/ANTHRO 301 Introduction to Linguistics: Descriptive and Theoretical during your first semester.
- Consult the co-advisors every semester regarding the registration of courses in the following semester.
Literature Pathway1
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses: | ||
| ASIAN 533 | Readings in Early Modern Japanese Literature | 3 |
| ASIAN 563 | Readings in Modern Japanese Literature | 3 |
| ASIAN 573 | Readings in Classical Japanese Literature | 3 |
| ASIAN 763 | Studies in Japanese Literature (Seminar in Japanese Literature) | 3 |
| ASIAN 833 | Topics in East Asian Visual Cultures | 3 |
| Additional Credits (Within Asian Languages and Cultures) | 9-15 | |
| The following is a list of recommended courses. Other courses may be chosen in consultation with your advisor. | ||
| Topics in Asian Studies | ||
| Lovers, Warriors and Monks: Survey of Japanese Literature | ||
| Early Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Japanese Ghost Stories | ||
| Language in Japanese Society | ||
| Love and Politics: The Tale of Genji | ||
| Haiku | ||
| Manga | ||
| Anime | ||
| Introduction to Japanese Linguistics | ||
| Teaching of Japanese | ||
| Readings in Early Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Readings in Modern Japanese Literature | ||
| Readings in Classical Japanese Literature | ||
| Studies in Japanese Literature | ||
| Japanese Applied Linguistics | ||
| Topics in East Asian Visual Cultures | ||
| Directed Study | ||
| Additional Credits (Outside of Asian Languages and Cultures) | 0-6 | |
| The following is a list of recommended courses. Other courses may be chosen in consultation with your advisor. | ||
| Topics in Asian Art | ||
| Japanese Ceramics and Allied Arts | ||
| Art and Religious Practice in Medieval Japan | ||
| Historiography, Theory and Methods in Visual Culture | ||
| East Asia & The U.S. Since 1899 | ||
| Samurai: History and Image | ||
| Pearl Harbor & Hiroshima: Japan, the US & The Crisis in Asia | ||
| Seminar in Japanese History | ||
| Total Credits | 30 | |
- 1
These pathways are internal to the program and represent different curricular paths a student can follow to earn this degree. Pathway names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.
Graduate School Policies
The Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures provide essential information regarding general university policies. Program authority to set degree policies beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School lies with the degree program faculty. Policies set by the academic degree program can be found below.
Major-Specific Policies
Prior Coursework
Graduate Credits Earned at Other Institutions
With program approval, students are allowed to transfer no more than 9 credits of graduate coursework from other institutions. Coursework earned ten or more years prior to admission to a master’s degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.
Undergraduate Credits Earned at Other Institutions or UW-Madison
Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy.
Credits Earned as a Professional Student at UW-Madison (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary careers)
Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy.
Credits Earned as a University Special Student at UW–Madison
With program approval, students are allowed to transfer no more than 9 credits of graduate coursework (as defined above) taken as a UW–Madison University Special student. Coursework earned ten or more years prior to admission to a master’s degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.
Probation
If a student’s GPA falls below 3.0 in a given semester, the department will decide whether the student may continue on probation. A specific plan will be arranged with dates and deadlines in place in regard to removal of probationary status.
Advisor / Committee
Starting in fall 2018, all students are required to have two co-advisors, identified at the time of admissions. During the course of study, students meet regularly with their advisors to ensure satisfactory progress.
Credits Per Term Allowed
15 credits
Time Limits
Most students take four semesters to complete the coursework necessary for the MA degree, and officially earn the degree in the following summer (an exception to this schedule may be considered on a case-by-case basis).
The maximum time for completing all MA requirements and passing the MA examination is three years.
Refer to the Graduate School: Time Limits policy.
Grievances and Appeals
These resources may be helpful in addressing your concerns:
- Bias or Hate Reporting
- Graduate Assistantship Policies and Procedures
- Hostile and Intimidating Behavior Policies and Procedures
- Employee Assistance (for personal counseling and workplace consultation around communication and conflict involving graduate assistants and other employees, post-doctoral students, faculty and staff)
- Employee Disability Resource Office (for qualified employees or applicants with disabilities to have equal employment opportunities)
- Graduate School (for informal advice at any level of review and for official appeals of program/departmental or school/college grievance decisions)
- Office of Compliance (for class harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual violence)
- Office Student Assistance and Support (OSAS) (for all students to seek grievance assistance and support)
- Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (for conflicts involving students)
- Ombuds Office for Faculty and Staff (for employed graduate students and post-docs, as well as faculty and staff)
- Title IX (for concerns about discrimination)
Students should contact the department chair or program director with questions about grievances. They may also contact the L&S Academic Divisional Associate Deans, the L&S Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning Administration, or the L&S Director of Human Resources.
Other
The program offers limited financial assistance in the form of fellowships and teaching assistantships to candidates who are highly qualified. Applicants should consult the program website for selection criteria and application materials for assistantships.
Professional Development
Graduate School Resources
Take advantage of the Graduate School's professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career.
Program Resources
Throughout the academic year, professional development trainings, workshops, and graduate student-organized activities take place. The Director of Graduate Studies is eager to hear from students about what interests they have for such events.
Graduate School Office of Professional Development
The Graduate School Office of Professional Development (OPD) coordinates, develops, and promotes learning opportunities to foster the academic, professional, and life skills of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and scholars.
Professional development topics include Individual Development Plans, communication, mentoring, grant writing, dissertation writing, career exploration, job search strategies, and more. OPD collaborates with the Writing Center, Libraries, DoIT Software Training for Students, Delta, career centers, and others to provide a wealth of resources and events tailored to the needs of UW–Madison graduate students.
The office developed and maintains DiscoverPD, an innovative tool for UW–Madison graduate students to advance their academic and professional goals. DiscoverPD introduces nine areas (or "facets") of professional development, includes a self-assessment, and provides a customized report of areas of strength and weakness. The report comes with recommendations to help graduate students strengthen their ability within each area.
More information on campus resources for student professional development is available at Graduate Student Professional Development. Students may keep up-to-date by reading GradConnections, the weekly newsletter for graduate students, and bookmarking the Events Calendar to keep tabs on upcoming workshops of interest.
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate understanding of the primary field(s) of study in a historical, comparative, and global context.
- Formulate ideas, concepts, designs, and/or techniques beyond the current boundaries of knowledge within the specialized field(s).
- Create scholarship and advance knowledge that makes a substantive contribution to the field(s).
- Articulate and communicate complex ideas in a clear and understandable manner to both specialized and general audience.
- Recognize, apply, and foster ethical and professional conduct.
People
Please visit the Asian Languages & Cultures website for a complete list of faculty, instructional, and academic staff.