Sociology and Chinese

Sociology and Chinese brings together a social science that offers tools for understanding any society and a language that gives direct access to the world's most populous nation and one of its most dynamic and consequential cultures. Sociology develops the ability to analyse social structures, inequalities, institutions, and cultural change with rigour and evidence. Chinese, understood here as Mandarin, is the most widely spoken first language in the world and the key to engaging seriously with China's history, literature, politics, and contemporary society.

Combining the two produces graduates capable of thinking analytically about social life while operating with genuine linguistic and cultural competence in one of the most important national contexts of our time.

At the University of Manchester, this four-year programme develops both disciplines in depth and in parallel. You will study sociology across a range of topics, from social theory and research methods to globalisation, inequality, race, gender, and digital society, developing the conceptual vocabulary and analytical rigour that sociology demands. Alongside this, you will build Chinese language proficiency from whatever level you enter at, working towards advanced reading, writing, speaking, and listening, while also engaging with Chinese history, culture, and contemporary affairs through academic study.

Manchester has both a distinguished sociology department and strong expertise in Chinese studies, making the combination particularly well supported.

This full-time, four-year programme includes a sandwich year with a work placement and a year abroad, providing an exceptionally rich combination of professional and international experience. Time spent in a Chinese-speaking country will transform your language abilities and deepen your cultural understanding in ways that no classroom experience can replicate. Graduates go on to careers in journalism, international organisations, business, diplomacy, development, research, the civil service, and many other fields where the ability to analyse social phenomena and to engage with China in its own language is genuinely distinctive and valuable.