Chinese Studies and Politics BA Hons

Lancaster’s joint Chinese Studies and Politics degree is taught by the Department of Languages and Cultures in conjunction with the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion.

Your Chinese Studies programme gives you the opportunity to acquire high-level language skills while gaining a thorough understanding of China's historical, cultural, social and political background in a global context. Chinese may be studied at either beginner or advanced level. In Politics, you will explore the themes, concepts and events that have shaped the contemporary world.

Your first year comprises an exploration of the Chinese language and its cultural context as well as the core module ‘Politics in the Modern World’, which introduces you to key themes such as the theory and practice of liberal democracy, globalisation and threats to international security. In addition, you will study a minor subject from a list of subjects provided to you.

In first year (Part 1), you will take the following modules:

Politics in the Modern World
Part I language studies
And one of the following modules according to your Chinese proficiency:

Part I Chinese Studies (Beginners to CEFR: A2)
Part I Chinese Studies (Advanced from CEFR B1 to B2)
You will also choose 40 credits of modules from a list of subjects provided to you.

Building on your language skills in Year 2, you will study one Chinese Oral Skills module and one Chinese Written Skills module at the same level of proficiency. In addition, you will study the culture, politics and history of the Chinese-speaking world in more depth in the module 'Shaping Chinese Society: Moments and Movements', as well as select a module which is international in scope and which promotes a comparative understanding at a global level, such as 'Society on Screen: The Language of Film'. You will combine these with modules such as ‘Modern Political Thought’, or ‘Exploring Politics, Religion and Values’.

Spending your third year - the International Placement Year - abroad in a Chinese-speaking country makes a major contribution to your command of the language, while deepening your intercultural sensitivity. You can study at a partner institution or conduct a work placement. Staff members within the department will work with you to ensure that you are fully prepared before embarking on your placement in a Chinese-speaking country.

In your final year, you will consolidate your Chinese language skills and study language-specific or specialist culture and comparative modules, such as 'Masculinities and Modernities in China' and ‘Imagining Modern Europe: Post-Revolutionary Utopias and Ideologies in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century’. You will also select from Politics modules such as, ‘Contemporary Issues in the Middle East’, or ‘The Governance of Global Capitalism’. You will have opportunities to combine your interests in both subjects in longer, supervised projects.