Asian Studies (120 EC): Chinese Studies
Master
First year
| Vak | EC | Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
First semester (Fall semester) |
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| Introduction to Asian Studies | 10 | ||
|
Advanced Chinese Language |
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| Advanced Mandarin 1 | 10 | ||
|
Electives (select 10 EC): |
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| China's International Political Economy | 10 | ||
| China's New Workers and the Politics of Culture | 10 | ||
| Comparative Asian Linguistics | 10 | ||
| Critical Approaches to Heritage Studies 10EC | 10 | ||
| Cultural Heritage in East Asia: Dealing with the Past in Present and Future | 10 | ||
| Lives on the Margins: Korean Peninsula Migration and Identity (5 EC) | 5 | ||
| Lives on the Margins: Korean Peninsula Migration and Identity (10 EC) | 10 | ||
| Pilgrimage and Holy Places | 10 | ||
| Pure Land Buddhism | 5 | ||
| Topical Readings in Historical and Literary Chinese Texts | 10 | ||
|
Spring Semester |
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| Year in China A | 30 | ||
Second year
| Vak | EC | Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fall Semester: |
|||
| Year in China B | 30 | ||
|
Spring Semester: |
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| MA Thesis Asian Studies (120 EC) | 15 | ||
|
Language Elective (select one of the following two courses): |
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| Advanced Mandarin 3 | 5 | ||
|
Elective (select 10 EC): |
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| Advanced Readings in Classical Chinese | 5 | ||
| Art and Power in China | 10 | ||
| China-Africa Relations in a Changing Global Order | 10 | ||
| China and Global Cyberspace | 10 | ||
| Creativity and Culture in Contemporary China | 10 | ||
| Culture and Conquest: the Impact of the Mongols and their Descendants | 10 | ||
| Sinographics: Chinese writing and writing Chinese | 10 | ||
| The Past in the Present: Nation-building in Modern China (5 EC) | 5 | ||
| The Past in the Present: Nation-building in Modern China (10 EC) | 10 | ||
| The Politics of Destruction: Targeting World Heritage | 10 | ||
| Buddhism seminar | 10 | ||
| Material Culture, Heritage and Memory along the Silk Roads in Central Asia | 10 | ||
Information on the year in China
Students spend a total of one year at Shandong University (Jinan, People’s Republic of China) as part of their Master’s program. The focus of the year at Shandong University is on language acquisition, in order to obtain at least HSK level 5 upon returning to Leiden. During their year in China, the students are also expected to do preparatory research for their Master’s Thesis.
Career Preparation
Important events and sites to develop future career skills
Master’s Open Day (Leiden University)
Do an internship
Workshop ‘How to find a job?’ and workshop ‘CV and letter’
Activities of study associations.
Skills that improve your employability are also known as:
Transferable skills
Future employers are interested not only in the subject-related knowledge that you acquired during your study programme, but also in ‘transferable skills’. These include cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, reasoning and argumentation and innovation; intrapersonal skills, such as flexibility, initiative, appreciating diversity and metacognition; and interpersonal skills, such as communication, accountability and conflict resolution. In short, they are skills that all professionals need in order to perform well.
It is therefore important that during your study programme you not only acquire as much knowledge as possible about your subject, but also are aware of the skills you have gained and the further skills you still want to learn. The course descriptions in the Prospectus of MA Asian Studies include, in addition to the courses’ learning objectives, a list of the skills that they aim to develop.
The skills we want you to acquire and that you may encounter in the various courses, perhaps in different terms, are:
Collaboration
Persuasion
Research
Self-directed learning
Creative thinking