MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies by Research (Chinese Studies)

University of Cambridge

Our MPhil programme in Chinese Studies is offered as a one-year programme which aims to give graduate students an opportunity to develop their analytical, research and writing skills in preparation for further academic research or entry to professions requiring such skills. It is designed for highly motivated future researchers who have a substantial undergraduate background in Chinese studies or related fields but need more exposure to topic-specific or discipline-based analytical frameworks and more intensive training in primary source language(s) and research skills.

This MPhil programme is taken by thesis only. This entails working closely with one supervisor throughout the year on a thesis of not more than 25,000 words to be submitted in mid-August.

At the end of the MPhil programme, students will be expected to have:

• acquired the ability to read, interpret and translate primary sources in Modern and/or Classical Chinese;
• acquired a good knowledge of the general scholarship on modern and/or pre-modern Chinese culture(s);
• acquired an in-depth knowledge of the secondary literature relevant to the subject of their thesis;
• developed the ability to formulate original research questions and produce a well-constructed argument to answer them, in the form of an independent piece of research based on the use of primary and secondary sources; and
• developed independent archival and library- and internet-based research skills concomitant with successful completion of a Masters-level degree in Chinese Studies.