Department of East Asian Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Study-Abroad Advising and Transfer-Credit Approval Guidelines
This document is meant to guide students who want credit for study of an East Asian language at an institution outside of UVA, particularly those students who are planning to either major or minor in East Asian Studies, or major in Chinese or Japanese language and literature.
Getting Started
All students who wish to obtain credit for their study-abroad work in an East Asian language must speak with the director of the relevant language program here before they select a study-abroad program. The language program directors are:
Students should take note that if they participate in a study-abroad program without
prior consultation with one of these program directors, they run the risk of not receiving degree credit for their studies, or of not having their credit count toward their major or minor.
NB: The meeting with a departmental language program director does not take the place of the Education Abroad Workshop or study abroad advising at the International Studies Office (ISO). All students will still be expected to participate in the workshop and attend and consult with the ISO study abroad advisor responsible for East Asia, currently Jennifer Wiley (jlw5qa@virginia.edu).
Picking a Program
The department distinguishes between recommended and approved programs, and allows students to petition to study in other programs:
- The recommended programs are those operated by the University of Virginia. Information about these programs is available at the program websites and/or at the ISO Website (http://www.studyabroad.virginia.edu/).
- Chinese - UVA-in-Shanghai Intensive Chinese Language Program
- Japanese – Kyoto Consortium of Japanese Studies
- The approved programs are those that have been reviewed and approved by the language faculty, ISO, and the College of Arts and Sciences. A list of these programs can be obtained from one of the department’s language program directors or from the International Studies Office. In order to receive credit for language study, students should consult with the department’s language program directors first in order to receive the most up-to-date information on which approved language programs are closest in standards to those of UVA.
- Students who have a compelling reason to study in a program that is not on the recommended or approved lists may petition to be allowed to study in such a program.
- Students must submit a petition thirty days before the application to the program is due, through the International Studies Office website. Contact ISO for more information.
- Students who attend such programs must provide an evaluation of their experience upon return.
- Petitions will be granted on an individual basis. The approval of one student’s petition does not indicate that another student will necessarily be allowed to study in that program.
- Selecting Courses
- Students must follow the sequence that they would follow if they were pursuing their language studies at UVA. Please note that because no two programs are precisely alike, taking a course at a particular level at another institution does not guarantee placement into the next level of language instruction at UVA. Placement in all language courses in the department is determined solely by exams administered by each individual language program.
- Students must select their courses in consultation with a language program director, particularly if they plan to major or minor in East Asian Studies, Chinese, or Japanese. .
- Students who are planning to enroll in a regular semester program at an overseas institution should make sure they have enrolled in a total number of courses equivalent to 12 UVA credits in order to avoid academic probation.
Transferring Credit
- All courses from recommended programstransfer as degree credit, and most of those taught at the 3000 level or above count for major or minor credit in East Asian Studies, Chinese, or Japanese.
- Courses taught in approved programs will transfer as degree credit upon signed approval by the appropriate language program director. Students should submit a separate transfer credit approval form for language classes, even if they took other classes at the same institution.
- In order to gain such approval, a student must consult with the appropriate language program director beforehand. The student must provide the director with course descriptions, as well as with starting and ending dates for all coursework. If this information is not available, then the student may apply for transfer credit upon arrival in the program (via email) or upon their return to UVA. In these cases, however, the student runs the risk of receiving only partial degree credit, or no credit at all.
- Wherever possible, students will be given credit for the equivalent course taught at UVA. As a rule, 3 UVA credits are assigned for every 40 contact hours When no such equivalent exists, the language program director may at their discretion assign an appropriate number of generic transfer credits (such as 3 credits of CHIN 2000T or 6 credits of KOR 3000T, etc.). Please note that we cannot post more credits than those awarded at the sending institution.
- Internships and service experiences that are attached to academic coursework will be treated as academic courses. Those that have no attached coursework will transfer as one generic language credit, at the appropriate level (1000T, 2000T, 3000T, or 4000T).
- Students may count up to 15 credits per semester of study abroad toward department majors and 6 for department minors. Please note that transfer credits are not counted towards core courses for our majors, such as EAST 1010.
- Credit for language study abroad is determined on the basis of placement exams administered by the department’s individual language programs. For example, a student takes an Intermediate-level intensive summer Japanese language course abroad that is ostensibly equivalent to a full year of study at the second-year level. After being tested at UVA, however, the student is placed in the second semester of second year here (JAPN 2020). Consequently the student would only receive credit equivalent to the first semester of the second year language course at UVA (JAPN 2010). Any additional credits for the time spent at the summer intensive program can still be given at the discretion of the language program director, but they must be registered as an elective (e.g. JAPN 2000T).
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UVA PROGRAMS
KCJS Semester and Summer Programs
The University of Virginia joins Harvard, Stanford, and about a dozen other top universities in running the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS) in Japan's historic capital city. The consortium arrangement entitles UVA to select a small number of undergraduate students each year to participate in the program, either for one semester, a full academic year, or in an intensive summer program.
For the semester/year program, students must have had two full years of college-level Japanese language instruction or an equivalent background. Mornings are devoted to intensive language training in a small classroom setting. Afternoon activities include courses offered in English on a broad spectrum of social sciences and humanities courses on premodern and contemporary Japan. Coursework integrates the historical and cultural resources of Kyoto into the curriculum through excursions, field trips, and guest lectures. Immersion in the language and culture is facilitated by living with a Japanese family, taking classes with Japanese students, and participating in a wide array of community-based extracurricular activities.
The summer program is devoted to course in classical Japanese and advanced modern Japanese (fourth year and above). The program also organizes excursions and cultural activities relating to Kyoto and the surrounding area. For more information on the summer and semester programs run by KCJS visit the Columbia University Office of Global Programs (http://www.ogp.columbia.edu) and click on “Quick Link to Columbia Programs.”
UVA in Shanghai Summer Language Program
The UVA in Shanghai Intensive Chinese Language Program in the Department of East Asian Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Virginia is hosted by East China Normal University. It is intended to enable students who are serious about studying Chinese language in a total immersion environment to cover a year's worth of material and to earn eight UVA credits. This rigorous, demanding, and rewarding language program allows the student to have first hand experience using Chinese in real world situations as well as studying and practicing it in the classroom. For more information, use the "Find a Program" link at www.studyabroad.virginia.edu.
Shanghai Summer Program 2009
Shanghai Summer Program 2008
Shanghai Summer Program 2007
Shanghai Summer Program 2006
UVA Summer Language Institute
The Summer Language Institute www.virginia.edu/summer/SLI at UVA offers intensive summer instruction in Chinese and Tibetan.
The Chinese program is an intensive 8-credit beginning level program in Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese for students with no or little prior experience in the language and covers material for Chinese 101 and 102 offered during the fall and spring semesters at the University of Virginia. The program helps students acquire a solid foundation in listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in a near immersion setting. Students learn all the sounds and tones in Mandarin Chinese, basic vocabulary, frequently used characters, pinyin (the standard Mandarin Chinese transcription system), and information about Chinese language, culture, and society. Our intimate class format maximizes interaction between teachers and students, creating a learning environment that facilitates both individual and collective learning processes. During the nine-week program, the class meets every weekday, from 9 AM to 12:30 PM.
The Tibetan program is an intensive 12-credit program covering the first two years of formal study of Tibetan at UVA. The program focuses on modern spoken and written Tibetan according to the Central Tibetan dialect. Students also learn print as well as cursive script. Dynamic audio-visual material published in the Tibetan and Himalayan Library, including original footage shot in Tibet, enlivens classroom learning. Students live in a Tibetan Language House with a trained Residence Director who is fluent in Tibetan and encourages its use among the students in their everyday life. Attendance in all three sessions (morning, afternoon, and evening) is required of all students, regardless of whether they are enrolled for credit or non-credit. Every student, must earn a passing grade in each class of the first half of the SLI in order to participate in the second half. University of Virginia undergraduates fulfill their language requirements upon successful completion of the program.
Virginia STARTALK
STARTALK is a Teacher Training Residential Program offered by the Department of East Asian Languages, Literatures and Cultures that offers intensive training and first-hand experience to Chinese language instructors through teaching motivated high school learners at the Virginia Startalk Chinese Academy, sponsored by Virginia’s Department of Education. Participants earn 3 UVA credits in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, and compile a comprehensive teaching e-portfolio including: standards-based syllabus, classroom teaching demos, sample class materials and activities, sample tests, review articles on teaching theories and practices, etc. The program also includes frequent co-curricular cultural activities and opportunities to meet with other language professionals in the field.
2012 UVa STARTALK Teacher Program Flyer
2012 UVa STARTALK Student Program Flyer
Startalk 2009
Startalk 2008
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