History, Arts and Culture of Asia (MA) (60EC)

Create your own curriculum

With an expansive curriculum, this one-year master's gives students the opportunity to delve deep into their specific discipinary area of interest within the field of Asian Studies. Explore the countries of your choice from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, including history, literature, art history, critical heritage, media and culture, and religion.

Learn from acclaimed researchers

Expertise on Asia at Leiden University is internationally renowned, as is our collection of unique Asian artefacts. As a student of the MA in History, Arts and Culture of Asia, you will learn from some of Europe's best scholars in the field. And with classes kept deliberately small, every individual has the opportunity to voice their ideas and interact directly with these inspiring minds. 

Learn a language

Within the master's in History, Arts and Culture of Asia, knowledge of an Asian language is not required, but you have the opportunity to broaden your skillset by taking an intensive modern language course at beginner’s level in Japanese, Indonesian, Chinese, Korean or Hindi.

Earn a dual degree

You also have the opportunity to earn a dual degree by following the focus Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe at one of Leiden University's partner universities in Asia, earning you an additional MA in Heritage Studies on top of your MA in Asian Studies. Knowledge of an Asian language is not required for this master's programme.

Admission and Application

Do you want to find out if you are eligible for this Master's Programme?

Check the admission requirements

In which sector do students find jobs?

• 26 Government and semi-government
• 14 Education
• 12 Financial institutions
• 7 IT
• 7 Culture, sports and recreation
• 5 Industrial sector
• 5 Research
• 5 Consultancy
• 5 Information management
• 14 Other

The graph above is based on alumni data from the MA Asian Studies 2016-2020.