Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. DPhil The DPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies' main research degree. Supervision can be offered in the full-range of areas in which the faculty has expertise, namely Chinese studies, Egyptology and the ancient Near East, Eastern Christianity, Hebrew and Jewish studies, the Islamic world, Japanese studies, Korean studies and South and Inner Asia. All topics fall under the general degree title of DPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Through independent research, and with the guidance of your supervisor, you will be required to complete a thesis of 80,000 to 100,000 words. The DPhil normally takes between three and four years to complete. You will have the opportunity to attend faculty seminars, lectures and colloquia, as well as a variety of skills training sessions offered by the faculty, as appropriate to different stages of the graduate career. All research students are offered an opportunity to attend the tutorial teaching day at the faculty in Hilary term. Those completing the training are then placed on the Graduate Teaching Register and may provide teaching for undergraduates if the opportunity arises. MSt The MSt in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford aims to provide tailor-made courses for training graduate students at the beginning of their research in different areas of Asian and Middle Eastern studies. The course is aimed at students who need some additional training before applying for doctoral studies. Only specified teaching staff in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies accept students for this degree (a list of these staff is available on the faculty’s course webpage). Once you and your prospective supervisor have agreed on your course of study, it is not normally possible to make any changes. The MSt in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is designed for students who hold a first degree in the same field as that of their proposed research, or one closely related. As an example, most students who wish to study Arabic for this MSt will have either a BA in Arabic or one in which Arabic has been a majority of the course. The decision on whether a candidate's first degree qualifies for the course is taken by the Faculty Board. The precise content of the course is devised by your supervisor in consultation with yourself in order to provide the most useful training for you. The course content is in each case designed to advance your progress towards a research degree after the completion of the MSt. You may therefore be required by the supervisor, under the direction of the Faculty Board, to attend lecture courses, seminars, language classes and tutorials, and also to write more extended pieces of written work. The course may be taught in a variety of ways, depending on your needs. If you wish to learn a language these are normally taught in classes. If you wish to concentrate on historical issues, these may be taught primarily in regular tutorials for which you are expected to write essays.