Program overview
This program focuses on the languages, literature, folklore, and culture of China's 55 ethnic minorities. You'll learn the basic grammar and scripts of minority languages such as Tibetan, Uyghur, Mongolian, and Yi, and read their epics, folk tales, and modern literary works. Core courses include Introduction to Minority Languages, History of Ethnic Literature, Field Methods in Linguistics, and Philology. Many universities arrange field trips to minority villages in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Xinjiang, where you'll record languages and collect stories alongside local people. Who is this program for? If you have a natural curiosity about linguistics, anthropology, and cultural diversity, enjoy interacting with people from different backgrounds, or come from a multi-ethnic country and want to do comparative research, this program will be fascinating. In China, Minzu University of China, Inner Mongolia University, Xinjiang University, and Southwest Minzu University have deep expertise in this field, with dedicated schools of minority languages and literatures and national-level research centers. Many faculty members are native speakers or long-term field researchers.