Korean Studies MSt

About

This course aims to:

  • build on a basic knowledge of modern Korean and classical Chinese or modern Japanese and ensure that you become capable in using at least modern Korean for research purposes;
  • acquaint you with many of the most important classical texts from all periods of Korean history in modern Korean translation or the original classical Chinese, or to acquaint you with the major concerns and problems of contemporary Korean linguistics and provide training to competency in Old or Middle Korean;
  • enable you to understand and use a range of classical references and historiographical research methods for the treatment of pre-modern primary sources, or to acquaint you with a range of linguistic theories and methodologies that will enable you to begin independent linguistic research in Korean; and
  • allow more specialised study from a wide range of possible options and thereby exercise your new skills. 

Course structure

You will take a combination of core papers throughout the year, and write a thesis on a topic of your choosing based on discussions with your supervisor and approval by the Faculty.

You first core paper is Modern Korean which will ensure you become capable in using the language for research purposes. If you already possess a sufficient knowledge of Modern Korean you will instead choose one of the following languages: Classical Chinese, Modern Japanese, Classical Japanese, or Middle Korean. Your other core papers are Prescribed Texts and Methodologies for Classical Koreanology or for Korean Linguistics, where you can follow either the Language and Culture track or the History and Culture track.

These papers are designed to provide you with a foundation of core skills, methods and theories required for study in this field.

Finally, the thesis of 15,000 words provides you with an opportunity to apply the research skills acquired in other parts of the course and carry out a substantive piece of academic research asking specific questions of a linguistic, methodological, or conceptual nature.

Assessment

In your final term you will submit your thesis and then sit examinations for the language paper and Prescribed Texts paper, after which the Methodologies paper is examined by a take-home paper.

Teaching methods

You should expect to attend up to ten hours per week of tutorials and should expect to spend an additional thirty to forty hours a week, perhaps more, during each full term for preparation. In addition, you should expect to be set a considerable amount of work during the vacations.

Language instruction, the reading of prescribed texts, and bibliographic or methodological exercises are usually conducted in tutorials for which you are expected to prepare thoroughly in advance.

Lectures are provided for instruction on general themes of Korean and East Asian history and critical issues in contemporary and classical Korean linguistics. You are advised to take advantage of public lectures offered on China and Japan, since they also supply historical context, comparative linguistic information, regional background, and comparative perspectives for work in tutorials.

Teaching takes place in tutorials. You are required to prepare thoroughly for whatever is required: language exercises, prescribed readings, essays, bibliographic or methodological exercises, and you should be able to present your preparation in finished form. Depending on the task, the finished form may be written language exercises, essays on linguistics, historical, literary, or cultural topics, or translation from Korean (or Chinese or Japanese) into English.

Outstanding students typically view themselves as ‘researchers in training’ and consciously set about building their competence in the body of secondary reference materials available (in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese) as an additional aspect of tutorial preparation.

Teaching staff
Resources for study

Libraries and Museums

The Bodleian Library possesses a large collection on Korea. The library currently holds about 36,000 volumes in Korean, 15,000 volumes in other languages, and about 1,000 Japanese-language volumes on Korea as well as about 100 volumes of pre-modern Korean books, and a small collection of manuscripts. It also holds 400 journal titles.

The Bodleian Library also possesses various special collections: the earliest translations of the New Testament into Korean by John Ross in the 1880s; the Bishop Mark Trollope collection with a painted procession (ŭigwe 儀軌) of the funeral of King Yŏngjo (英祖1694–1776) and various sixteenth to nineteenth-century printed Korean texts; the Monsignor Richard Rutt collection composing some 2,000 items, and a collection of recently published books and reproduced manuscripts (112 titles in 400 volumes) from the Kyujanggak Royal Library, presented by Dr Lee Jang-Moo, President of Seoul National University in 2009.

The ‘Window on Korea’ project, sponsored by the National Library of Korea, provided the Bodleian Library with around 4,000 volumes in 2012 and has provided 200 volumes per year since then.

The National Library of Korea also provided funding to help create a Korean Studies Library with an audio-visual seminar room at the Nizami Ganjavi Library. The National Library of Korea support provides the opportunity to expand the collection as well as bringing all necessary Korean materials (reference, newspapers, teaching, audio-visual, and research materials) into one location at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Oxford has now the largest Korean collection in the United Kingdom and is one of the very few places in Europe to have a dedicated library to the study of Korea.

Adjacent to the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern studies is the Ashmolean Museum, which houses superb collections, including some rare and important Korean artefacts from antiquity to the present. Also nearby, the Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library houses the Eastern Art Library, which includes the Korean collection of arts and archaeology; the Weston Library houses the Korean collection of premodern books and manuscripts. The Bodleian Library also has subscription to e-Korean Studies, which includes the Korean studies Information Service System (KISS) and eight other databases: DBpia, KRpia, KSI e-book, NK News, NK Pro, Chosun Ilbo Archive (1920-), and Donga Ilbo Archive (1920-).

Faculty resources

Students have access to the University's centrally provided electronic resources, the Faculty's IT Officer, and other bibliographic, archive or material sources as appropriate to the topic. There is a computing room for the use of graduate students in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, as well as a common room where tea and coffee are available and staff and students can meet.

Oxford colleges

Oxford’s colleges provide support, facilities and membership of a friendly and stimulating academic community. All colleges provide library and IT facilities, welfare support, and sports and social events. Although your academic studies will be directed by the faculty, colleges can be a valuable source of support. Please check the application guide for information about colleges.

How to apply

Improving access to graduate study

The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is taking part in initiatives to improve the selection procedure for graduate applications, to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly.

Socio-economic data (where it has been provided in the application form) will be used as part of an initiative to contextualise applications at the different stages of the selection process. 

Handwriting as a competence standard

When considering this course, please note:

Mastering the ability to handwrite in Korean, Japanese and Chinese has been identified as a competence standard for an assessment for an optional component of this course. This means that students will be required to produce handwritten work for assessment and it will not be possible to complete the assessment for that optional component in an alternative format. 

If you are interested in this course and your personal circumstances mean that handwriting may present a challenge, please contact the Faculty. 

FAQs

Can I submit one 4,000 word piece of written work instead of two 2,000 word pieces?

Not for our courses. We ask for two pieces which will show a range of ability rather than two highly similar pieces and you may find it useful to check the criteria your written work will be assessed for when choosing your samples. Your samples can be extracts from longer pieces of work and if this is the case, please indicate this on a cover page, or at the beginning of each piece of work.

What should I do if I don’t have an S-TOPIK test?

You must submit scores from the Standard Test of Proficiency in Korean (S-TOPIK) with a target level of 4 however, please contact us if don't have S-TOPIK scores but are interested in applying.

Where can I find out about funding available for applicants?

Your best guide to funding opportunities will always be the University's admissions webpages. We recommend that you use the Fees, funding and scholarship search which is a useful tool for finding any funding that you may be eligible to apply for.

If you submit your application by the January deadline you will automatically be considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships. There’s no separate scholarship application process or extra supporting documentation required for funding. Based on the information supplied in your graduate application, you will be automatically considered for scholarships where you meet the eligibility criteria with most scholarships using academic merit and/or potential as the basis on which award decisions are made.

However, please note, in addition to submitting an application form for your chosen course, the scholarships listed on the following page also require an additional application to be considered for them.