The curriculum of the MA in History Arts and Culture of Asia consists of core courses, electives, and a master's thesis. The programme’s modular structure, which includes elective courses in each of the two semesters and an individually supervised thesis, gives you considerable freedom to tailor the curriculum.

The first semester consists of the compulsory core course Introduction to Asian Studies that all students of the MA in Asian Studies have to take. You must also choose two or more core elective courses that introduce the issues, debates and methodologies of one of the humanities disciplines within Asian Studies.

If you start the programme in the spring semester (February), you will take the Introduction to Asian Studies in your second semester.

In your second semester you will again take one or two electives for a minimum of 15 EC, or fulfill this partially by an internship, and write your MA-Thesis (15 EC).

If you have a special interest in heritage studies, it is possible to focus on Critical Heritage studies of Asia and Europe within the History, Arts and Culture programme. Inspired and supported by the Asian Heritages research cluster of the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), these courses allow you to explore the contested character of all representations of culture, the plurality of notions of heritage in Asian and European contexts, and the way distinct and conflicting values of indigenous, local communities and official state discourses are negotiated.