What You Study
BA Chinese Studies (Single Honours)
The four-year programme aims to provide students with a firm grounding in Chinese language, contemporary Chinese culture, society, economy and politics as well as China’s changing relations with the West.
A thorough grounding in Chinese language is the cornerstone of your degree, and you will therefore be studying it throughout the programme. The core language teaching in Chinese enables you to develop various linguistic skills: speaking and writing accurately; understanding and analysing audio, video and written material; using different registers; speaking to a group with confidence; and translating with appropriate sensitivity.
In the first year, you will be required to take foundational units in History, Politics, and Culture/Society. In the second and final years, you will choose a variety of China-related topics in Politics, History, Linguistic and Cultural studies, development studies, Economics, Business and Translation studies, drawing on the wide range of research expertise in Chinese Studies across the Faculty of Humanities. This structure allows you to develop core analytical skills from various disciplines along with specialty knowledge of China.
The structure of the Chinese Studies degree programme can be found below, with host departments listed in brackets after each module.
Year 1 Compulsory Modules
- Chinese language
- Introduction to Chinese Studies (East Asian Studies)
- Modern China: From the Opium War to the Post-Mao Era (History)
- Government I: Introduction to Comparative Politics
Year 1 Optional Modules
- Introduction to Japanese History and Culture (East Asian Studies)
- Introduction to Modern Japanese Society (East Asian Studies)
- Religion in Modern South Asian History (Religion & Theology)
- Fundamentals of Management (Business & Management)
- Global contexts of Business and Management (Business & Management)
- Introduction to International Politics (Politics)
- Culture and Society (Social Anthropology)
- Cultural and Power (Social Anthropology)
- Cultural Diversity in Global Perspective (Social Anthropology)
- Principles of Linguistics (Linguistics & English Language)
- Morphology & Syntax (Linguistics & English Language)
Year 2 Compulsory Modules
- Chinese Language
Year 2 Core Modules (choose 3 out of 7)
- Modern Chinese Literature and Film (East Asian Studies)
- Modern Chinese Culture: Spaces & Media (East Asian Studies)
- Chinese Politics Today (Politics)
- Comparative European Politics (Politics)
- Chinese Business (Business & Management)
- Late Imperial China (History)
Year 2 Optional Modules (remaining credits to be taken from this list)
- Developments in Japanese Cultural History (East Asian Studies)
- Perspectives on Contemporary Japan: Problems & Dynamics (East Asian Studies)
- Religion in Japan (East Asian Studies)
- Contemporary Culture in Japan (East Asian Studies)
- Texts, Ritual and Practice in Mahayana Buddhism (Religion & Theology)
- Transnational Chinese Cinema (Drama)
- Introduction to Typology (Linguistics & English Language)
- World Englishes (Linguistics & English Language)
- Political and Economic Anthropology (Social Anthropology)
- The Politics of Globalisation (Politics)
- The Politics of Development (Politics)
Final Year Compuslory Modules
- Chinese Language
- Dissertation in Chinese Studies (compulsory for single honours students only)
- Business Chinese OR
- Introduction to Chinese-English Translation
Final Year Core Modules (choose 2 out of 5)
- Understanding Contemporary China Through Film and Popular Music (East Asian Studies)
- China and the West: From the Opium War to the Japanese War (History)
- The Chinese Economy (Economics)
- Identity and Security in China and East Asia (Politics)
- Buddhism and Politics in Modern China and Japan (Religion & Theology)
Modern Language and Business and Management (Chinese)
Students study business and management in European and global contexts, as well as the relevant language (Chinese) and culture. You will spend your third year on residence abroad at a partner university in China. Core language modules are complemented by courses covering aspects of Chinese culture, society, literature, linguistics, history, migration, thought and cinema. You will also study aspects of management, economics, finance, accounting, and international relations. In your first year you study both subjects equally; in later years you can maintain this balance or devote more weight to either of the main discipline areas.
BA (Hons) Joint Honours Programmes
Equal weighting is given to both languages/discipline areas in the first year; in the second and final years you may choose to weight one language/discipline area more heavily than the other part. There is a compulsory period of residence abroad in the third year. On joint languages programmes, you may divide the time equally between both languages or spend the whole academic year in a country where one of your languages is spoken. If you do the latter, you must also spend two months of the summer vacation before your final year in a country where your other language is spoken. Please note, however, that if you are begin your study of Chinese at Manchester, you will be required to spend at least half of the year in China, and will be encouraged to spend the entire year there.
Master of Modern Languages (MML)
These are four year enhanced programmes, which enable you to reach an outstanding level of expertise in two languages. In the first two years, each language is studied equally and you are trained in the modern spoken and written language through oral classes with native speakers and a range of other activities such as grammar and comprehension work. During the summer vacation after your second year, you spend two months in a country where one of your languages is spoken. Similarly, during the summer vacation after your third year, you spend two months in a country where your other language is spoken. At either, or both of these points in your programme, you may choose to spend a full year abroad under approved conditions. To move on from one year to the next on the MML programme, you must reach a higher specified level of attainment in the examinations at the end of the first three years than on the B A (Hons) programmes.
English Language and a Modern Language (Chinese)
In English language, courses in the structure, history and varieties of English are complemented by courses in general linguistics and sociolinguistics. In Chinese, the core language course is complemented by courses in culture, society, literature, linguistics, history, thought and cinema. You will spend your third year on residence abroad at a partner university in China. In your first year you study both subjects equally; in later years you can maintain this balance or devote more weight to either of the main discipline areas.
Further Information
Information about all courses taught within the Faculty of Humanties can be found here: