About IDMA
If you are contemplating a Asia-related career in government, business, politics, law, or pre-collegiate teaching, or wish to acquire broadly based East Asia academic training before enrolling in a doctoral program, you should consider the Interdisciplinary Master of Arts in East Asian Studies.
You may choose China or Japan as the area of concentration. The University of Pittsburgh has an excellent reputation as a leader in the studies of East Asia—the faculty are some of the most well known in their disciplines, facilities for research are superb, and synergies arising from the mix of these two produce some of the most amazing graduates.
As the name suggests, you will take graduate courses of your choosing, after consulting the academic director of the program, in a variety of disciplines in humanities, social sciences, education, and international studies, to name a few. The program is administered by the Asian Studies Center, part of the University Center for International Studies, and the degree is granted by the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures.
IDMA is typically a two-year program. Before being admitted as a student, you must have had at least two years of formal language training in Chinese or Japanese, have a strong academic record, and possess academic interests compatible with the expertise of the East Asian faculty at the University of Pittsburgh.
The strength of this interdisciplinary approach lies in the fact that students are able to elect to work with faculty in several disciplines, as well as to take courses in different areas in the humanities and social sciences. The interdisciplinary nature of the program comes not from specially constructed interdisciplinary courses but from taking a planned complement of graduate-level courses in different departments.
The Interdisciplinary Master of Arts in East Asian Studies (IDMA) is designed for those who have completed a bachelor’s degree, who plan professional careers in 
government, business, journalism, or pre-college teaching, and for those who want intensive area training before pursuing a doctoral program in a particular discipline.
The strength of this interdisciplinary approach lies in the fact that students are able to elect to work with faculty in several disciplines, as well as to take courses in different areas in the humanities and social sciences. The interdisciplinary nature of the program comes not from specially constructed interdisciplinary courses but from taking a planned complement of graduate-level courses in different departments.
IDMA students are eligible apply for a number of scholarships and fellowships administered by the Asian Studies Center.
East Asian specialists affiliated with different academic departments and schools teach in the program. The Asian Studies Center, which is part of the University’s Center for International Studies, administers the IDMA program. The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) accepts applications and grants the Master of Arts degree.