Research Methods in Chinese Studies

This course introduces students to the fundamental tools and approaches of advanced research in Chinese studies. Students learn to evaluate and make use of a wide range of print and online research tools in parallel with an historical survey of the study of Chinese Studies as an academic pursuit–from its philological roots as Sinology in the 19th century to its re-conception as a branch of Area Studies from the second half of the 20th century onwards. This survey takes account of the substantial development of specific online research tools over the past decades, assessing which tools in print have become obsolete and how to strike a good balance in the use of online and print media. Concurrently, the course addresses the methods for handling such issues as source criticism, bibliography, biography, chronology, geography, and bureaucracy in the study of China. The methods introduced and deployed in this course will be shaped by the individual research needs of students. The aim is to facilitate students’ development of critical thinking skills and self-sufficiency in the business of sinological research. Course materials focus on pre-imperial and imperial China, but the historical contextualisation of fundamental research approaches and associated skills may equally benefit advanced students of Modern and Contemporary China.