Prospective Students
Chinese Studies at Oxford University
Oxford has acquired a reputation as one of the leading centres for the study of China in Europe through its undergraduate programme, its MSc and MPhil courses, its DPhil student training and the academic output of members of the Oriental Institute and the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies. The MSc in Modern Chinese Studies further enhances and complements the existing range of postgraduate degrees in Oxford for students wishing to pursue an interest in Chinese Studies. The MSc in Modern Chinese Studies, together with the established MPhil in Modern Chinese Studies and the doctoral programmes in the Humanities and Social Sciences (see Links), offers optimal postgraduate study paths in modern Chinese studies to students from a broad range of backgrounds and differing levels of competence in modern Chinese language.
The University of Oxford possesses rich and comprehensive expertise in the field of Chinese Studies combining the strengths of a number of distinguished academics with those of promising younger scholars engaged in pioneering research on critical issues. Oxford’s exceptional concentration of talent makes the University one of the leading centres for scholarship on pre-modern, modern and contemporary China in the world.
The vibrance of the study of China at Oxford stems from an interdisciplinary approach that brings academics together in flexible but specific research clusters, including the following:
• Governance, public sector management and political communication
• Economic growth and social change
• Industrialization, sustainable development and poverty alleviation
• Environmental policy and management
• Human well-being, health care and education
• Patterns of migration, both internal and international
• Labour and labour relations
• The impact of China’s expansion on the world economy
• China’s relations with the US and Asia
• Chinese art and material culture
In May 2008, the University launched the University of Oxford China Centre, which is jointly funded by the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies and the Oriental Studies Faculty. The Centre seeks to advance the development of the study of China by providing a forum for academic exchange and collaboration within the University. The China Centre acts as the focal point for information on teaching, research, and administration of the study of China at the University.
Oxford's Bodleian Library began collecting Chinese books in the seventeenth century. But the University's formal commitment to Chinese Studies began in 1876 with the appointment of the great missionary-scholar James Legge as its first Professor of Chinese. His critical translations of Confucian and other classic texts are still used as a standard reference today. The Institute for Chinese Studies Library (housed in the Institute for Chinese Studies) and the New Bodleian Library together hold one of Europe’s largest and fastest growing collections of books on China. In addition they house an extensive journal collection as well as substantial Chinese language electronic resources. Some Oxford colleges have relevant holdings on modern China also.
Collections of Chinese artefacts are held in the Ashmolean Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Museum of the History of Science.
A rich seminar programme at the University provides ample opportunity for Masters students to mix with active researchers and doctoral students. Weekly research seminars focussing on various aspects of Chinese Studies are held at the Faculty for Oriental Studies. The Contemporary China Studies Programme and the British Inter-University China Centre at Oxford also frequently sponsor lectures and colloquia during term at which students are welcomed. The large number of students conducting doctoral research on China in different departments ensures valuable networks, and diverse points of reference, for Masters students.