Chinese Studies (with Year Abroad)
Entry requirements
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About this course
This is multidisciplinary degree will develop advanced knowledge and understanding of Chinese language and culture.
You will study a core language module in each of your three years spent in Durham. You don’t need to have any previous knowledge of Chinese, but a pathway is available if you already have an A level or equivalent qualification in Chinese.
You will also have the chance to choose from a selection of other modules relevant to the study of China from other departments. This includes Anthropology, Education, Government and International Affairs, Economics, and Theology and Religious Studies. In addition, you may choose to take additional language modules, including European languages, Japanese and Korean.
You will spend your third year studying the Chinese language at a university in China. This is an amazing opportunity to experience Chinese culture first-hand and to put your language learning into practice and context.
In your final year, you will bring together all your learning and experience to write a dissertation on an aspect of Chinese studies.
**Year 1**
You will take a double module in Chinese, including the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, a module in Chinese culture introducing the philosophy, art and literature of China, a module in Chinese history and two option modules from an extensive list.
Core modules:
Chinese Language 1B or Chinese Language 2B for post-A level entrants (double module)
Introduction to Chinese Culture
A module on Chinese history offered by the History Department
**Year 2**
You will take a double module in Chinese language, including the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, a module in Chinese film, a module in Chinese history and two option modules from an extensive list.
Core modules:
Chinese Language 2B (double) or Chinese Language 2A (single)
Chinese Cinema
A module on Chinese history offered by the History Department
**Year 3**
The third year is spent in China studying the language full-time at a Chinese university. You are required to take all the examinations specified by your host university, but the marks for these do not count towards the final degree mark. You will complete a 5,000-word project in English with a 1,000-character abstract in Chinese on some aspect of China, at your choice with guidance from Durham staff.
**Year 4**
You will take a double module in Chinese language, a single text reading module in Chinese and a 40-credit Dissertation plus one other module, following either the History route or the Modern languages and cultures route.
Core modules:
Chinese Language 4 (double)
Chinese Historical & Literary Texts
Dissertation
Either History route:
40-credit Dissertation in History
History and Memory in East Asia.
Or MLAC route:
40-credit China-related MLaC Dissertation
20-credit module from MLaC or another department.
We review course structures and core content (in light of e.g. external and student feedback) every year, and will publish finalised core requirements for 2020 entry from September 2019.
**Study Abroad**
**School of Modern Languages and Cultures**
We attach great importance to your time abroad, during the third year of your degree, which most students spend as a student at a university in China. This is a time of enormous linguistic and personal development from which you should gain a high level of fluency in your language(s) and enjoy a unique opportunity to make new friends, appreciate new cultures and learn to work and study in new ways. Employers at home and abroad are impressed by the lasting benefits, especially in increased linguistic confidence, intercultural agility and general self-motivation. During the year abroad you will complete an academic assignment related to each of the countries in which you stay. You will need to pass these in order to fulfil the requirements of the BA in Chinese Studies with Year Abroad.
For more information on this course, please see our website.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
Either Chinese Language 1A (for post-A level entrants) will help to consolidate and extend grammatical knowledge developed for A Level, and enhance communication skills in written and oral Chinese.
Or Chinese Language 1B which will help you develop elementary level skills in Chinese speaking, listening, reading and writing.
Examples of optional modules:
Introduction to Chinese Culture
Society and Culture in China under the Ming and Qing Dynasties
French/German/Italian/Russian/Spanish Language
International Security, Interdependence and Organisation
Introduction to International Relations
Gallery 101: Designing an Art Exhibition.
Year 2
Core modules:
Chinese Language 2A or Chinese Language 2B. To build on the Chinese language skills developed in Year 1 in all four competencies: speaking, listening, reading and writing. To prepare linguistically and culturally for the year abroad.
Examples of optional modules:
Chinese Cinema
Modern China’s Transformations
Kinship and Religion
Politics and Economics
Classical Chinese
French/German/Italian/Russian/Spanish Language
Introduction to Anime: Aesthetic, Technology, Seriality
International Organisations
Death, Ritual and Belief.
Year 3
The third year is spent in China studying the language full-time at a Chinese university.
Year 4
Your Dissertation, will give you valuable experience and understanding of self-directed learning and the importance of choosing appropriate methodology when approaching a research project. It will help you to expand your data collection, analysis and presentation skills, and to develop your critical faculties in relation to existing literature on your topic area.
Chinese Language 4 builds on the Chinese language skills developed in your year abroad to the point where you are capable of using Chinese as a working language for employment or further study/research, and are aware of the cultural imperatives for operating in such an environment.
Chinese Historical and Literary Texts develops higher level reading and translating skills based on literary and historical texts in Chinese.
Examples of optional modules:
Anthropology, Art, and Experience
Anthropological Skills for Climate Change Survival
Violence and Memory
Power and Governance
Mass Media in China
Empires and States in Early Modern Asia
Special Topic on Pacific Asia
Religion and Film
Photography in East Asia
The Work of Art: Professional Skills and Work Placement in the Visual Arts.
Assessment methods
Language modules are assessed by a mixture of oral, listening and written examinations. Optional modules are assessed by essays, commentaries, projects and examinations. You will also complete a 12,000-word dissertation in your final year. During your year abroad you will complete a Year Abroad assignment.
The Uni
College allocation pending
Durham City
Language Centre
What students say
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After graduation
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This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
China plays an important role in world economics and politics, and business can be very interested in graduates with good Chinese language skills. In 2015, just over 180 degrees were awarded in this subject to UK graduates, so it is still an unusual and specialist degree to take - take that into consideration before drawing definitive conclusions from the data. About one in five graduates went on to further study (mostly at Masters level) and of those who were working, a quarter went to work abroad. Most of the rest were working in the UK after six months, mainly in London. But remember — whilst employers say they rate graduates who have more than one language, you need to have them as part of a whole package of good skills, even if that language is rare and valuable to business.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Asian studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£25k
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Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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