Master of Arts in Oriental Languages and Cultures (Middle East Studies)

Our (two-year) Master’s programme studies Oriental languages and cultures in four sub-areas: China, India, Japan and the Middle East. As in the Bachelor’s programme, students take on two language variants from your choice of sub-areas, and a set of course units focusing on culture and academic methodology.

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Master's Programme

2 year 120 credits

Faculty of Arts and Philosophy

Dutch

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About the programme

Programme summary

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Off to a good start

After graduation

Study programme content subject to change

First year

(version 8 )

1 Courses Related to the Main Subject

1.1 Language, Text and Context

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Politics of the Modern Middle East: Language, Text and Context	1	sem 1	ar	Aymon Kreil	6

Culture and Society of the Modern Middle East: Language, Text and Context	1	sem 2	ar	Islam Dayeh	6

Islam and the Global World: Text and Context	1	sem 1	en	Lisa Franke	6

Islam, Power and History: Text and Context	1	sem 2	en	Jo Van Steenbergen	6

Culture in Perspective: the Near East and the Islamic World	1	sem 2	en	Caroline Janssen	6

1.3 International Module

Subscribe to 1 module from the following list.

1.3.2 Internationalisation@home: Globalisation

Subscribe to 30 credit units from no less than 1 and no more than 2 modules from the following list. Subject to approval by the faculty.

1.3.2.2 Free Choice

Subscribe to no more than 15 credit units from the academic programmes offered by Ghent University (including the Ghent University Elective Courses) or other universities of the Flemish Community. Subject to approval by the faculty.

List of Ghent University Elective Courses

1.4 Master's Dissertation

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Dissertation Seminar		1	year	nl,en	Bart Dessein	10

2 Elective Courses

Subscribe to 18 credit units from 1 module from the following list.

2.1 Academic Proficiency

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Critical Global Theories	1				5

Research Seminar Oriental Languages and Cultures	1	year	en	Christoph Anderl	13

2.2 Society and Diversity

Subscribe to no less than 10 credit units from the following list.

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Social Inequality		1	sem 1	nl	Raf Vanderstraeten	6

Gender and Diversity Studies		1	sem 1	nl	Carine Plancke	5

Cultural Anthropology		1	sem 2	nl	Koenraad Stroeken	5

Diversity and Inclusion in Education		1	sem 2	nl	Wendelien Vantieghem	5

Gender History		1	sem 2	nl	Gita Deneckere	5

Humanitarian Policy		1	sem 2	en	Bruno De Cordier	5

Migration and Society: an Interdisciplinary Introduction	UKV	1	sem 2	en	Robin Vandevoordt	5

2.2.1 Free Choice

Subscribe to no more than 8 credit units from the course offer in the field of society and diversity at Ghent University or at a university of the Flemish Community. Subject to approval by the faculty.

2.3 Political and Social Sciences

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Comparative Politics	1	sem 2	nl	Kristof Steyvers	5

EU and Global Justice	1	sem 1	en	Jan Orbie	6

Grand Strategy and the Multipolar World	1	sem 1	en	Sven Biscop	6

Diplomatic Law and Multilateral Negotiation Techniques	1	sem 1	nl	Anemoon Soete	5

EU-East Asia Relations	1	sem 1	en	Bart Dessein	5

Humanitarian Policy	1	sem 2	en	Bruno De Cordier	5

Politics of Islam	1	sem 2	en	Sami Zemni	5

Rural Sociology	1	sem 2	en	Jeroen Adam	5

Politics in the Middle East and North Africa	1	sem 1	en	Joseph Daher	5

Conflict and Society in Central and Eastern Africa	1	sem 1	en	Peer Schouten	5

State and Society in Asia	1	sem 1	en	Bert Suykens	5

Historical Culture and Society	1	sem 1	nl	Berber Bevernage	5

Economic Globalisation	1	sem 2	en	Samuel Standaert	6

2.4 Economics and Business Administration

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Economics (A)	1	sem 1	nl	Koen Schoors	4

Economics (B)	1	sem 2	nl	Koen Schoors	5

Markets and Prices	1	sem 1	nl	Dirk Van de gaer	5

Business Cycles and Growth	1	sem 1	nl	Freddy Heylen	5

Financial Markets and Institutions	1	sem 2	nl	Rudi Vander Vennet	5

Research Methodology	1	sem 1	nl	Laurence Rijssegem	6

Business Administration	1	sem 2	nl	Mirjam Knockaert	4

Business Skills	1	sem 2	en	Mieke Audenaert	4

Marketing Management	1	sem 1	nl	Maggie Geuens	6

Public Administration. An Introduction	1	sem 1	nl	Bram Verschuere	6

Public Policy	1	sem 1	en	Bishoy Zaki	6

Introduction to Accounting in the Not-for-Profit and Public Sector	1	sem 2	nl	Johan Christiaens	5

Introduction to Public Economics	1	sem 1	nl	Bart Defloor	3

Public Management	1	sem 2	en	Ben Suykens	5

Development Economics	1	sem 1	en	Marijke D'Haese	5

2.5 Free Choice

Subscribe to 18 credit units from the other elective modules or from the study programmes of Ghent University or another university of the Flemish Community. Subject to approval by the faculty.

Second year

(version 8 )

1 Courses Related to the Main Subject

1.2 Internship

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Internship		2	year	nl,en	Ann Heirman	12

1.3 International Module

Subscribe to 1 module from the following list.

1.3.1 International Immersion Programme

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Abroad Track		2	sem 1 sem 2 year	nl nl nl	Christoph Anderl	30

1.3.2 Internationalisation@home: Globalisation

Subscribe to 30 credit units from no less than 1 and no more than 2 modules from the following list. Subject to approval by the faculty.

1.3.2.1 Ghent University Electives

Subscribe to no less than 15 credit units from the following list.

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Conflict and Society in Central and Eastern Africa		2	sem 1	en	Peer Schouten	5

State and Society in Asia		2	sem 1	en	Bert Suykens	5

EU-East Asia Relations		2	sem 1	en	Bart Dessein	5

Politics of Islam		2	sem 2	en	Sami Zemni	5

Rural Sociology		2	sem 2	en	Jeroen Adam	5

Historical Culture and Society		2	sem 1	nl	Berber Bevernage	5

Russia between East and West		2	sem 1	en	Ben Dhooge	5

Politics of Memory in Southeast Europe		2	sem 1	en	Pieter Troch	5

Poverty, Development and Inequality in Modern African History		2	sem 1	en	Felicitas Maria Becker	5

Culture in Perspective: South and East Asia		2	sem 2	en	Ann Heirman	6

Culture in Perspective: the Near East and the Islamic World		2	sem 2	en	Caroline Janssen	6

Sustainable Food Systems		2	sem 2	en	Marijke D'Haese	5

Humanitarian Policy		2	sem 2	en	Bruno De Cordier	5

Migration and Society: an Interdisciplinary Introduction	UKV	2	sem 2	en	Robin Vandevoordt	5

Contemporary Asian Academic Debates 1		2	sem 1	en	Rosina Pastore	3

Contemporary Asian Academic Debates 2		2	sem 2	en	Anna Sokolova	3

Politics in the Middle East and North Africa		2	sem 1	en	Joseph Daher	5

1.3.2.2 Free Choice

List of Ghent University Elective Courses

1.4 Master's Dissertation

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Master's Dissertation		2	year	nl,en	Bart Dessein	20

2 Elective Courses

Subscribe to 18 credit units from 1 module from the following list.

2.2 Society and Diversity

Subscribe to no less than 10 credit units from the following list.

2.2.1 Free Choice

2.5 Free Choice

Subscribe to 18 credit units from the other elective modules or from the study programmes of Ghent University or another university of the Flemish Community. Subject to approval by the faculty.

Full programme

(version 8 )

Print

1 Courses Related to the Main Subject 102

1.1 Language, Text and Context

30

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Politics of the Modern Middle East: Language, Text and Context	1	sem 1	ar	Aymon Kreil	6

Culture and Society of the Modern Middle East: Language, Text and Context	1	sem 2	ar	Islam Dayeh	6

Islam and the Global World: Text and Context	1	sem 1	en	Lisa Franke	6

Islam, Power and History: Text and Context	1	sem 2	en	Jo Van Steenbergen	6

Culture in Perspective: the Near East and the Islamic World	1	sem 2	en	Caroline Janssen	6

1.2 Internship

12

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Internship		2	year	nl,en	Ann Heirman	12

1.3 International Module

30

Subscribe to 1 module from the following list.

1.3.1 International Immersion Programme

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Abroad Track		2	sem 1 sem 2 year	nl nl nl	Christoph Anderl	30

1.3.2 Internationalisation@home: Globalisation

Subscribe to 30 credit units from no less than 1 and no more than 2 modules from the following list. Subject to approval by the faculty.

1.3.2.1 Ghent University Electives

Subscribe to no less than 15 credit units from the following list.

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Conflict and Society in Central and Eastern Africa		2	sem 1	en	Peer Schouten	5

State and Society in Asia		2	sem 1	en	Bert Suykens	5

EU-East Asia Relations		2	sem 1	en	Bart Dessein	5

Politics of Islam		2	sem 2	en	Sami Zemni	5

Rural Sociology		2	sem 2	en	Jeroen Adam	5

Historical Culture and Society		2	sem 1	nl	Berber Bevernage	5

Russia between East and West		2	sem 1	en	Ben Dhooge	5

Politics of Memory in Southeast Europe		2	sem 1	en	Pieter Troch	5

Poverty, Development and Inequality in Modern African History		2	sem 1	en	Felicitas Maria Becker	5

Culture in Perspective: South and East Asia		2	sem 2	en	Ann Heirman	6

Culture in Perspective: the Near East and the Islamic World		2	sem 2	en	Caroline Janssen	6

Sustainable Food Systems		2	sem 2	en	Marijke D'Haese	5

Humanitarian Policy		2	sem 2	en	Bruno De Cordier	5

Migration and Society: an Interdisciplinary Introduction	UKV	2	sem 2	en	Robin Vandevoordt	5

Contemporary Asian Academic Debates 1		2	sem 1	en	Rosina Pastore	3

Contemporary Asian Academic Debates 2		2	sem 2	en	Anna Sokolova	3

Politics in the Middle East and North Africa		2	sem 1	en	Joseph Daher	5

1.3.2.2 Free Choice

List of Ghent University Elective Courses

1.4 Master's Dissertation

30

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Dissertation Seminar	1	year	nl,en	Bart Dessein	10

Master's Dissertation	2	year	nl,en	Bart Dessein	20

2 Elective Courses 18

Subscribe to 18 credit units from 1 module from the following list.

2.1 Academic Proficiency

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Critical Global Theories	1				5

Research Seminar Oriental Languages and Cultures	1	year	en	Christoph Anderl	13

2.2 Society and Diversity

Subscribe to no less than 10 credit units from the following list.

Course	Ref	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Social Inequality		1	sem 1	nl	Raf Vanderstraeten	6

Gender and Diversity Studies		1	sem 1	nl	Carine Plancke	5

Cultural Anthropology		1	sem 2	nl	Koenraad Stroeken	5

Diversity and Inclusion in Education		1	sem 2	nl	Wendelien Vantieghem	5

Gender History		1	sem 2	nl	Gita Deneckere	5

Humanitarian Policy		1	sem 2	en	Bruno De Cordier	5

Migration and Society: an Interdisciplinary Introduction	UKV	1	sem 2	en	Robin Vandevoordt	5

2.2.1 Free Choice

2.3 Political and Social Sciences

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Comparative Politics	1	sem 2	nl	Kristof Steyvers	5

EU and Global Justice	1	sem 1	en	Jan Orbie	6

Grand Strategy and the Multipolar World	1	sem 1	en	Sven Biscop	6

Diplomatic Law and Multilateral Negotiation Techniques	1	sem 1	nl	Anemoon Soete	5

EU-East Asia Relations	1	sem 1	en	Bart Dessein	5

Humanitarian Policy	1	sem 2	en	Bruno De Cordier	5

Politics of Islam	1	sem 2	en	Sami Zemni	5

Rural Sociology	1	sem 2	en	Jeroen Adam	5

Politics in the Middle East and North Africa	1	sem 1	en	Joseph Daher	5

Conflict and Society in Central and Eastern Africa	1	sem 1	en	Peer Schouten	5

State and Society in Asia	1	sem 1	en	Bert Suykens	5

Historical Culture and Society	1	sem 1	nl	Berber Bevernage	5

Economic Globalisation	1	sem 2	en	Samuel Standaert	6

2.4 Economics and Business Administration

Course	MT1	Semester	Language	Instructor	Crdt
Economics (A)	1	sem 1	nl	Koen Schoors	4

Economics (B)	1	sem 2	nl	Koen Schoors	5

Markets and Prices	1	sem 1	nl	Dirk Van de gaer	5

Business Cycles and Growth	1	sem 1	nl	Freddy Heylen	5

Financial Markets and Institutions	1	sem 2	nl	Rudi Vander Vennet	5

Research Methodology	1	sem 1	nl	Laurence Rijssegem	6

Business Administration	1	sem 2	nl	Mirjam Knockaert	4

Business Skills	1	sem 2	en	Mieke Audenaert	4

Marketing Management	1	sem 1	nl	Maggie Geuens	6

Public Administration. An Introduction	1	sem 1	nl	Bram Verschuere	6

Public Policy	1	sem 1	en	Bishoy Zaki	6

Introduction to Accounting in the Not-for-Profit and Public Sector	1	sem 2	nl	Johan Christiaens	5

Introduction to Public Economics	1	sem 1	nl	Bart Defloor	3

Public Management	1	sem 2	en	Ben Suykens	5

Development Economics	1	sem 1	en	Marijke D'Haese	5

2.5 Free Choice

Subscribe to 18 credit units from the other elective modules or from the study programmes of Ghent University or another university of the Flemish Community. Subject to approval by the faculty.

Learning outcomes

Competence field 1: Competences in one/more scientific discipline(s)

to have advanced knowledge of both a classical and modern version of one Oriental language and to be able to apply the acquired knowledge to complex problems in a creative manner: • Middle East Studies: to have advanced knowledge of Modern and Classical Arabic and to be able to apply the acquired knowledge to complex problems in a creative manner. • India: to have advanced knowledge of Hindi, Sanskrit and Prakrit and to be able to apply the acquired knowledge to complex problems in a creative manner. • China: to have advanced knowledge of Modern and Classical Chinese and to be able to apply the acquired knowledge to complex problems in a creative manner. • Japan: to have advanced knowledge of Modern and Classical Japanese and to be able to apply the acquired knowledge to complex problems in a creative manner.
to have a thorough knowledge of the cultural (= historical, literary, religious-philosophical and social) context within which the languages studied are relevant, and to be able to apply that knowledge to complex problems.
to have a thorough insight into the complexity of the connection between the Oriental languages studied and the cultures studied (connection language-culture), and to be able to apply that insight to complex problems.
to have a thorough insight into the complexity of the connection and interaction between the Oriental languages, societies and cultural-historical traditions studied, based on a transboundary and cross-time perspective (transculturalism and connection present-past), and to be able to apply that insight to complex problems.
to have a thorough insight into the complexity of epistemological and scientific reference frameworks, explanatory models and practices that prove to be relevant in line with the Oriental languages and cultures studied – independently inspired by the latest developments.
to have a thorough insight into the way other disciplines may contribute to solving complex problems related to the Oriental languages and cultures studied and to understand its added value.

Competence field 2: Scientific competences

to independently and thoroughly conduct problem-based research into issues related to Oriental languages and cultures, on the basis of material in the Oriental language and/or languages studied.
to constructively and innovatively make use of international research (including the modern Oriental languages studied).
to constructively and innovatively make use of integrated and interdisciplinary research in the field of Oriental cultural contexts (history, society, literature, religious-philosophical systems).
to independently and critically apply research methods and techniques in Oriental languages and cultures and in related disciplines to one’s own research.
to interpret and scientifically substantiate in-depth the results of one’s own research.

Competence field 3: Intellectual competences

to critically, thoroughly and independently analyse the significant connection of Oriental languages and cultures, of present and past and of the diversity of Oriental cultures and their mutual contacts
to critically, independently and systematically reflect on one’s own way of learning, thinking, decision-making and acting (and that of others) regarding the Oriental languages and cultures studied, and to translate this reflection into appropriate solutions
to thoroughly and independently analyse and assess any abstract and concrete linguistic and/or cultural-historical (historical, social, literary, religious-philosophical) problems with regard to Oriental languages and cultures
to be capable of academic reasoning in view of complex problems with regard to the Oriental languages and cultures studied
to show continuing commitment to develop new ideas with regard to the Oriental languages and cultures studied.

Competence field 4: Competences in cooperation and communication

to communicate orally and in writing with peers and others concerning the results of independent learning, thinking and decision-making with regard to complex issues in the discipline of Oriental Languages and Cultures (Middle East Studies, India, China or Japan).
to communicate orally and in writing with native speakers at an advanced level of linguistic knowledge, with a focus on cultural contexts.
to collaborate within a context of diversity, transculturalism and historical-critical awareness concerning complex issues in the disciplines of Oriental Languages and Cultures (Middle East Studies, India, China or Japan).
to have basic leadership and innovation skills in complex social, work and study environments, with a focus on diversity and transculturalism.

Competence field 5: Societal competences

to be critically and innovatively aware of the relevance of knowledge of Oriental societies and of the cultural-historical (historical, literary, religious-philosophical) heritage for numerous current social problems, events, debates and opinions.
to be critically and innovatively aware of the relevance of advanced knowledge of the relevant languages in order to unlock the context of current social problems, events, debates and opinions concerning Oriental societies and their contacts with other societies.
to understand relevant developments in the history in the studied field of Oriental Languages and Cultures (Middle East Studies, India, China or Japan) in relation to their scientific and social complexity.
to place one's own research in a broader social context, meaning and relevance in the studied field of Oriental Languages and Cultures (Middle East Studies, India, China or Japan) in an independent and nuanced manner.
to understand the complex nature of the social impact (economical, social, cultural) of new relevant developments in the studied field of Oriental Languages and Cultures (Middle East Studies, India, China or Japan).
to independently demonstrate a sense of culture and to appreciate and convey the importance of building bridges between cultures.
(for tracks in the target country: stays in China, India, Japan or the Arab world) to appreciate and practise the acquired competences in an Asian country.