The Program
East Asian Languages and Cultures—a unit within the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at UMass Amherst—offers a course of study leading to the Master of Arts degree in Chinese. There are two principal focuses of our program. One is the study of Chinese literature, culture, linguistics, and/or pedagogy. The second is the acquisition of practical language skills to enhance future work in such fields as translation, interpretation, teaching, journalism, business, or government. Our MA students have gone on to work in foreign services, in government, as high school teachers and college professors, as professional translators and interpreters, and in a number of other careers.
Admission
Application deadline for admission to the following fall term: February 1
Required application materials:
- Online Application
- Personal Statement
- Resume
- 2 Letters of Recommendation
- Transcripts
- English Language Proficiency Scores for non-native English speakers
Essay Prompt (Required):
Please take the time to answer all parts of the following question.
600 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but do not feel obligated to do so.
At UMass Amherst, no two students are alike. Our communities and groups often define us and shape our individual worlds. Community can refer to various aspects, including shared geography, religion, race/ethnicity, income, ideology, ability, sexuality, gender, and more.
Please choose one of your communities or groups and describe its significance. Explain how your experience in this community or group would enable you to enrich the following:
- Your department/program/our campus
- Your field/discipline
Optional application materials:
- GRE Test Scores
Program Description
Students entering the MA program in Chinese Language and Literature must have finished the equivalent of four years of college-level Chinese language courses. This can be accomplished by taking courses as an undergraduate; studying, living, and working in a Chinese-speaking environment; or passing the required level of a Chinese Language Placement Exam. Each student accepted into the program will take our language placement exam during the first week to determine the level of their language competence. If a student does not place in either Chinese 526 or 527 (Readings in Modern Chinese Literature), the student may have to spend an extra year in the program in order to gain the competence necessary to write a master’s thesis using original materials. (Students whose preparation is deficient in certain areas may be required to do remedial work after admission to the program. Such work will not be counted toward the degree.) Students in the program are also expected to have familiarized themselves with the general features of Chinese history and Chinese literature before they arrive on campus, typically either through previous related coursework or other relevant experience. The student may contact the Chinese Program with any additional questions about this expectation.
The Graduate School requires all applicants whose native language is not English to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). (Please refer to the Graduate School guidelines here.) However, the standard English test scores are only one part of the application, and we review all the application materials and make decisions. We also look at the applicants' background in college coursework and potential in graduate studies. Sending a writing sample separately from the application is not required.
Teaching Assistantships. All applicants will automatically be considered for a paid teaching assistantship, which includes a full tuition waiver, stipend (as of the spring 2024 semester, the hourly salary for TAs is $32.66; most TAs work 10 hours/week, but some on rare occasions will work 20 hours/week) and 95% contribution by the university towards the health insurance fee. Keep in mind, though, that there are other residual fees assessed to program graduate students that are not covered by the assistantship. Information on these residual graduate student fees is posted at the Graduate Assistantship Office. Although we try to cover as many of our graduate students as possible with teaching assistantships (depending upon their qualifications), we cannot always guarantee coverage. Our teaching assistantships can be for language teaching (depending upon a student’s qualifications) or assisting with content courses in literature and culture.
MA Degree Requirements
The Chinese Program, East Asian Languages and Cultures
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Students are required to complete at least 30 semester credits of course work and 6 credits of Master's Thesis. Up to 6 credits of appropriate course work at the graduate level from other institutions may be accepted with the approval of the graduate committee. It is expected that most suitably prepared students will be able to finish all requirements for the degree within two academic years.
For students emphasizing linguistics, Chinese 576 is required. For those emphasizing Ming-Qing literature, Chinese 563 and Chinese 570 are required. For those emphasizing classical literature, two of the following three courses are required: Chinese 555, 597D, 597K. For students emphasizing language teaching and acquisition, Chinese 580 and 581 are required. Chinese 580 is required for all teaching assistants.
- Core Requirements: (18 Credits)
Chinese 528: Chinese Language in Contexts (Zhijun Wang)
Chinese 562: The Ming-Qing Novel I (Elena Chiu)
Chinese 575: Syntactic Structures of Chinese (Zhijun Wang)
Chinese 597L: Modern Chinese Literature and Culture (Enhua Zhang)
Chinese 670: Intro to Research Chinese Source Materials (Elena Chiu)
Chinese 691A: Graduate Seminar in Chinese (Enhua Zhang)
- Elective Courses (12 credits)
Chinese 555: Classical Poetry (David K. Schneider)
Chinese 563: The Ming-Qing Novel II (Elena Chiu)
Chinese 570: Traditional Chinese Drama and Performing Arts (Elena Chiu)
Chinese 576: History of the Chinese Language (Zhijun Wang)
Chinese 580: Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (Zhijun Wang)
Chinese 581: Second Language Acquisition of Chinese (Zhijun Wang)
Chinese 597D: Confucianism (David K. Schneider)
Chinese 597F: Chinese Political Philosophy (David K. Schneider)
Chinese 597J: Chinese Popular Culture (Enhua Zhang)
Chinese 597: Special Topics
Chinese 697: Special Topics
- Thesis and Examination (6 credits)
Chinese 699: Masters Thesis