The days seem to have grown longer for Prof. Qun Ao (CHIN) over the past 10 years. With enrollment in the Chinese program up from 30 students in the fall of 1996 to 75 this semester, she has a full plate.As Brandeis' only full time member of the Chinese program, Ao is responsible for three classes a day, long office hours to accommodate the influx in enrollment and recently has had the extra burden of reading applications from prospective Asian Literature professors. The chosen professor would teach the course in English, but Ao said she hopes the professor would also be able to teach a language course.

Ao's increased workload speaks to the proliferation of interest in Asian languages that has occurred recently at Brandeis and across the nation. At Brandeis, enrollment in Chinese classes has more than doubled since 1996, and a slower, but notable climb, in Japanese enrollment-from 27 to 37 students-has occurred in the same time frame, said Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences Elaine Wong.

Wong said the increase is primarily due to "economics" and "culture."

In light of this growth, Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe proposed expanding the East Asian studies program as part of an extensive set of curricular proposals made last academic year.

Although the proposals were reconsidered last spring in the wake of community criticism, they would have added three professors to East Asian studies: a professor of either Japanese or Chinese literature, a professor of Southeast Asian history or politics, and an East Asian economics professor.

These additions would have come in conjunction with cuts to other programs, including ancient Greek, linguistics and physics.

Dan Galinko '06, the undergraduate department representative for East Asian studies is upset by the lack of support for the department.

"Right now, I am very disappointed in this university," Galinko said. "We are failing in regard to East Asian Studies. I have studied with a number of Chinese professors and I can honestly say that we have one of the best at Brandeis. But, Brandeis does not offer the chance to become proficient in Chinese. A student cannot learn Chinese in six semesters with only one professor."

In the case of Chinese, it appears that the increase in enrollment is directly correlated to the growing strength of China's economy. According to a Nov. 17 New York Review of Books article, China's economy will surpass the United States' by the year 2024, and Ao said students have taken notice.

"Most of my students are interested in Chinese business and want to do something with business in the future," Ao said. "They take Chinese to help secure their chances in becoming big players in the economic world."

Ao said it is not only the Chinese economy that is leading to growth in class sizes.

"There are three major reasons for the increase in enrollment in Chinese classes," Ao said. "The first is economic growth in China. The second is effective teaching here at Brandeis. The third is a well-designed curriculum that focuses on the student more than ever.

Still, students said the business advantages are a definite motivator.

"Learning about Chinese culture is just the icing on the cake," Jeff Stein '08 said. "It's really interesting, but the business aspect is the real meat."

Still, many student responses suggest the motivation to take Japanese has shifted from business to culture.

"As far as the Japanese language is concerned, there was a big boom in the 80s and 90s around colleges," Prof. Hiroko Sekino (JAPN) said. "That's because Japan was economically very prosperous. Now, economically Japan has been in recession for a long time."

Sekino, Brandeis' only Japanese professor, said when the Japanese economy slipped into depression, students' reasons for studying the language shifted.

"At first I had a lot of IBS students," Sekino said. "Nowadays, people are more interested in the culture."

She said students are drawn to Japanese by interests in anime and other Japanese movies, and even by their appreciation for sushi.

To get the full Japanese cultural experience, it takes more than just learning the language here at Brandeis. Kai Kadoich '06 said he went to study abroad in Tokyo for just that reason.

"[The] East Asian studies major for a long time was not offered in the bulletin and had to be self-designed," Wong said. "There were always five or six per year, but it took real initiative to do. But now that it's in the bulletin more students are taking that option."

In fact, last spring 13 students signed up for the East Asian studies major, making it one of the more popular area studies major. It ranks behind Islamic/Middle East studies in popularity, for which 16 students are registered, but ahead of the major in Latin studies, which boasts nine students.

On the one hand, professors like Sekino say they are "so happy that there is so much interest" in these languages. On the other hand, however, the increase in student enrollment puts added stress on the departments. Despite the growth in student interest, the faculty for both the Japanese and Chinese programs remains limited.

According to Galinko, additions to East Asian studies is a crucial step for the University, and the current Brandeis offerings are insufficient.

"When incoming freshman ask me what to do," Galinko said, "I tell them that, to be perfectly honest, if they want to have four years of Chinese, then they should not come here.