MA in Chinese Language & Culture
GW's Master of Arts degree in Chinese Language and Culture (CLC) offers students an opportunity to achieve professional proficiency in Chinese in addition to a deepened intellectual and cultural understanding of China and the Chinese-speaking world.
Located in the heart of the nation’s capital, the CLC program aims to be a pipeline of professionals and scholars with advanced Chinese language proficiency and intercultural competence, preparing students for careers in government, consulting, education, academia and business.
The CLC program offers a deep and rich curriculum that can be tailored to students’ current proficiency level and areas of professional and academic interest. New courses including Advanced Topics in Chinese, Chinese-English Translation and Business Chinese push students’ language proficiency and cultural competence to new heights.
Students tailor their degree to fit their interests and career goals. They may dive deeper into a specific area — Chinese literature or Chinese linguistics — or pursue a broader perspective through a range of content courses in our department and beyond. Our dual-option literature and culture focus and linguistics focus allow students to develop an understanding of China and Chinese, past and present.
You may read about our current MA students here.
MA Program Outcomes
Literature and Culture Courses
- Gain insight into the historical development of the many genres of Chinese literature
- Develop sensitivity to the aesthetic characteristics of Chinese literature
- Build a strong foundational understanding of China’s history, religion and art.
Linguistics Courses
- Learn the structure as well as the history of the Chinese language
- Develop proficiency using key theoretical and methodological tools for linguistic analysis
- Analyze Chinese cultural and social issues from a unique linguistic perspective
- Gain a foundation for further study in any branch of linguistics.
Sample Student Theses
Find all past MA theses on the GW Libraries ScholarSpace website.
- 2025
- Dayna Bailey: “A Labyrinth of Text: Navigating the Twists and Turns of Su Hui's ‘Map of the Armillary Sphere’ " （Advisor: J. Chaves; Readers: L. Chen, H. Zhang)
- Ziwei Ding: "Poetry of Quanzhen Daoist Yu Daoxian" (Advisor: J. Chaves; Readers: L. Chen, X. Kang)
- 2024
- Ben Levine: "Unveiling the Linguistic Landscape: A Study of Censorship Evasion Techniques in China's Cyber Sphere" (Advisor: H. Zhang; Readers: L. Chen, H. Dong)
- 2023
- Sophie Lam: "Strands of Virtue: Exploring Gentry Laywomen’s Hair Embroideries of Guanyin in Late Imperial Jiangnan" (Director: J. Chaves; Co-Director: X. Kang; Reader: L. Chen)
- A'nan Zhao: "A Research on Gu Zhenguan’s Ci Poetry of Snapping Fingers" (Director: J. Chaves; Co-Director: L. Chen; Reader: H. Zhang)
- 2021
- Ethan Franz: "Examining the Essential Functional Similarities Between the Confucian Superior Man and Jewish Religious Leaders" (Director: J. Chaves; Co-Directors: L. Chen, E. Aviv)
- 2020
- Yuanyuan Zou: "Finding the appropriate fit: An interdisciplinary rereading of Daoist nuns in Hearing Zither in Bamboo Dock" (Director: X. Kang; Co-Director: L. Chen; Reader: H. Dong)
- 2019
- Tianyu Fan: “Seize the dragon's tail – An Analytical Study of Laozi’s biography in Shiji” (Director: J. Chaves; Co-Director: L. Chen; Reader: H. Dong)
- 2018
- Yeweitao Wu: “When Mistakes Are Made in Music Playing, Someone Glanced”: The Evolution of Allusion “Zhou Lang Gu” (Director: J. Chaves; Co-Director: L. Chen; Reader: H. Dong)
- Mengke Zhou: "'Heaven and Earth Grant Me This Life at Leisure': An Analytical Study of Yongzheng's Leisure Poetry" (Director: J. Chaves; Co-Director: L. Chen; Reader: H. Zhang)
Research Projects
- 2021
- Katarina Micklus: "Development of Mandarin tones: A comparative study of native-English speaking children's second tone production" (Advisor: H. Zhang)
Course Requirements
The following requirements must be fulfilled:
The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate Programs.
Non-thesis option—30 credits, including up to 6 credits in Chinese language proficiency courses, at least 18 credits in courses in the field, and 3 to 6 credits in elective courses.
Thesis option—30 credits, including up to 6 credits in Chinese language proficiency courses, at least 18 credits in courses in the field, 3 or 6 credits in elective courses, and 3 credits in CHIN 6999 Thesis Research.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese language proficiency | ||
| Students whose Chinese language skills are determined by examination to be below the advanced level must take at least one, but no more than two, of the 4000-level Chinese language courses listed below. These courses are to be taken for graduate credit, which requires additional work in the course, such as essays or projects. | ||
| CHIN 4108 | Readings in Modern Chinese II | |
| CHIN 4119W | Business Chinese | |
| CHIN 4122W | Advanced Conversation and Composition II | |
| CHIN 4201 | Special Topics in Advanced Chinese | |
| Students whose language skills are determined to be at the advanced level can take 6000-level language and culture courses to further develop their language proficiency. Language and other courses must be approved by the program director and the advisor. A language proficiency waiver must be pre-approved. | ||
| Required courses in the field | ||
| At least 18 credits in courses selected from the following: | ||
| CHIN 6109 | Introduction to Classical Chinese I | |
| CHIN 6110 | Introduction to Classical Chinese II 2 | |
| CHIN 6111 | Chinese Literature in Translation | |
| CHIN 6112 | Chinese Literature in Translation II | |
| CHIN 6115 | Chinese Sociolinguistics | |
| CHIN 6123 | Structure of Chinese | |
| CHIN 6125 | History of the Chinese Language | |
| CHIN 6126 | Chinese Phonology | |
| CHIN 6128 | Chinese Semantics | |
| CHIN 6151 | Developing Chinese Literacy | |
| CHIN 6163 | Taiwanese Literature and Film | |
| CHIN 6171 | Poetry of the Tang and Song Periods I | |
| CHIN 6172 | Poetry of the Tang and Song Periods II | |
| CHIN 6173 | Traditional Chinese Theatre and Drama | |
| CHIN 6180 | Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature II | |
| CHIN 6199 | Graduate Seminar | |
| CHIN 6201 | Second Language Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese | |
| CHIN 6210 | Introduction to Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language | |
| CHIN 6301 | Chinese–English Translation | |
| CHIN 6310 | Practicum in Chinese Language Instruction | |
| Electives | ||
| For the non-thesis option: At least one, but no more than three, elective courses (3 to 9 credits) selected from the list below*. | ||
| For the thesis option: At least one, but no more than two, elective courses (3 or 6 credits) selected from the list below*. * | ||
| CHIN 6550 | Independent Study for Chinese Language and Culture (Thesis Option) ** | |
| CHIN 6841 | Religion and Politics in China | |
| CPED 6557 | Second Language Acquisition | |
| CPED 6627 | Teaching Second Language Reading and Writing | |
| EALL 6811 | Confucian Literature in East Asia | |
| EALL 6831 | Introduction to Daoism | |
| EALL 6832 | Myth, Ritual, and Popular Religion in China | |
| EALL 6881 | Women, Gender, and Religion in China | |
| Required for thesis option only | ||
| CHIN 6999 | Thesis Research (taken for 3 credits) | |
*Or an alternative pre-approved course.
**Students must submit a research proposal before enrolling in CHIN 6550.