Bachelor's degree subjects
in East Asian Studies

The Faculty of East Asian Studies offers five B.A. degree programmes: Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Sinology, Languages and Cultures of East Asia (SKOA) and Economics and Politics of East Asia (WPOA).

The study of all East Asian Studies subjects in Bochum is based on solid language training in modern and pre-modern language levels. Compared to other locations, it is characterized by a close integration of the individual disciplines and thus

• the opportunity to acquire knowledge in a variety of methodological sub-disciplines (history, linguistics, literature, politics, philosophy, religion, sociology, economics)
• the integral consideration of history and the present
• a consideration of the overall East Asian context that can hardly be achieved at any other location in Germany at present.

The standard period of study for the B.A. subjects Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Sinology and Economics and Politics is three years; a stay abroad of at least six months after the fourth semester is recommended to improve active language skills. The standard period of study in the B.A. subject Languages and Cultures of East Asia is four years; a self-financed stay abroad of at least six months is obligatory in this degree program. The respective subject sections are available to assist with finding study places in East Asia and with scholarship applications.

The subjects Japanese Studies, Korean Studies and Sinology are offered in the two-subject model, i.e. they must be combined with another subject. The final thesis is written in one of the two subjects of the student's choice. The fully-fledged study of a second subject represents an additional qualification for the job market. A combination of two East Asian Studies subjects is not possible in the two-subject model; the subject Languages and Cultures of East Asia is recommended for this.

The subjects Languages and Cultures of East Asia and Economics and Politics of East Asia are studied in the so-called one-subject model. These subjects have twice the scope of the subjects in the two-subject model, as they already include the second subject that is compulsory in the two-subject model: The B.A. subject Languages and Cultures of East Asia contains two of the three East Asian Studies subjects from the two-subject model of the student's choice. The B.A. subject Economics and Politics of East Asia includes the general basics of economics and political science as compulsory courses in addition to an East Asian Studies component.