CH I N E S E

STU D I ES

gold.ac.uk/confucius-institute Undergraduate
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 If you talk to a man Why choose Chinese studies
at Goldsmiths?

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in a language he Given Chinas rapid economic growth and

understands, that emergence as a major global powerhouse,

there are many benefits to combining your
INTRODUCTION subject area with Chinese studies.
goes to his head. If Sino-British bilateral trade, having recently hit

you talk to him in his

an all-time high, means endless opportunities to
use your skills in a foreign language thats not only
the most practical, but one of the most beautiful.
language, that goes to

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his heart. Learning Mandarin Chinese is about
more than conversing with your future
business associates.
Nelson Mandela The language itself holds the key to your in-depth
understanding of Chinese politics, economics and
trade, a 5,000-year history, and its rich culture
that is diverse and distinctive.
Youll have the skills to access the treasure-trove of
literature, drama, and cinema that lay at the heart
of Chinese civilisation channels that offer insights
into the cultural soul of the Chinese people.

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And its your understanding of these cultural
nuances in addition to your practical language
skills that are highly sought after by employers.
No matter how good your language skills are,
only your understanding of the Chinese style of
communication will complete the package.

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 Each of the following degrees includes
a year in China between Year 2 and your THE STRUCTURE OF YOUR DEGREE
final year. Youll continue with intensive
language classes at Capital Normal Chinese strand offered Computing,
University in Beijing, one of the most by Goldsmiths education studies,
A YEAR IN CHINA
prestigious institutions for teaching
Chinese as a foreign language.
Confucius Institute international studies
or sociology strand

Youll develop your spoken fluency of YEAR

01
Mandarin 1 Specific compulsory
Chinese through the friends youll make Mandarin 2 and option modules
on and around campus. Youll be sharing
your language classes with like-minded
students from all over the world.
YEAR

02
Mandarin 3 Specific compulsory
Whether your degree at Goldsmiths Mandarin 4 and option modules
is in computing, education studies,
international studies or sociology,
your invaluable day-to-day experiences YEAR IN BEIJING
in Beijing will serve to inspire your
work in your final year. Advanced Audio-Visual
News Comprehension
Upon successful completion of your degree Advanced Practical
at Goldsmiths, youll have the option of FINAL Chinese Writing Dissertation
returning to Capital Normal University YEAR Advanced Chinese
Journal Reading
and options

for a further year of language study. This

Contemporary
can lead to the award of Capital Normal
Chinese Issues
Universitys BA Chinese Language degree.

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OUR DEGREES
BSc (Hons) Computing & Chinese
BA (Hons) Education Studies
& Chinese
BA (Hons) International Studies
& Chinese
BA (Hons) Sociology & Chinese
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TYPICAL MODULES
BSc (Hons) Computing Year 1
Mandarin 1
& Chinese Mandarin 2
Plus computing options such as:
4 years full-time (including a year in China) Web Programming
gold.ac.uk/ug/bsc-computing-chinese
Designing Digital Interactions
Audio-Visual Computing
With China poised to become the next Mathematical Modelling for
superpower and the rise of technological Problem Solving
industries, Chinese IT and computing companies
have a vast potential for future growth and are Introduction to Games
likely to spread throughout the world and hold Development
great influence in the global field of computing.
On this degree youll spend a year at Capital
Year 2
Normal University in Beijing where youll achieve
advanced proficiency in Mandarin Chinese Mandarin 3
and gain first-hand information and cultural Mandarin 4
experiences. Youll develop an understanding of Plus computing options such as:
real market need and enrich your creativity with
knowledge of the nuances of Chinese culture. Principles and Applications
of Programming
In your first and second years, youll learn
programming languages such as Java, PHP and
Databases, Networks and the Web
Javascript and be introduced to subject areas that Software Projects
include creative computing, web programming, Algorithms and Data Structures
databases and server slide programming, Perception and Multimedia
graphics and animation, interaction design, Computing
artificial intelligence, audio and music computing,
and data mining. Youll gain these skills alongside
a programme of intensive Mandarin Chinese
Year in Capital Normal
with Goldsmiths Confucius Institute, which will
University, Beijing
prepare you for your year in China.
In your final year youll use your skills and
knowledge gained abroad to advance your Final year
Mandarin reading and writing skills alongside Compulsory modules:
studying further computing. Youll choose from
a range of advanced modules that include Advanced Audio-Visual
advanced graphics and animation, data mining, News Comprehension
artificial intelligence, interaction design and Advanced Practical
neural networks. Chinese Writing
After graduating from Goldsmiths, youll have the Advanced Chinese
opportunity to enrol for one further year of study Journal Reading
in China and, upon passing the additional year at Contemporary Chinese Issues
the Capital Normal University, this will lead to the
Dissertation
award of their BA Chinese Language.
Plus computing options
BA (Hons) Education
Studies & Chinese
4 years full-time (including a year in China)
gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-education-studies-chinese
Youll gain advanced proficiency in
Mandarin Chinese and a comprehensive
and critical insight into Chinese culture to
complement the knowledge youll develop
of education systems in the UK and beyond.
Youll explore the language and culture of
China and its impact of the UKs education
system and policies.
The degree is spread across four years,
including a year in China to improve
your Mandarin Chinese skills at Capital
Normal University in Beijing. Youll begin
your programme with a comprehensive
introduction to Mandarin Chinese and take
two education modules in which youll explore
curriculum and policy as well as the influence
education has on culture and identity, and
vice versa.
In your second year, youll continue to develop
your Chinese language skills so that youll be
ready for your stay in China the following year.
Youll also take a range of education modules.
Your year in China includes the opportunity to
carry out short-term placements with local
schools. Youll gain an insight into the Chinese
education system through visits to Chinese
schools and other educational institutions.
In your final year back at Goldsmiths youll take
advanced-level Chinese modules and complete
a dissertation. Youll also choose one more
education module.
After graduating, you may be eligible to enrol
for one further year of study in China, and on
successful completion being awarded Capital
Normal Universitys BA Chinese Language.
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Please note that modules
listed in this booklet were
correct at the time of
printing (September 2016)
and may change year to year
depending on staff research
leave. You can find the most
up-to-date information about
our degree programmes
on our website
BA (Hons) International
TYPICAL MODULES
Studies & Chinese
4 years full-time (including a year in China)
gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-international-studies-chinese
The 2008 global economic crisis led to a shift Year 1
in global power and China was at the forefront Compulsory modules:
of this change. While Europe has been gripped
Mandarin 1
with an age of uncertainty, in China one finds a
newfound assertiveness and confidence. Mandarin 2
The Politics of Other Cultures
In this degree youll spend a year in Beijing where World Politics
youll get comprehensive language training and
gain first-hand experience of everyday Chinese
life, gaining the advanced linguistic, cultural
and theoretical skills needed to fully understand Year 2
Chinese political culture. Expressed in ways Compulsory modules:
that all too often appear to Western journalists Mandarin 3
as a totalitarian nation, youll be provided with Mandarin 4
the tools to tell a more complex, nuanced and
Plus four politics options
culturally embedded story.
In your first two years, youll gain foundation
knowledge in international relations, global Year in Beijing, China
politics, and comparative area studies and/
or political theory. Youll also undertake
intensive language training at Goldsmiths Final year
Confucius Institute.
Compulsory modules:
Youll then spend a year studying advanced Advanced Audio-Visual
Chinese at Capital Normal University in Beijing. News Comprehension
There youll gain first-hand experience of Advanced Practical
everyday life in China, meeting like-minded Chinese Writing
students from all over the world and practising
Advanced Chinese
your Chinese with the friends youll make
Journal Reading
in Beijing.
Contemporary Chinese Issues
Upon your return youll start the final year
Dissertation
of your degree at Goldsmiths during which
Plus one or two politics options
youll complete a dissertation and continue
with advanced-level Chinese modules with the
Confucius Institute.
 TYPICAL MODULES Defining face
The nature and definition of face have fascinated thinkers

BA (Hons)
for years. Chinese writer, translator, linguist and inventor
Lin Yutang had this to say about face: Interesting as the

Sociology & Chinese
4 years full-time (including a year in China)
gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-sociology-chinese
Youll explore your passion for people,
society and transformation through this
four-year programme that takes you to Beijing,
China for one year.
Youll actively engage in a global world in which
China is a major economic, political and social
superpower. The content of the degree is a 50-
50 split between intensive Mandarin Chinese
training through Goldsmiths Confucius Institute,
and sociology modules from Goldsmiths
outstanding Department of Sociology.
In your first year youll take two intensive
Mandarin Chinese modules and two
Chinese physiological face is, the psychological face makes a
still more fascinating study. It is not a face that can be washed
or shaved, but a face that can be granted and lost and fought
for and presented as a gift. Here we arrive at the most curious
point of Chinese social psychology. Abstract and intangible,
it is yet the most delicate standard by which Chinese social
Year 1 intercourse is regulated.
Compulsory modules:
Mandarin 1 What is a high-context culture?
Mandarin 2
According to anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his 1976
Modern Knowledge, book Beyond Culture, its a culture that tends to use high-
Modern Power context messages over low-context messages in routine
Culture and Society communication. In a higher-context culture such as in China,
many things are left unsaid, letting the culture explain. This
means words and word choice become very important, since
Year 2 just a few words can communicate a complex message very
Compulsory modules: effectively. In a low-context culture the communicator needs
Mandarin 3 to be much more explicit, making the value of a single word
less important.

sociology modules.
In your second year youll begin to read Chinese
texts and audio-visual news. Youll also take
four sociology modules that will develop your
sociological imagination.
Your stay in Beijing takes place in your third year.
Youll spend the year enhancing your Chinese
language skills at Capital Normal University,
where youll meet like-minded students from
all over the world and practise your spoken
Mandarin with the friends you make in Beijing.
Youll experience a different culture first-hand
which might inspire the work you do in your
final year.
In your fourth and final year of the programme,
youll continue with advanced-level Mandarin
Chinese modules. Youll complete a dissertation
on the sociology topic of your choice and choose
from a range of sociology module options.
INSIGHTS
Mandarin 4
Plus one sociology option
Year in Beijing, China
Final year
Compulsory modules:
Advanced Audio-Visual
News Comprehension
Advanced Practical
Chinese Writing
Advanced Chinese
Journal Reading
Contemporary Chinese Issues
Sociology dissertation
Plus one sociology option
Guanxi
Loosely translated as connections, the Chinese term guanxi
can, at times, equal the term networking, or describe the
relationships between people that hold society together.
Particularly significant in the world of business, the elements
of exchanges based on guanxi carry a long tradition: good
guanxi can be the key to open doors that are otherwise closed.
Chunyun: the largest annual human
migration in the world
Chunyun is the famous mass migration that happens in and out
of Chinas cities before and after Chinese New Year, the annual
Chinese festival thats bigger than Christmas in the West.
It begins around 15 days before lunar New Years Day when
millions upon millions of passengers begin the journey home
to their families. Characterised by an extremely high traffic
load on Chinas trains, buses and domestic flights, it often
exceeds the population of China and, understandably, poses
a major challenge to these internal transport services.

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 Joshua
BA International
Studies & Chinese

The course has been

very interesting. I have
learnt a large and pretty
extensive group of
vocabulary. The teachers
are very interesting and
encouraging, making you
want to learn more. My
OUR STUDENTS experience of Goldsmiths
has been good, meeting a
variety of different people
from a variety of different
places and backgrounds.

INSPIRATION
Graduating from a Chinese studies
degree youll have a wide variety of career
Ricardo
options. Thats because youll have the
BA International
skills that will set you up for success across
Studies & Chinese
a range of sectors, and the language and
subject area knowledge that will make
I have thoroughly
you highly employable.
enjoyed the course during
my time here. It has been
Many Chinese studies graduates go on to
an interesting and
lead careers in international relations.
enlightening experience,
You may wish to pursue a career with the
and the skills I am learning
diplomatic service, for example. As an

CAREER
will surely help me in the
Jonathan officer with the Foreign Commonwealth
future.
BA International Office, you could promote and protect
Studies & Chinese British interests and citizens overseas, and
The teachers are very kind
provide advice and support to ministers
and helpful, and make it
I have been able to explore developing UK foreign policy. Youll be able
easier and fun learning a
the many areas of my course to combine your interest in international
hard language.
with ease, and knowing affairs with your skills as a quick thinking
that teachers and lecturers problem solver.
are there to help makes it
so much better. I enjoy how You could also consider using your
comfortable the university Mandarin language skills and subject area
is - all of the staff and knowledge to work for a wide range of
students are friendly, and organisations, corporations andNGOsboth
everyone seems so creative in the UK and internationally, and to
and willing to expand their thrive professionally in areas such as the
knowledge. Its a great globalised technology sector, UK/Chinese
learning environment. education sectors and the international
business industries.

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 Find out more about the
department and degrees at:
FIND OUT MORE
gold.ac.uk/confucius-institute

Get in touch with our

Enquiries team:
+44 (0)20 7078 5300
course-info@gold.ac.uk

The information in this publication was

correct in September 2016. Every effort
is made to ensure that the information is
accurate, and Goldsmiths will undertake
to inform students of any material
changes to the information contained
in it. Examples may include, but are not
limited to: the timetable, location and
methods of delivery; and the content,
syllabus and mode assessment of any
programme.

You can read our most up-to-date

disclaimer at www.gold.ac.uk/disclaimer

Goldsmiths, University of London 2016

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