In the B.A. you can study Korean Studies in the subject-model. In the single-subject model, you can choose either Economics and Politics of East Asia or Languages and Cultures of East Asia and study Korean as a language.

In the M.A., you can also study Korean Studies in the two-subject model. In the single-subject model, you can choose either International Political Economy of East Asia or Languages and Cultures or East Asia and deepen your existing knowledge of Korean. In the single-subject model, there is also the East Asian Studies degree program, in which you can deepen your existing knowledge of Korean. Or you can study Korean as a second language if you have already studied either Chinese or Japanese in your Bachelor's degree.

The degree program consists of almost equal parts Korean language learning (both contemporary Korean and Middle Korean as well as written Classical Chinese) and content courses. The latter are held in German, but most of the specialist literature is written in English. This means that an aptitude for foreign languages is very important. If you had very good grades in English at secondary school and were also above average in French and/or Latin, you are well placed.

No, you can start your studies without any prior knowledge. However, if you have the chance to attend a language course beforehand or take the first steps through self-study, it will definitely pay off. If you have substantial prior knowledge and think you can start in an advanced language course, you can take a placement test. Please contact the student counselling.

Korean is not difficult in itself, but it works very differently to German, for example. You also have to learn a lot of characters. Studying is therefore very labor-intensive. If you find learning languages easy and are prepared to spend time memorizing characters, you are in a good position.

More than in other humanities subjects (Subjects such as physics or medicine have a comparable workload.). Learning the language alone takes a lot of time, especially in the first two years. Overall, the degree program requires between 40 and 50 hours of work per week (including the second subject and the Optionalbereich). Experience has shown that part-time jobs are hardly possible if you want to keep to the standard period of study.

Studying Korean Studies opens up a wide range of opportunities. Knowledge of cultural studies and intercultural competence are increasingly in demand in the course of economic globalization (which by no means automatically entails a blurring of cultural differences). Since foreign language skills are also becoming more and more important, graduates of Korean Studies have excellent qualifications for employment in a wide range of activities in business, diplomacy, the media, etc. However, they also acquire the qualifications to gain a foothold in the traditional professional fields of humanities and cultural studies, such as museums, cultural institutions, libraries, publishing houses, etc. It goes without saying that entry into the desired field of activity is faciliated by the orientation of the overall course of study towards this (with a second subject) or by appropriate internships.

A stay abroad in Korea is not compulsory for Korean Studies, but it makes a lot of sense. Every year, the Ruhr University awards exchange places at Korean partner universities to the best applicants, who then do not have to pay the very high tuition fees in Korea. Students must finance their travel to and stay in Korea themselves, although they can make use of BAföG abroad or scholarships. A stay in Korea usually makes sense after the second year of study; the application phase for an exchange place begins approximately one year before the stay abroad directly at the International Office of the Ruhr University.

As soon as you are enrolled in Korean Studies at Ruhr University Bochum, you should also enroll in the Moodle course “Introduction to East Asian Studies”. In this course you will find all information about the degree program, course registration, teaching materials, online tools, etc. Moodle is an e-learning platform used at the Ruhr University Bochum. There is a Moodle course with course materials for each of the courses you take during your studies.

In the Optionalbereich, you attend courses from other subjects or on interdisciplinary topics. In the B.A. phase, you need 30 credit points (CP) in the Optionalbereich. If you are studying Korean Studies without any previous knowledge in contemporary Korean, the language courses Modern Korean Basic Level 1 (K-S1) and Modern Korean Basic Level 2 (K-S2) already cover 20 CP. For the remaining 10 CP, you can choose courses from the Optionalbereich during the course of your studies.

Course registrations, exam registrations and exams are recorded in CampusOffice. At the end of your degree program, when you register for the exam, CampusOffice is used to check whether you have completed all your coursework. The grade of your exam-relevant modules is also calculated there. You should therefore register for your courses in CampusOffice.