MSc in Japanese Studies

Programme details

The Oxford School of Global and Area Studies and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies are pleased to announce their partnership in providing a programme in Japanese Studies.

The MSc in Japanese Studies is a twelve month masters programme that provides students with a combination of courses about Japan, mainly the social sciences, an intensive language programme and a research methods course. It culminates with a 12,000 word dissertation submitted by 1st September.

Native speakers of Japanese or those with native speaker competence are also encouraged to apply for a place on the programme.

It is taught by full time members of the Nissan Institute and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and all the courses are designed for masters level students.

The components of the course are:

• Research Methods for Area Studies
• Dissertation about Japan (12,000 words)
• Either three courses about Japan chosen from the options listed below (for Japanese native speakers)
• Or two courses about Japan chosen from the options listed below, and a Japanese Language course.

Please note that not all options may be offered every year.

The optional courses are:

• Classical Japanese Language, Jennifer Guest 
• Japanese Linguistics (The History and Structure of Japanese), Bjarke Fellesvig
• Japanese Politics and International Relations, Kristi Govella
• Modern Transnational History of Japan, Sho Konishi
• Economy and Business of Japan, TBC
• Japanese Anthropology, Roger Goodman 
• Media, Journalism and Democracy in Japan, Yosuke Buchmeier
• Reading the Supernatural in Japanese Literature, Linda Flores and Jennifer Guest
• Queer Japan: Literature, Media and Culture, Patrick Carland-Echavarria

Changing your programme of study

MSc and First-year MPhil students considering transferring from the MSc to the MPhil programme or from the MPhil to the MSc programme must submit the "Application for Change of Programme of Study" by the end of week 4 of either Michaelmas or Hilary Term. Students should make their decision to switch programmes in consultation with their supervisor. Some students will be required to return home in the next holiday period following their application to apply for a new visa for the MPhil.