Committee on Regional Studies East Asia

The Regional Studies East Asia (RSEA) Program is a vibrant interdisciplinary area studies master's degree program designed to accommodate a wide range of interests and needs for graduate training in the languages, societies and cultures of East Asia.  The program affords students interested in a professional career of engagement with Asia an opportunity to pursue a flexible and varied course of instruction related to their career interests; it also serves the needs of students who wish to enter a Ph.D. program but require further background training in the field of East Asian studies.  A Master's degree in Regional Studies East Asia prepares students for careers in higher education, politics, the military, journalism, international organizations and the business and financial sectors.

The RSEA program dates back to 1946, when renowned China scholar John King Fairbank launched a full-time seminar leading to a master’s degree known as Regional Studies China; the seminar was later expanded to include Japan, Korea and Vietnam, and became the A.M. program known as Regional Studies East Asia. 

For more than three quarters of a century, the RSEA program has had a transformative effect on the field of East Asian Studies and produced over a thousand alumni.  Many of RSEA's alumni have achieved distinction in the academic world or in the world of public service.