Programmes

Master of Philosophy in Chinese and History

Programme	Master of Philosophy in Chinese and History 中文及歷史學哲學碩士
Award Title	Master of Philosophy 哲學碩士
Offering Academic Unit	Department of Chinese and History
Mode of Study	Full-time Part-time

Credit Units Required for Graduation

7 and SG8001

Programme Aims

The MPhil in Language, Communication and Creativity is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of Chinese culture from social, political, economic, cultural, archaeological, historical, and philosophical perspectives. The programme is dedicated to the interdisciplinary studies of Chinese culture, with focus on a wide range of research areas, such as Chinese language, literature, history, cultural heritage studies, visual studies, museum studies, and philosophy.

This programme concerns the development of professional skills and intellectual inquiry in Chinese culture research, and addresses how to enhance the academic development of MPhil holders in Chinese literature, history, philosophy and cultural heritage in research and teaching. It also emphasizes the development of critical thinking and research skills so as to foster advanced research, publication and teaching in the field of Chinese culture. The programme is designed to equip students with a wide range of research skills, knowledge, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies enabling them to take leading position in the academic and cultural worlds.

Students will become acquainted with the major trends in the discipline and the possible correlation to scholarship of both theories and works in the Chinese culture field at present. The programme trains students to think about Chinese language, literature, history, cultural heritage and philosophy sophisticatedly in conceptual, theoretical and methodological ways through a flexible programme.

The programme attends to the full range of interdisciplinary theory and perspective drawn from relevant domains in the language, literature, history, cultural heritage and philosophy, as well as other related professional fields, including:

• Documentology, poetry, fiction, philology, phonetics and semantics;
• Political history, urban history, religious history, medical history, cultural history, social history, and art history;
• Social sciences, anthropology, museum studies, visual studies, art and film studies.

Programme Intended Learning Outcomes (PILOs)

Upon successful completion of this Programme, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of academic writings including academic paper, review article and book review;

2. Apply a thorough understanding of the advanced knowledge, concepts, theories and methods in the chosen area of study;

3. Critically and creatively evaluate and analyse current research issues and new ideas in light of methodological and theoretical perspectives;

4. Create, discover, interpret and communicate new knowledge through original research;

5. Relate relevant theoretical frameworks and methodological principles to generating innovative research;

6. Conduct original research independently by using appropriate research methods.

Programme Requirements

Research Area(s) in which research students will be admitted to:
Language, Communication and Creativity

Coursework Requirement

For Stream 1 (Chinese Module) students, in order to graduate they have to obtain at least 50% of the programme’s required credits (i.e. 5 out of 10 credits) from courses taught in English or English supplemented by Cantonese or Putonghua as MOI. As studies in Chinese and History cover and adopt a wide range of primary sources, documentations and archival materials written in Chinese, it is well-justified to let students engage in courses with Chinese as a supplementary MOI to enhance teaching/learning progress and assure academic quality.

Programme Core Courses: (3 credits)

This MPhil Programme in Language, Communication and Creativity will be divided into two streams: Stream 1 the Chinese Module and Stream 2 the English Module. Apart from the mediums of instruction and assessment being Chinese and English respectively, the contents of both streams are identical.

Core courses for MPhil students in Stream 1 (Chinese Module) of 2014-15 intake or thereafter (3 Credits):

Course Code	Course Title	Credit Units	Remarks
CAH8807	Research Methods for Chinese Studies	3	MOI will be Cantonese and Putonghua and MOA will be Chinese (both traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese are accepted).

Note: All our faculty members are familiar with both traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese. Assessment of students’ assignments is solely based on their academic standards.

Core courses for MPhil students in Stream 2 (English Module) of 2014-15 intake or thereafter (3 Credits):

Course Code	Course Title	Credit Units	Remarks
CAH8808	Research Methods for Chinese Studies	3	MOI and MOA will be English.

Programme Electives: (7 credits)

In order to promote interdisciplinary research, enhance multiple methods and broaden knowledge base, research degree students can choose to take postgraduate courses offered by Department of Chinese and History, and other academic units including other academic departments of CLASS, SCM, SLW and CB at CityU, subject to the approval by their academic advisor and the course offering department.

Students who enrol in Stream 2 (English Module) have to take elective courses which are delivered in English. Students who enrol in Stream 1 (Chinese Module) have to take at least 5 credit units of elective courses which are delivered in English or English supplemented by Cantonese or Putonghua.

Other Requirement

Course Code	Course Title	Credit Units	Remarks
SG8001	Teaching Students: First Steps	1	(not counted towards the University’s coursework requirement)

Qualifying Examination (if any): Yes

Qualifying/Annual Report Submission: Yes

Thesis:

All students should aim to write their theses of publishable quality. The thesis will be a report of independently-conducted original research. The thesis targets to achieve the following requirements: 1) identify issues that are important to the understanding of the chosen area of study; 2) review the relevant theories and previous research for generating innovative research and new ideas; 3) discuss the key issues and concepts in their theses, and articulate to what degree the research may strengthen the knowledge in the area of study. The thesis should be systematically organized and well-documented. It should be original and contributes to knowledge and understanding in the area of study by applying rigorous methods and analytical tools.

Remarks:
• Currently, after seeking special approval from the University, all MPhil and PhD students in the Chinese area are permitted to give presentations and write their theses in Chinese.
• Following the above-mentioned practice, despite the official medium of assessment for the MPhil and PhD Programmes being English, students can use Chinese to give presentations and write their theses upon the special approval from their supervisors and the University.

Department of Chinese and History