East Asian Studies
Study alongside a team of internationally renowned experts in the field of East Asian studies.
Internationally renowned East Asian experts
We're a diverse and multi-disciplinary team of internationally renowned East Asia experts in the School of Modern Languages. We work with colleagues in other schools who provide specialisms in the culture, politics and history of China and Japan.
We're proud to be affiliated with one of the UK's Confucius Institutes. The Institute promotes Chinese language and culture through a series of intercultural events.
Teaching quality
We're a great place to study East Asian studies. Our position in global rankings demonstrates our commitment to academic excellence, teaching quality and student experience.
According to the 2023 Complete University Guide, we rank 4th in the UK for East Asian studies with a high student satisfaction rating (78%).
This means we're one of the best universities for East Asian studies in the UK.
Undergraduate study
In the School of Modern Languages, we operate a dual entry system. You can start your East Asian language studies with us from scratch, or with an A Level qualification.
We offer a range of undergraduate degree programmes that allow you to study East Asian languages and culture. You can study our specialised degree for Chinese or Jananes Studies, or include East Asian languages alongside other subjects on our other programmes.
Our classes are small to ensure you're supported by our dedicated teaching team.
There's so much more to studying languages at university than just learning to speak a language. We offer a range of East Asian culture modules covering history, politics, business, film, literature and popular culture.
Year Abroad
One of the attractions of studying Chinese or Japanese at university is the opportunity to spend a year abroad. Immerse yourself in East Asian culture, while developing your language fluency.
We're especially proud of the flexibility and variety we offer during the year abroad in East Asia. We offer five destinations in China, ranging from cosmopolitan cities to exciting rural destinations.
In Japan, we offer a large choice of public, state and private universities in a range of cities.
Postgraduate study
We provide a number of postgraduate degrees that enable you to study East Asian languages or culture.
Postgraduate Taught
If your specialism is translating and interpreting, you can apply to study one of the School's world-renowned MA degrees in the field. We offer a suite of Master's programmes in Translating and Interpreting for Chinese, consisting of four MA pathways:
- Translation and Localisation MA
- Conference Interpreting MA
- Translation Studies MA
- Translation and Interpreting MA
Postgraduate Research
We offer a one-year MLitt research degree that allows you to focus on a particular area of Chinese or Japanese studies:
We also offer research degrees in Translation Studies (MLitt) and Film Studies (MLitt).
Our MPhil and PhD research programmes allow you to specialise in Chinese or Japanese. You can also specialise in translating and interpreting.
We offer three MPhil/PhD programmes:
Extra-curricular activities
We offer lots of extra-curricular activities, which foster intercultural exchange. This includes the student-run Anglo-Chinese Society and Anglo-Japanese Society, which are great ways to meet exchange students and explore new aspects of East Asian culture.
Tandem learning partnerships are also popular among our students. They're a great way to further enhance your language skills.