Chinese Studies and Philosophy (Hons) Lancaster University

Overview

Key facts

Lancaster University's joint Chinese Studies and Philosophy (Hons) 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. In Philosophy, you will acquire an understanding of key problems in various core areas of philosophy such as epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and social philosophy, as well as the answers that have been offered by historic and contemporary philosophers. 

You will also cultivate your own critical perspectives on philosophical problems and questions, and develop a range of methods for analysing, critically engaging with, and discussing such problems.

Your first year comprises an exploration of the Chinese language and its cultural context as well as an introduction to some of the central problems in philosophy and the theories produced in response to them. Chinese may be studied at either beginner or advanced level. Alongside this, you will study a minor subject of your choice.

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 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.