Politics and Media in East Asia MA

Program Overview

This program offers comprehensive training in international political issues and media trends in East Asia. You will learn about major international and domestic political trends in the region, while developing a comprehensive understanding of the role media plays in these developments. The program prepares you for careers in the media industry, journalism, consulting, NGOs, and government posts.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This course offers comprehensive training addressing both international political issues and media trends in East Asia. You will learn about major international and domestic political trends in the region, while developing a comprehensive understanding of the role media plays in these developments.

Outline:

Core Modules:

• Project: The dissertation is designed to assess the research, analytical, writing and (where applicable) language skills developed in the course of the year.
It requires that students work independently, with the support of a supervisor, as they formulate a research question, identify the materials necessary to answer it analytically, and produce an appropriately structured, coherently argued, and fully referenced answer to that question, within the scope of the dissertation format. (60 credits)
• Media, Culture and Society in East Asia: This module introduces key ideas surrounding media and culture in the context of East Asian society.
Via selected case studies we will explore issues such as power and control, propaganda, politics of memory, politics of representation, media production and consumption, globalisation, transnational cultural exchange, media and nationhood and the changing status of the creative industries in East Asia. This course will examine a variety of media products including film, TV, radio, digital archives, animation, memorials and museums and will engage with the media and culture of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the PRC respectively. (15 credits)
• International Politics in East Asia: This module examines the major structures, actors, and ideas shaping international politics in East Asia today.
A major aim is to introduce students to new theories about international order and identity linked to emerging trends in the region. Central themes address changing power dynamics and international order; regional identity and Asian centrism; leadership and the emerging multilateral architecture; and the future of ASEAN-led regionalism. The module explores both traditional and emerging challenges facing the region on the basis of a special forum on media and foreign policy analysis, interactive seminars, group tasks, and team projects. Special topics include the crisis on the Korean Peninsular, the Taiwan Strait, maritime disputes, and environmental threats. (15 credits)

Optional Modules:

• Media and Public Communication in Japan (30 credits/15 credits): This module will begin by providing a description and analysis of the media environment and leading media institutions in Japan.
It will then move on to analysing how the media industry mediates between policy making, corporate, and public interests and will make comparisons between Japanese, British, and other countries' media and communications industries. The module will then pay special attention to the public relations/marketing/advertising industry and how it interacts with the corporate world. Emphasis will also be placed on international access to and interaction with Japanese media and public relations. The module will be delivered through one lecture and one seminar per week, both of 50 minutes. Lectures will be in the traditional style, though student participation will be sought. Seminars will be student led and occasionally feature film/video content. Assessment will be through a student presentation, research essay, and end of semester exam (30 credits) or a student presentation and research essay (15 credits).
• Media, State and Society in China (30 credits/15 credits): This module explores the workings of the media in China and their treatment of social issues.
You will develop critical reading strategies for media, academic, government and corporate sources, research skills and gain experience in writing shorter and longer explanations of these issues. In the first half of the module, we will critically examine changes in media coverage on Chinese society (in Chinese and overseas print media, social media and documentary film). In the second half of the semester, we will explore a range of social topics, through a combination of academic studies and media sources. (30 credits/15 credits)
• Human Rights, Conflict and Development on the Korean Peninsula (30 credits): This module deals with the complex and often sensitive interactions between human rights, conflict and development on the Korean Peninsula.
We examine human rights in the context of both the Peninsula’s history and its current realities, focusing on two key areas where human rights have been a recurring point of contention: 1. In the development trajectories of the two Koreas as they rose from the rubble of the Korean War and sought to legitimise their respective governing models; 2. In the contemporary emergence of issues around gender, social inequality and human security. We will consider the social and political movements that have developed around these issues, and how the two Koreas’ approaches have been mediated by internal and external norms, and their respective international relations. We will study key academic work and views from policy, non-governmental actors and the media that shape the debate on norms and responses to historical and contemporary challenges on the Korean Peninsula, and engage with a range of case studies through which students will be able to discern how human rights have been abused, re-claimed and even weaponised in struggles for democracy, state security, equality and international recognition. Students will deploy critical thinking and research skills through weekly digital portfolio tasks and will complete a final, Programme Level Assessment in the form of an essay.
• The Political Economy of China (30 credits/15 credits): The course discusses the evolution of China's economic development since 1978.
This requires an understanding of both the political changes occurring in China and how political decision-making and globalization shaped China's economic position in the world today. It therefore focuses on the major economic/political events over the past few decades and the contemporary issues in Chinese economy. It serves as a facilitator for students who are interested in working on China (e.g. think tank, international organisation, NGO), with China (business) or in China in the future.
• Politics and Governance in Contemporary China (15 credits): This module will introduce master level students to the crucial aspects of politics in contemporary China, with special focus on governance and policy-making process.
Drawing on the most recent and cutting-edge research in the field, this module will offer an innovative approach to studying governance and public policy, by focusing on both state and non-state actors role in governance and on the thematic study of some of the most salient areas of policy-making in contemporary China. The module will introduce key issues related to the role of the state in policy-making and governance (the Maoist and imperial legacies in contemporary Chinese governance, the role of ideology, the design and role of state institutions in the post-1978 China, the politics of central-local relations); the role of non-state actors in governance (businesses and financial institutions, international organisations and NGOs, media and citizens); and the themes particularly salient in the current policy-making and governance (the 'rule of law' and anti-corruption policies, labour and citizenship rights, minority rights, anti-terrorism and environmental governance). Apart from the political theory and methods-orientated academic training preparing students to conduct independent piece of research in the future, this module is also intended to prepare master students for professional careers as future leaders and experts engaging with Chinas politics, policy-making, economy, international organisations and
• Postwar Japanese Politics (15 credits): This module examines postwar Japanese politics and political economy.
Main issues include: the US occupation policy of Japan; Japanese politics under the 1955 system; Japanese high economic growth in the 1960s; Japanese politics after the 1994 electoral reform; economic reforms after the collapse of the bubble economy (by focusing on financial regulatory reform and labour-market deregulation); and Japan's international relations in East Asia after the end of the Cold War (by focusing on Japan-China relations). One of the main aims of the module is to understand how 'politics' matters in Japanese economy and society.
• Global Governance and Japan (30 credits): This module provides a detailed understanding of Japan's international relations on the one hand, and its role in global governance on the other hand.
The first part of the module adopts a theoretically informed approach based on the structure of the international system, the actors involved in international relations, and the norms that inform their behaviour. It then focuses on the key sites of Japan's international activity, particularly the United States and East Asia. The module then explores the institutional mechanisms of governance at the global level and the role Japan plays in these institutions (the UN, G8, World Bank, IMF and WTO) in addition to a number of specific case studies (First Gulf War, East Asian Economic Crisis and 'War on Terror').
• Japanese Language I (15 credits): This module aims to enable students with no prior knowledge of Japanese to acquire basic practical language skills, in listening, reading, speaking and writing.
Japanese scripts will be introduced at the start and used throughout.
• Japanese Language II (15 credits): This module builds on EAS6122, with an emphasis on learning more elementary knowledge of Japanese to acquire further practical language skills, in listening, reading, speaking and writing.
On successful completion of the module students will; have a futher vocabulary of about 400 words related to daily life; understand and use the written forms of all the introduced core grammar patterns; and understand selected simple spoken and written structures and be able to use them as spoken and written communication.
• Japanese Language 3 (15 credits): The module follows on from and consolidates the skills acquired in EAS6122/6123.
New grammatical patterns and a broader range of vocabulary and a further 111 kanji are introduced and practised. Students will further develop their oral competence in spoken practice through role-plays and discussion activities, focusing on clear and appropriate communication. Students will acquire the skills to read or extract information from unseen materials in reading comprehension class.
• Japanese Language 4 (15 credits): The module follows on from and consolidates the skills acquired in EAS6124.
New grammatical patterns and a broader range of vocabulary and a further 122 kanji are introduced and practised. Students will further develop their oral competence in spoken practice through role-plays and discussion activities, focusing on clear and appropriate communication. Students will acquire the skills to read or extract information from unseen materials in reading comprehension class.
• Japanese Language 5 (15 credits): The module follows on from and consolidates the skills acquired in EAS6125.
New grammatical patterns and a broader range of vocabulary and a further 121 kanji are introduced and practised. Students will further develop their oral competence through role-plays in more practical and detailed situations and discussion activities, focusing on clear and appropriate communication.
• Japanese Language 6 (15 credits): The module consolidates the skills acquired up to EAS6126.
It is aimed to train students to apply their knowledge in more practical and realistic situations. The principles underlying the structure of kanji will be confirmed and students will practice how to use a kanji dictionary, thus enabling greater independent study. Students will further develop their oral competence through role playing, speeches, presentations and discussion activities, focusing on clear and appropriate communication. Focus is on Korean alphabet, grammar, conversation and reading. The student is introduced more complex patterns of written and spoken Korean, although the study of Chinese characters is not included at this level. It is geared to practical application in both spoken and written contexts, combining elementary grammatical structures and basic communication skills.
• Chinese Language II (15 credits): This module aims to build on the skills developed in EAS6271, extending communication and language processing skills over a wider range of grammatical structures and vocabulary.
Strategies in processing language-reading and listening are also introduced. By the end of this module, students should have active knowledge of around 400 Chinese characters.
• Chinese Language III (15 credits): This module aims to enable students with beginners' level Mandarin Chinese (ca.
300 Chinese characters) to acquire increasingly complex practical language skills.
• Chinese Language IV (15 credits): This module aims to enable students with beginners' level Mandarin Chinese (ca.
450 Chinese characters) to acquire increasingly complex practical language skills.
• East Asian Research Methods (15 credits): Research Methods in East Asian Studies will equip students with the tools required to carry out research in China, Japan, Korea or the wider East Asian region at taught postgraduate level.
The module includes training in basic research skills related to East Asia; quantitative methods; qualitative methods; ethical and legal issues; and discursive contexts and reflexivity in East Asian research.

Teaching:

There are lectures and small-group seminars.

Assessment:

You'll be assessed on a variety of Module Level Assessment pieces (MLA) and one Programme Level Assessment (PLA) each semester. The broad conceptual training will also prepare you for further studies in the doctoral level in the field of politics and media.

Other:

For some modules there is both a 15-credit and 30-credit version. You can take either the 15-credit module or 30-credit module (not both). The modules have identical content and teaching hours, but a different workload and assessment.

Home (2024 annual fee) : £10,240 Overseas (2024 annual fee) : £23,110