Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, UW-Madison

About

The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UW-Madison is student-centered and driven by research that is integrated into the classroom. With thematic foci in Asian languages, linguistics and literature, Asian cultural studies, religions of Asia, and critical issues in contemporary Asia, we aim to teach students how to recognize and critically analyze the realities of past and present “Asia” as a region that is crucial to the global flows of people, materials, and ideas through its own rich complexity with deep interconnection across multiple domains.

Our department offers graduate programs in:

• Asian Languages and Cultures, M.A. and Ph.D.
• Chinese, M.A. and Ph.D.
• Japanese, M.A. and Ph.D.

ALC is the tenure home of twenty Faculty, whose research spans East, South and Southeast Asia and academic interests are cross-disciplinary.

Language Lecturers are also an integral part of our department, teaching more than fourteen languages from East, South, and Southeast Asia.

Our department offers financial assistance in the forms of Fellowships, Teaching Assistantships (TAship), and Project Assistantships (PAship). These positions are highly competitive as applicants are competing against other applicants across the department, and across campus in some cases. Please make note of the deadline of January 10th 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.

Fellowships:

Students applying to the Department of Asian Languages and Culture and students currently enrolled in the department may apply for fellowship support. Most fellowships are handled through the department. However, some are available through sources outside of the department and have different application procedures. Some examples are as follows:

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/oeid/

Project Assistantships:

Availabilities of PAship vary from one year to another, depends 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:

Availabilities and types of TAship vary from one year to another, depending on the department’s curricular needs and the 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 through the Graduate School application system by January 10th.