BA Korean Studies

Students take 120 credits per year composed of core and optional modules, which allows for students to design their own intellectual journey while maintaining a strong grasp of the fundamentals.

This is a three-year degree and requires less intensive study of the Korean language than the BA Korean degree. A smaller number of language classes can be taken at various levels of proficiency from pure beginner to very advanced.

The degree provides wide-ranging coverage of disciplines taught by specialists in the Korean section including: pre-modern and modern literature, theoretical and applied linguistics, history, religion, media studies and popular culture.

In the final year, single–subject students write an Independent Study Project based on in-depth study in one of many possible fields using Korean language sources.

The BA Korean Studies degree is available as a single subject and joint subject degree.

• Modern Korea 1: History
• Modern Korea 2: Culture and Society

Choose 30 credits of Korean Language at the appropriate level from List A.

Choose 30 credits at the appropriate level from List B.

Choose 30 credits from List B OR an open option.

Choose 30 credits of Korean Language at the appropriate level from List A.

Choose 60 credits at the appropriate level from List B.

Choose 30 credits from List B OR an open option.

• Independent Study Project in Korean Language and Culture

Choose 30 credits from List B at the appropriate level.

Choose 30 credits from List A or B

Choose 30 credits from List B OR an open option.

Only one of these can be studied a year. Elementary Korean is a 60 credit (2 unit) accelerated module.

• K100: Elementary Korean
• Korean 1

Only one of these modules can be studied a year, subject to prerequisites.

• Korean 2
• K200: Intermediate Korean

Some of these modules can be studied in the same year, subject to prerequisites and convenor’s approval.

• K301: Introduction to Mixed Script Korean
• K302: Korean Readings
• K303: Korean Composition
• K304: Korean Conversation

Some of these modules can be studied in the same year, subject to prerequisites and convenor’s approval.

• K401: Advanced Korean Readings
• K402: Advanced Korean Composition
• K403: Korean-English Translation
• Readings in Korean Literature
• Readings in Modern Korean Society

• Chinese 103: History and Culture of China
• Japanese Cultural History to 1600: Power, Belief, Creativity
• Japanese Cultural History 1600 to 1945: Power, Belief, Creativity
• Cultural History of Tibet
• Imagining Tibet
• H120 Introduction to the History of East Asia
• R110 Introduction to Buddhism
• R170 Introduction to the Religions of East and Central Asia
• Themes in the Art and Archaeology of East Asia
• Management in Japan and Korea: Domestic and International Developments

• History and Culture of Korea to the late 19th Century
• Literary Traditions and Culture of Korea
• Trajectories of Modernity in Korean Literature
• The Other Korea: North Korea since 1945
• 1990's South Korean cinema: A critical Survey
• Extended Essay in Korean Language and Culture
• Cool Japan: Manga, Anime, Sushi
• Music and Japanese Identities
• Fieldwork methods in language and culture
• Royal Arts of Korea
• Buddhist Arts of Korea
• Contemporary Korean Arts in East Asia
• Musical Traditions of East Asia
• International Relations of East Asia
• Pop and Politics in East Asia
• Queer Cinema in Asia
• History and Structure of the Korean Language
• History and Memory in East Asian Cultures
• Identity and social relations in Japanese
• Japanese Cinema: a Critical Survey
• Japanese New Wave Cinema: Youth, Sex and Protest
• Modern Film from Taiwan and the Chinese Diaspora
• Cinema and Performance in China: Critical and Historical Approaches

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules