How to study Chinese Culture and Society

Students will develop basic methodological and theoretical skills needed to identify, read, analyse, and discuss primary and secondary sources in English and Chinese, and of special relevance for the study of contemporary Chinese society and politics. Students will acquire skills in presenting findings and engaging in academic dialogue with fellow students and others. More specifically, the course will train students in processing academic data, developing a project, writing a project description, and in the techniques and genres of academic writing. Students will work individually as well as in teams.

Admission to the MA programme option Chinese Society and Politics.

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in StudentWeb.

International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.

The course will be taught through a combination of lectures and seminars throughout the semester.

At least 80 per cent attendance, and active participation in class, team work, and discussions are required. In addition, the student must pass the following two obligatory assignments in order to sit for the exam:

• Two oral presentations assigned by the teacher.
• One project description for the proposed master's thesis, 2-3 pages (4,600-6,900 characters including spaces, excluding list of references).

The project description is to be submitted in Fronter within a given deadline.

The oral presentations are directly related to the final exam and can therefore only be valid for one semester. An approved project description is valid in the present semester and the next two semesters that the course is given.

Guidelines for obligatory instructional activity at the Faculty of Humanities (only in Norwegian).

Access to teaching

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Term paper and oral exam.

The term paper consists of an extensive MA research proposal including introduction, literature review and methodological reflections, which is of 3200 - 3500 words plus list of references. The paper should be based on both primary sources in Chinese, and secondary source readings in Chinese and English.

The use of AI is only allowed as a supplementary tool in the initial search for sources, etc., and the reliability of the information and the sources must be checked by the candidate. The use of AI is not allowed in the production or editing (including language editing) of the term paper, which should be produced in its entirety by the candidate him- or herself. Any use or non-use of AI must be declared by the candidate.

The oral exam consists of a conversation of up to approximately 15 minutes. Two examiners will ask questions regarding your term paper, including research question, material, methods and theoretical concepts. 

Detailed information regarding the exam format will be announced on Canvas.  

One grade is given for the entire course. The term paper counts for 70 per cent and the oral exam counts for 30 per cent of the grade. You must pass both exams to pass the course, in the same semester. 

You must submit the term paper in Inspera - see guides for digital exams.

You are personally responsible for familiarizing yourself with the requirements and deadlines for the exam.

All compulsory activities must be completed and approved in order to take the exam.

You can find more information about the exam on the semester page of the course.

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

English or Norwegian

Evaluation

Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, periodic evaluation of this course.

Periodic evaluation Autumn 2011

If you have a disability or a health problem that entails significant inconvenience in an examination situation, you may be considered for special examination arrangements. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.