Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2022). 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. This programme aims to introduce Tibetan and Himalayan studies to students who do not have a background in the subject. Emphasis is on teaching the Tibetan language (both spoken and literary). Students are also introduced to the history and civilisation of the area, including Tibetan history, society, literature and religions. During full term students will typically attend around seven or eight hours per week of face-to-face classes, lectures or tutorials. Students will be expected to come to these well-prepared through self-directed study and reading. Academic articles and books will be assigned for general background on the region, and there will be weekly lectures on various aspects of Tibetan history and civilisation as well as lectures on Buddhism in the first and second terms. Selected topics will be treated in more detail in a set of eight essays/tutorials, which will be scheduled in the first year. Throughout the course, attendance at lectures by visiting scholars will be strongly recommended. Students will be encouraged to use the long summer vacation between the first and second year to attend a summer school abroad or visit Tibetan-speaking communities in Tibet or in South Asia to develop language skills, and to begin work on their dissertation. Teaching takes place through language classes, lectures, seminars and tutorials. Supervision The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. In addition to meeting their course director during the weekly classes, students will have additional supervision meetings in Michaelmas term and Hilary term of the second year of their course to support them in writing their MPhil thesis. Assessment There will be a qualifying exam at the end of the first year. The assessments for the final exams consist of an extended essay, a dissertation, and four written examination papers. Dissertations are to be submitted early in the third term of the second year. Final exams covering language, set texts, history and civilisation are then held at the end of the Trinity term. Further information on the course, and the examination process, can be found in the course handbook via the course webpage on the faculty's website.