This two-year full-time (ot four-year part-time) programme is designed to provide intensive language training at different proficiency levels - depending on entry level - within a Masters programme in Japanese Studies.

It allows students:

• to cultivate or further develop a basic expertise in particular aspects of Japanese Studies.
• to choose modules that meet their own needs, with respect to their interest in Japan and future career plans.
• to develop their abilities to synthesize information, to think critically, to manage a complex research project and to present their results in verbal and written form.
• to achieve a high level of language proficiency.
• to master transferable language and analytical skills in order to prepare for a variety of potential future professional or research careers.

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

May be combined with:

The following Intensive Language pathways are available with the MA Japanese Studies

• Japanese
• Korean

Students must take 315 credits in total, comprised of 255 taught credits (45 of which are taught abroad as part of a Summer School) and a 60-credit dissertation as outlined below.

In their first year, students on the two-year Intensive Language programmes take 60 credits of intensive language instruction and 60 credits in the discipline. During the summer, they participate in a Summer School abroad. In the second year, they take another 30 language credits as well as 60 credits in the discipline; they also complete their dissertation in the discipline. 

Please note that on all Area Studies degrees, including Japanese Studies:

• a maximum of 60 credits can be taken in any one subject area
• a minimum of three subject areas must be covered.

For information on the programme structure for the four-year part-time version of the programme, please see the pdf programme specification at the bottom of this page.

Please see the relevant web pages in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures for information on the Intensive Language part of the programme.

Year 1 (two years full time)

Discipline Component

Plus

Modules from the list below to the value of 45 credits.

Language Component

Students take 60 credits in the selected language.

Summer Abroad

Students participate in a Summer School abroad for the selected language.

Year 2 (two years full time)

Discipline Component

Modules from the list below to the value of 60 credits.

Language Component

Students take 30 credits in the selected language.

Dissertation

List of modules (subject to availability)

History of Art

Economics

Adequate background in Economics is a prerequisite for this module. Please contact the convenor for details.

Available as a major only

History

Available as a minor only

Language and Culture Studies

Literature

The modules below can be taken individually as a minor, however, should a student wish to take one of them as a major, both half modules have to be taken.

Management

The modules below can be taken individually as a minor, however, should a student wish to take one of them as a major, both half modules have to be taken.

Media

Music

Available as a minor only

Politics

Religions and Philosophies

Available as a minor only

Programme Specification

• MA Japanese Studies and Intensive Language Programme Specification (pdf; 204kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

There are four key areas in which the programme allows students to develop:

Knowledge

• Students will acquire a comprehensive understanding of Japan’s past and present, within the parameters of the modules and disciplines chosen, and of her connections to the wider East Asian Region through the core module.
• Students will acquire an advanced understanding of the theoretical and methodological tools of the relevant disciplines.
• Students who choose to take language will improve their knowledge of and ability to use Japanese in their everyday life and, depending on the level achieved, professional career.

Intellectual (thinking) skills

• Students will learn how to assess data and evidence critically from a variety of sources and how to resolve problems of conflicting sources and conflicting interpretations.
• Students will learn the strengths and disciplines of particular disciplinary and theoretical approaches, cultivating their ability to draw on a variety of such approaches.
• Students will learn how to design and manage an independent research project, formulating the problem to be addressed, identifying the data to be analyzed, and synthesizing the findings to present well-supported conclusions.

Subject-based practical skills

• Students will learn how to read critically, to participate effectively in seminar discussions, and to present their work in both oral and written form.
• More specific skills will depend on the particular modules taken.

Transferable skills

• Students will learn how to access and evaluate electronic and other data effectively and efficiently.
• Students will learn how to solve complex problems, for example concerning economic development, historical causation, literary interpretation, or political decision-making.
• Students will learn how to communicate effectively in a variety of settings and formats.

Through their language study, students will

• acquire/develop skills in both written and spoken language.
• develop a procedural knowledge of rules governing both oral and written linguistic usages and of multiple norms regulating intercultural communication, analytical skills (problem solving, formal operations), critical skills and creativity.
• develop the ability to engage with people or texts from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, understanding the role of different linguistic or cultural frames of reference.

Tuition Fees

Full details of postgraduate tuition fees can be found on the Registry's Postgraduate Tuition Fees page.

This is a Band 3 tuition fee.

Fees for 2021/22 entrants. The fees below are per academic year. Please note that fees go up each year. 2 year full-time programmes have 2 years of full-time fees - the fee in the second year will be higher than the fee for the first year (the full time fee below is for the first year only).

Scholarships

For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section

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