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Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Churchill College welcomes applicants committed to acquiring and understanding a major language and culture of East Asia or Middle East. The actual subject areas covered are China, Japan, the Islamic world and Hebrew studies; the courses are generally grounded in the proposition that to understand a culture it is first necessary to learn a relevant language.

Once a student has sufficient mastery over the language, he or she is introduced to the history, literature, religion and culture of the chosen area through direct study of texts in the original. The courses are four years in duration and students normally spend their 3rd year abroad in a target language speaking country.

No prior knowledge of the language is required and it is expected that first-year students will be learning the language from scratch. The main requirement is evidence of an intelligent and enquiring mind. The nature of the course does mean that some evidence of language-learning skills is helpful. We welcome applicants who plan to take a Gap Year, and the college has been able to help Gap Year students find opportunities of teaching English in China during the Gap Year.

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is a relatively small subject at Cambridge but Churchill College is lucky to have a larger group of AMES students. Dr Boping Yuan is the College's Director of Studies in AMES and he meets students regularly to discuss their academic progress. He also teaches and supervises students of Chinese Studies. With a generous donation from Wing Yip and Brothers (Holdings) Ltd., Churchill College has established a Wing Yip Chinese Studies Fund, which supports members of the College in Chinese Studies to travel to China for study and research. Churchill College also has Wing Yip China Scholarships and Wing Yip China Travel Grant.

Churchill students' views of the course: