COURSE CURRICULUM

The two-year MA in Chinese Studies, a specialisation of Leiden University’s master’s in Asian Studies, combines intensive language training, high-quality teaching, and access to extensive library resources, offering a unique qualification in the Netherlands. The program equips students with a broad understanding of China while providing the contextual knowledge to analyse issues from alternative perspectives, such as those of Western Europe, for both specialist and general audiences. Students develop disciplinary knowledge, conceptual frameworks, terminology, and methodology specific to their specialisation, alongside skills for conducting independent, high-quality academic research on both classical and contemporary topics, supported by Leiden’s rich library collection.The program is structured over four semesters. In the first semester at Leiden, students take the core course Introduction to Asian Studies, exploring the place of Asian Studies within the broader field of Area Studies, alongside an elective in the China specialisation and Advanced Mandarin 1. Semesters two and three are spent at Shandong University in China, where students continue language training and may take content courses in Chinese, deepening their understanding of Chinese society and culture. The Faculty of Humanities offers a partial scholarship to help reduce costs for the year abroad.In the fourth semester back at Leiden, students further advance their Mandarin skills, take another elective from the China specialisation, and complete their MA thesis. By this stage, students are expected to integrate their language and academic expertise, often using primary sources in Mandarin for their research. Recent thesis topics have included the energy transition, cybersecurity governance, Humanistic Buddhism, and queer narratives in China. The program thus prepares graduates with strong language proficiency, analytical skills, and research experience, equipping them for careers in academia, diplomacy, international organisations, media, business, and other fields requiring expertise in contemporary and historical China.