The program currently offers various courses that cover topics related to East Asia (mainly China and Japan) in art history, history, language, literature, philosophy, political science, and religion. The affiliated faculty members hold a high standing in the international community of Asian Studies. Through their dedicated teaching and rigorous research, they promote a better understanding of East Asian societies in the international context.

While maintaining its traditional strength in China and Japan, East Asian Studies is committed to diversifying its faculty and curricular offerings to address the ever-increasing importance of other Asian regions. We have faculty that work in South Asian religious thought, South Asian art, and Vietnamese and South Asian literature. We are currently conducting two searches for new faculty members. The History Department is searching for a historian of South Asia at the level of assistant professor; and the East Asian Studies Program in currently searching for a senior Asianist (open region). With the addition of these new faculty members, the program will strengthen its implementation of a more comprehensive Asian studies curriculum at Vanderbilt University.