Chinese Studies

Chinese Studies covers the many facets of China and Chinese people living around the world. This discipline encompasses Chinese language, culture, history, politics, economics, literature, philosophy, and society. Students examine the long and rich history of the Chinese people and the impact of that history on today’s society. Because culture is constantly evolving, Chinese Studies is a dynamic discipline. 

Willamette does not offer a formalized Chinese Studies major. However, students can build out a major through our Individualized Studies program.

The importance of studying Chinese language and culture is self-evident – for your meaningful personal life and future jobs in this increasingly globalizing age.

The question you may have is why doing it in Willamette. Here are some of the facts:

The class is small and interactive, which means you learn more efficiently in a pleasant atmosphere.

The instructor(s) are experienced with more effective techniques like backward-buildup drills, visualization, and dramatization, which means you internalize the new content through using it.

As a result, you will soon find out the fact and fantasy about the language: Chinese is NOT the hardest language! Chinese is the oldest continuously used language in this world, yet is the most efficient language in AI/LLM programming development! Chinese does NOT have verb/tense conjugation, gender and number of nouns, and the complex of subjunctive modes! Yes, it emphasizes the tones of each word, but you already use those tones as in “yes ... 😊☹ !?” Just check out some social media to see how speaking Chinese helps people communicate globally!

In Willamette, a number of students of Chinese have published their translations of folktales and academic essays, presented and performed songs, poems, and music in Chinese when celebrating annual festivals, and conducted research projects with awards and grants.

Still, study aboard in China offers valuable opportunities for our students who focus on either Chinese language or science and social sciences in general. For example, one of our exchange programs in China also provides English instruction of all courses, making it easy to implement your course plans even you major in sciences.

As for the cultural aspect, a group of our professors offers a comprehensive list of courses that will surely satisfy your intellectual curiosity in Chinese and Asian history, communication, economics, politics, music, and folkloristics. For you, there is also opportunity to do Independent Study with them to implement your creative ideas and design your Individualized Major!

In the Chinese Program, for example, Professor Juwen Zhang teaches both Chinese language and culture courses. He is a folklorist with more than two hundred publications on various topics such as, Chinese folk and fairy tales, ritual life, filmic folklore, and Chinese/Asian American folklife and identity. He has led students to China and academic conferences, hosted a podcast with our students involved, and supervised student awardees (e.g., two students with Carson Grants for Undergraduate Student Research during the summer of 2025). His courses integrate language and culture to guide students to a deeper grasp of Chinese traditions and the roots of the East-West relations, while examining Chinese and Chinese American history and culture in a global context, including activities of making and playing Chinese musical instruments, playing games (e.g., majiang and computer games), and practicing calligraphy and other art forms.