The mission of the minor programs in East Asian Studies is to enable students to obtain a comprehensive understanding of East Asia broadly conceived, which is the area stretching from Japan through Korea and China to the contiguous regions of the Central Asian landmass, by providing them with training in writing and communication, literature, and civilization. Students are expected to have a good mastery of an East Asian language and focus on a particular sub-region or a substantive issue involving the region as a whole. The classes emphasize the developing powers of critical thinking and expression, which serve students well regardless of their ultimate career goals in business, government service, academia, or the professions.

The department offers a minor in East Asian Studies with subplans in China, Japan, Korea, and East Asian Languages. The DLCL offers a minor in Translation Studies. The minors consist of a minimum of 20 units from the following requirements. All courses for minors must be taken for a letter grade, a minimum of three units, and completed with a GPA of 2.0 or better.