A new doctorate program at ASU that aims to prepare students for the increasing demand for knowledge of East Asian language and culture in today’s global landscape has begun admissions for its inaugural year.

The East Asian Languages and Civilizations doctorate program, only the second foreign-language doctoral degree offered at ASU, focuses on comparative culture, linguistics and ancient religion in traditional and modern languages and cultures, with concentrations in either Chinese or Japanese.

The degree, offered through the School of International Letters and Sciences, will begin in the 2009-10 school year and is holding a special admissions round until April 15.

The curriculum emphasizes research and interdisciplinary study, said Madeline Spring, a Chinese professor and associate director for the school’s languages and linguistics program who is involved in developing the new doctoral program.

“This training will also be an integral part of students’ future interactions with global communities that increasingly impact our intellectual and social engagement in the 21st century,” Spring said in an e-mail.

The new doctoral degree will help draw both national and international students to one of the strongest Chinese language programs in the United States, Spring said.

The degree program is joining a diverse repertoire of research and teaching strengths within ASU’s East Asian language programs, she said.

Chinese language sophomore Jason Loose said he was unfamiliar with the East Asian Language and Culture doctoral program, but would consider returning to ASU for a doctorate if the program was successful.

Loose said the program’s focus on global application after school sounded especially promising, and he stressed the importance of getting a practical benefit for the knowledge gained in graduate school.

“When studying liberal arts at that high [of a] level, you sometimes fall into the trap of getting education just for the sake of getting it,” he said.

The study of East Asian languages will become more and more important for clearly communicating and resolving differences with different people in the world in the wake of globalization, Loose said.

“Being able to have that clear and honest communication is a key tool to achieving peace and prosperity between our nation and those nations [in East Asia],” he said.

The program’s focus on East Asian history, culture and religion, in addition to language, will improve ASU’s humanities connections with Chinese universities, said Stephen Bokenkamp, Chinese language professor and director of graduate studies for East Asian Languages.

“The connections with [East Asian institutions] should be University-wide,” he said. “What we’re providing will be valuable across the University.”

The increasing need for cultural exchange and education with East Asia is mainly what led to its development as the only doctoral degree besides Spanish offered by the School of International Letters and Sciences, Bokenkamp said. “Look at the world, man, look at what’s going on in the world. There’s just a million different things you can do with this [doctoral degree].”

Reach the reporter at trabens@asu.edu.