Master of Arts in International Studies

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center Master of Arts in International Studies is a two-year graduate degree jointly offered by The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Nanjing University. The interdisciplinary program asks students to select from one of four areas of concentration: International Politics, International Economics,  International & Comparative  Law, and Chinese Studies. Master’s students are required to complete 13 courses as well as a thesis both written and defended orally in Chinese.

The degree will bring Chinese and international students together in the classroom—a feature of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center not found in other programs offered in China. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center is accredited through The Johns Hopkins University by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education and the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

Required Coursework for MA Students:

Students will have a few requirements outside of their concentration:

• A three course sequence designed for MA students. 
• Students NOT concentrating in law must take one class in this discipline.
• Students NOT concentrating in politics must take one class in this discipline.
• Students NOT concentrating in economics will be required to take two economics courses of their choosing.

*Please note that many courses are cross listed between departments and may count for multiple requirements. For example, Chinese Legal System would count towards both Law and Chinese Studies.

MA students will be required to take the equivalent of 16 credits while at the Center.

• 3 credits will be met by the required thesis, which will be the main focus in the final semester.
• 3 credits will be met by a three course sequence designed to help prepare students for Master’s level study and thesis writing:

1. First Year MA Tutorial - This course is intended to encourage entering MA students to think broadly and deeply about a topic area of relevance to our Center’s Sino-American academic mission. This will help students consider how their own concentration might be linked to larger issues in Sino-International relations.  It also is designed to provide MA students with practical guidance in planning and carrying out their two-year course of study.  International Students will take this course in Chinese.
2. Concentration Seminar - Chinese and International students will be combined together in these seminars and the language of the seminar will be determined by the professor. These seminars will 1) introduce the concentration discipline and the field in general; 2) introduce key research methods and theoretical concepts of the discipline; 3) explore a particular academic subject or theme that may be used to exemplify methods and theories. 
3. MA Colloquium - This course will provide a forum in which students will 1) report on and discuss with each other and the professor their progress on their thesis work; 2) interact with visiting scholars and current faculty who will discuss their own research and comment on the students’ projects; 3) meet bench-mark requirements intended to measure progress in the preparation and writing of their thesis.  International students will take this course in Chinese.

• The remaining ten courses will depend on a student’s concentration.  In general, a student must take six courses towards his or her concentration, including the concentration seminar.
• For International students, eight of these remaining ten courses must be taken in Chinese. (Seven if the Concentration Seminar is in Chinese.)