Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Chinese and History

City University of Hong Kong

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.