So, what's in store for you if you decide to enrol in Modern East Asian Studies at Goethe University?
YOUR FIRST YEAR (PDF download)
There will be four main components to your first year: language classes, core lectures, a research skills module and electives.
Language Classes
Depending on your academic background and language level, you'll take beginners' or advanced language classes in either Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese or Korean.
Core Lectures
We offer one core module consisting of four sub-modules - known as 'core lectures' - within the programme, of which you'll choose and take two. These lectures will help you develop your methodological knowledge of two core disciplines and learn to apply the concepts, theories and methods from these social-scientific fields to East Asian countries.
Each core lecture relates to one of our four main social science disciplines:
History: China's Great Transformations (Prof. Dr. Iwo Amelung)
Law: Theoretical Approaches to Law in East Asia (Prof. Dr. Moritz Bälz, LL.M.)
Management: Institutions and Innovation (Prof. Dr. Cornelia Storz)
Political Sciences: State–Society Relations in Greater China (Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig)
Research Skills
In preparation for writing your MA thesis in your second year, you will also take a research skills module, made up of the following two elements:
Young Scholars Forum (YSF): Alongside fellow MEAS students, you will discuss papers on a fascinating range of topics, such as gender, sustainability and mobility in East Asia, from different disciplinary perspectives.
Skills & Competences (S&C): In these seminars, you will deepen your knowledge of the different methods used in social sciences and East Asia-related humanities.
Electives
There are also optional modules, known as 'electives'. You'll take two electives if you're a beginner in the language you're studying or four if you're an advanced language learner.
In these electives, you'll consider empirical phenomena relating to one East Asian country from a social-scientific perspective. Per semester, there is at least one elective for each of the four countries/regions covered by the programme. Take a look at 'Who We Are' to find out more about the broad range of research and teaching interests of our professors and lecturers.
YOUR SECOND YEAR
In your third semester, you will follow one of three possible pathways, known as 'study tracks' (see below). In your fourth semester, you will work on your MA thesis, culminating in an MA colloquium.
Download the MEAS Study Regulations (2021 version, in German), a legally non-binding translation of the study regulations, and the list of module convenors.
Link to the MEAS Course Catalogue (you can switch to past semesters and to the English on the top right):
Vorlesungsverzeichnis / Course Overview
Weitere Studienangebote /Other Courses
Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Ostasienstudien
Master Modern East Asian Studies
The Research Track is taught entirely in Frankfurt, whilst for the Language Track and the Professional Track you will spend time in one of the East Asian countries covered by the programme. To give you maximum flexibility and allow you to tailor your time abroad to your specific academic interests, you will organise and fund it yourself.
Research Track (PDF download)
Are you contemplating an academic career? Would you be excited to engage with the newest research topics in East Asia-related fields and hone your skills in both research and academic thinking and writing? If so, the Research Track is for you.
You will spend your third semester in Frankfurt, where you will analyse and conduct empirical research, take additional electives and research skills modules, attend events at IZO and undertake a small-scale research project in preparation for your MA thesis and any future academic work.
Language Track (PDF download)
Can you imagine going to an East Asian country and studying at a university there? Would you like to be fully immersed in the language you're studying? If so, then you might want to consider the Language Track.
You will spend your third semester taking at least 200 hours of classes at an East Asian university. These classes should be taught in the language you're studying in Frankfurt. The MEAS coordinator will provide you with basic information and advice, and after that you'll have the freedom to organise and finance an overseas study experience that is right for you.
Professional Track (PDF download)
Are you keen to get some work experience under your belt? Can you imagine working in East Asia? If you can, then the Professional Track could be the right choice.
You will spend your third semester doing an internship of at least 720 hours (or 20 weeks full time) – preferably in East Asia. The MEAS coordinator will provide you with basic information and advice, and then you'll organise and finance the trip and internship yourself, so that it fits your specific interests and disciplinary background.
