Doctoral study in Asian Languages and Cultures

We are home to New Zealand’s largest group of specialists on Asia, and offer the opportunity to develop knowledge from a multi-disciplinary perspective through Asian Studies or specialise in a particular culture and language (Chinese, Japanese or Korean).

As a doctoral candidate, you'll benefit from financial support for research expenses through PReSS funding; high-calibre supervision practices; and the networks and expertise of our world-class academic researchers.

We welcome PhD research proposals in a range of areas, including:

Asian Studies

• Asian diaspora communities
• Heritage language education
• Globalisation and transnationalism in Asia
• Language, identity and nation-building in Asia
• Politics and religion in the Asia

Chinese

• Chinese films and popular culture, including culture during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976)
• Chinese language teaching
• Chinese linguistics and dialects
• Chinese religion
• Contemporary Chinese politics (particularly popular resistance and political economy) and foreign policy
  

Japanese

• Contemporary issues in Japanese religion, society and youth identity
• Expression of subjectivity in discourse in Japanese
• Japanese and Ryukyuan phonology (including accentuation), linguistics and dialectology
• Japanese popular culture/media
• Japanese social and cultural history
• Teaching Japanese as a foreign language

Korean

• Heritage language education
• Korean classics concerning the relationship between culture and environment
• Korean diasporas and identity issues
• Nation-building, identity and language in Korea
• Teaching Korean as a second/foreign language

We bring a variety of different perspectives to our research on Asia and specialise in a range of countries, cultures, and languages.

• "City-to-city cooperation in China: Its formation and mechanism | Supervised by Dr Stephen Noakes
• "Ochikobore seishun shōsetsu: the portrayal of teenage rebellion in Japanese adolescent literature" | Supervised by Dr Hilary Chung and Dr Rumi Sakamoto
• "Korea's growing role(s) on the world stage – South Korean identity and global foreign policy in the early 21st century" | Supervised by Dr Changzoo Song
• "Guides for the nourishment of life: Sugita Genpaku and the Yojoron genre" | Supervised by Dr Ellen Nakamura

There are several scholarships you may be eligible for when you decide to pursue your doctoral studies in Asian Languages and Cultures:

• Faculty of Arts and Education Doctoral scholarships
• University of Auckland Doctoral scholarship
   

If you would like to find out more about doctoral study in Asian Studies, Chinese, Japanese or Korean you can contact our PhD Adviser:

• Dr Rumi Sakamoto
• Email: r.sakamoto@auckland.ac.nz
• Phone: +64 9 923 4600