Why study Chinese?

Nearly 20 percent of the world’s population speaks Chinese, and its cultural traditions stretch thousands of years.  Chinese studies students will have a chance to learn from professors whose interests range from Tang Dynasty poetry to Qing Dynasty trade routes, Taiwanese pop music and contemporary Chinese cinema.  Furthermore, China’s impact on the global economy continues to grow significantly, making Chinese a great complement to an international business major. 

Major in Chinese

In fall 2014 UofSC opened our new major, the Bachelor of Arts with a major in Chinese Studies. Between this new major and the Minor in Chinese Studies, we offer a growing range of courses on Chinese culture and four years of instruction in Mandarin Chinese. 

 

Minor in Chinese

As part of its commitment to providing rigorous academic training in step with changing global trends, the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures offers the minor in Chinese Studies. The minor in Chinese is designed to give students in any department the opportunity to complement their major course of study with a strong foundation in Chinese language and culture. In order to give students both the language skills they will need on the job market and a practical knowledge of Chinese culture that is essential to round out those skills, the minor requires students to complete three years of Chinese and three additional culture or language courses.

 

Scholarships

The increasing necessity for American Mandarin speakers means that there are a wide variety of scholarships available.  In addition to those sponsored by the University of South Carolina, our students have also won prestigious scholarships such as the Fulbright and the Critical Languages Scholarship for study abroad in China and Taiwan.