Why Study at The School of East Asian Studies?

The School of East Asian Studies (SEAS) is one of Europe’s leading centres of academic excellence for the study of modern and contemporary China, Japan and Korea. Our interdisciplinary teaching and research activities focus on the languages, business, politics, societies, cultures, economies and history of this fascinating region. We have a global reputation for the high quality of our work.

The university’s mission is to improve the world by seeking to understand it better. We do this by embracing and communicating an understanding of East Asia, the world’s most dynamic region. We achieve this through the enthusiasm and commitment of our students, graduates and staff. We want to make the experience of being a student in SEAS something that you find intellectually stimulating, equips you with the skills to forge the career of your choice and ultimately enables you to make a difference in the future to the world around us.

This statement sets out why we think you should come to study at this University and in this department, what you can expect of us and will be expected of you, and ultimately how you will benefit.

Your course

Studying East Asia is interesting and exciting in its own right. It can also prepare you for a stimulating and rewarding career connected to the region. SEAS offers award-winning teaching informed by cutting-edge research to help you achieve these goals.

At SEAS you will be taught by leading specialists in their field. Our staff are all fluent in at least one East Asian language, take an interdisciplinary approach to their teaching, and bring their expertise to the wide range of courses on offer. You will have the chance to develop a range of practical and analytical skills that will allow you to become a motivated and independent learner. These transferable skills include project management, presentation skills, teamwork, the ability to locate and evaluate sources and write in an effective way. SEAS provides added value to these skills by equipping you with the cultural agility that comes from studying a region like East Asia.

We have a long tradition of pioneering innovative methods for the teaching of East Asian languages that support learning from absolute beginner to the most advanced levels. The creation of a dedicated ‘virtual’ language laboratory using state-of-the-art technology, which will soon be complemented by a new physical digital language laboratory, exemplifies this. Our achievements and those of our students have been recognised by numerous awards both nationally and internationally.

An important part of our country-specific degrees is the opportunity to spend time in the country you are studying at one of the top-ranking universities in China, Japan and Korea. The Year Abroad is invaluable, not only in terms of language learning but also as an opportunity to hone your insights into the country and its people. The East Asian Studies courses also offer you the option to spend time studying in another country. When we ask our students what they remember most about their degree, their time abroad often tops the list.

We regard you as a stakeholder in your course. Student opinion is vital in keeping our courses relevant and worthwhile. There are a number of opportunities for you to help shape current and future developments, such as student forums that encourage and promote good practice and feed into departmental committees with student representation.

Your personal development

Upon completing your studies at SEAS, you will be equipped with the knowledge of and sensitivity towards the region in addition to, depending on your choice of modules, the language skills that transform you into a world citizen in your outlook and your ways of thinking and acting. You will be able to promote intercultural understanding and exchange between East Asia and the rest of the world. All our courses will equip you with self-reliance, resourcefulness and confidence. In return, we expect you to work conscientiously, be inquisitive and embrace the challenges put before you.

In particular, you will have the chance to undertake an independent research project in your final year that brings together all your personal and academic skills acquired so far. This is an opportunity for you to research the topic of your own choice, in line with your own interests or anticipated career path. You will do this under the guidance of an individually-appointed supervisor who will provide you with appropriate direction, advice and feedback. Past dissertations have won awards (the British Association of Japanese Studies’ Ivan Morris Memorial Prize), been published (Reinvention: The Journal of Undergraduate Research) and have assisted our graduates in both securing employment and making the transition to postgraduate studies.

Your support

We expect you to fully engage with both the teaching and learning activities in SEAS as well as the life of the department. At degree level, you will be supported by a Senior Tutor alongside one of four Degree Tutors who oversee our programmes in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and East Asian Studies. In addition, Year Abroad Tutors will assist you in preparing for this part of your degree.

At module level, you will be supported by regular contact hours with members of staff both face-to-face and online. Feedback will be offered in a timely and constructive manner. In addition, all staff offer weekly office hours during which you are guaranteed further chances to discuss your progress.

Access to resources will be of central importance to your studies and SEAS has a dedicated library staff member to help you. Not only do we have a wealth of books and journals housed across three libraries in the University, we also subscribe to electronic resources and databases allowing you to access the most up-to-date sources in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean wherever you choose to study.

You will also be allocated an individual personal tutor throughout your time at SEAS who understands your academic needs, can offer pastoral advice and will dedicate time to see you. In your first year the Sheffield Mentors programme can also pair you up with an existing student who can offer further assistance. The friends you make amongst your fellow students will provide another source of support and community.

Your community

SEAS is located in a quiet Victorian cul-de-sac near the main university precincts, where you will find the lecture theatres, libraries and Student’s Union. It has its own teaching rooms, networked computers and a space for you to socialize, resulting in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. Once here you will be a member of a community of motivated students from around the world, all eager to learn about East Asia both inside and outside the lecture hall. We are fortunate to have a number of student societies actively organising social and educational events related to China, Japan and Korea within Sheffield’s award-winning Students’ Union.

The community you will join extends beyond the University. Not only are we an integral part of the East Asian communities within Sheffield and South Yorkshire, our reach is truly global. SEAS maintains strong institutional links with its partner universities, as well as government agencies in China, Japan, Korea and other parts of Asia, which you can access.

Many scholars visit each year and contribute to the stimulating atmosphere in SEAS. We also host the Sheffield Confucius Institute—a body that supports Chinese language and culture education throughout the University and wider community. In collaboration with the University of Leeds, we have also established the White Rose East Asia Centre—a centre of excellence for cutting-edge research. Our students have the opportunity to get involved in these activities.

Your future

SEAS is committed to your future. Strong economic growth in China, the global popularity of Japanese culture, and the possible future reunification of the Korean peninsula offer massive potential opportunities for our graduates who have knowledge of these countries, their languages and the resulting cultural agility.

We seek to play an active role in helping cultivate your ambitions. SEAS has a careers officer who offers guidance on employment whilst you are here and after you graduate, organises regular employers’ visits (many of whom target us for recruitment) and encourages students to undertake internships both in the UK and abroad. Following graduation, some of our students have gone on to work for employers including government, museums, NGOs and multinational companies, and have risen up their respective career ladders in professions as diverse as management consultancy, accountancy, marketing and translation. Others have chosen to study further, specialising in subjects as diverse as law, international development, interpreting and teaching, often subsidised by prestigious international scholarships.

Studying with us broadens your horizons, opens new doors and makes you stand out from the crowd. We believe SEAS is the place to study East Asia.