Sussex or SOAS??

I have been accepted to both Sussex (MA in Conflict, Security, and Development) and SOAS (MSc in Conflict, Violence, and Development) and don't know what to do!

The courses seem similar, but I am curious if SOAS is more aimed toward academia (vs. practical/professional skills for work in NGOs) after graduation? Does anyone know what the school environment for each is like (in terms of support/availability of professors, access to internships etc.)?

I am Canadian, and have read a lot about each of the schools rankings... but how are they generally viewed apart from that? Any insight is appreciated!

Sussex, SOAS are bums.

They claim to Oriental experts but they are not, I am a pure bred Chinese and I tell you a Chinese Malaysian high school grad can easily whip the SOAS " chinese studies " degree.

The staff are jokers too, they project a fake kind of arrogance that is so thin you can see they are hiding their true feelings of inadequacy

I have been accepted to both Sussex (MA in Conflict, Security, and Development) and SOAS (MSc in Conflict, Violence, and Development) and don't know what to do!

The courses seem similar, but I am curious if SOAS is more aimed toward academia (vs. practical/professional skills for work in NGOs) after graduation? Does anyone know what the school environment for each is like (in terms of support/availability of professors, access to internships etc.)?

I am Canadian, and have read a lot about each of the schools rankings... but how are they generally viewed apart from that? Any insight is appreciated!

Oh is that right?



As above, doesn't really matter which one you chose, both departments are good. But the opportunities for work experience in London are vast in comparison. If you're looking to get into dev consulting or research (or an NGO as you mentioned), then London is incomparable in the UK and SOAS is a pretty good platform to get into that if you know what you're doing. The careers service at SOAS is heavily geared towards the legal, NGO and non-profit sectors, not fantastic for people with other interests, but might be what you're looking for...

Sussex, SOAS are bums.

They claim to Oriental experts but they are not, I am a pure bred Chinese and I tell you a Chinese Malaysian high school grad can easily whip the SOAS " chinese studies " degree.

The staff are jokers too, they project a fake kind of arrogance that is so thin you can see they are hiding their true feelings of inadequacy

this is completely off topic but I'd say Sussex just because I think SOAS is an overrated school, to Txi I agree asian studies in the UK is pathetic but disagree with PRC and Taiwan. Even the most renown scholars in the top Taiwan and PRC universities get their degrees from East Asian STudies departments in the USA. The USA is where its at for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean studies.

If the USA is where its at for Chinese, Japanese and Korean studies, then why is it that kids from top schools in 4th year Chinese are below SOAS 2nd year students when they come to China? The USA is great for when you're not sure about what you want to do, but when you do it's "9 ways of knowledge" or whatever they call it will never beat the specialization of the UK.

this is completely off topic but I'd say Sussex just because I think SOAS is an overrated school, to Txi I agree asian studies in the UK is pathetic but disagree with PRC and Taiwan. Even the most renown scholars in the top Taiwan and PRC universities get their degrees from East Asian STudies departments in the USA. The USA is where its at for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean studies.

That's the most stupid revelation I've ever heard. Of course that people whose mother tongue is Chinese will always be able to "whip" a chinese student's.
You can live in France over 20 years and do as many French degrees you want, you'll never be able to beat me or any of my high school friends in a French competition. It's the same everywhere.
That doesn't mean that one needn't try to learn the language. And a Chinese Degree is more than just about the language, it's about learning about the Country as a whole.

Going to the worst program for chinese language in Beijing maybe you wonder why the Americans you meet have bad Chinese. Now let me tell you something, I've been in beijing for quite a few years, and I have met people from the british schools that supposedly "specialize" in asian studies vs. the people I know from schools like Stanford, Hopkins, Columbia, Williams, Middlebury, Princeton, and the like. And I'll tell you this, in every event the British kids have been ajoke. Maybe they learn grammar faster but their spoken Chinese and their ability to use it is a joke. My friend's bf is a Cambridge boy who studied it and Cambridge and is a "translator" I use translator with quotations marks because his speaking is worse than most first years and while he struts around with his translating class, it was I who never took a class but who enjoys reading Chinese literature to help him translate simple stuff. The American schools have such an edge over British schools in Asian studies its not even funny. Since your semester abroad seems to make you an expert on the Chinese pedagogical method and the language itself maybe you can explain to me that. There is a reason why the most sought after degrees in Asian studies are found in the states and the most cutting edge teaching methods in Chinese Japan and Korean are there. I've met a good 40 50 SOAS kids here in beijing some that have graduated already some doing their year abroad and as my HK friend says, there is a reason why we don't expect the brits to be able to learn Chinese. nd Rant:

"stupid revelation".

Oxymoron or just a plain moron in this case.

Yo are avoiding the issue I say: people whose mother tongue is Chinese will not only always have a better command of Chinese language but in all aspects of Chinese studies.

Which part of that is unclear ?

Oriental Studies will be in native language not a course about the orient in English - big difference so how can you learn about the Country as a whole without a decent command of the language ?

Bull

For sure.

i just tell it straight, if it good I say so equally if it bad then I give a right back.

I am sick and tired of false civility in the face of fraud and BS.

generally speaking Oriental studies in Uk is poor, only a dozen of so unis do it, so being "top 5 " don't mean dick does it.

might as well do some intense prelim stuff in uk and then go to the real deal PRC or Taiwan.

lei hai malay yun me? koi day m gang putong wa dan hai koi day gang gwang dong wa,
wo zai yi ge hua qiao qu zhang da le, wo shang youtairen xuexiao zhiqian yijing liaojie sanguoyanyi, haiyou xi you ji. cong wo tongnian qi wo yizhi zai yi ge zhongguo wenhua de huanjing zhong shequ tamen de wenhua. dui meiguo daxue laishuo, meiguo de daxue dou dui dongya yuyan he wenhua ting qiang le la, , yinwei meiguodedaxue xi in shijie shang zui lihai de xuezhe, haiyou tamen you baozheng de xueshushangziyou.

I've finally done my own research, since before you started bickering about BNU I hadn't, because unlike you I'm not obsessed about reputation and rankings. But here goes, since I've done it. BNU is top in the country for its psychology and Chinese learning departments. So honestly, for once, with all due respect I have for you, cut the cr*p please.
Next, you met some of the people who go to those schools, just like I met a few of the people who go to Ivy League. You might have met some of the ones who do nothing at uni, and I can assure you there are quite a few of those in the Chinese dept of SOAS, but there are also those who work quite hard.
Had I actually found the American system any good I'd actually not be attending SOAS right now. Most of my friends are at Ivy League schools, and since you are such a big fan of Ivy Schools, why didn't you attend one? Not once have you mentioned your own university btw in those "fantastic american schools for learning Asian languages."

I don't call myself an expert, but I'm proceeding by logic. I know that American Ivy League universities are fantastic, don't get me wrong, what I'm saying is that the American system wants you to do many different sorts of classes in your first two years of Uni, and then you specialize in your 3rd and 4th years, but then you can still switch if you want etc. etc.
Now, imagine I was at Barnard right now (I did visit a few American unis when applying, including Stanford, Barnard, Georgetown, so this comes from what I remember of the time), I'd currently be doing some sort of sport, maths, chinese, and maybe and english writing course or something of the likes. I'd be able to spend one semester abroad. And this would go on for two years, and then maybe I'd be able to specialize a bit. There are only 24 hours in a day, for everyone. So I just do not understand how, even if I put all my remaining time into Japanese and Chinese, I'd be able to keep up with students whose work completely revolves around these languages? And of whom it is *required* to spend a year abroad?
Now, if you are like Hermione Granger or if the Unis in the States have actually managed to turn back time for some people, then I'm sorry I didn't know. But if not, can you enlighten my *moronic* logic?
And this goes for all degrees, because I have a friend who studied at Brown for two years, and felt he wasn't learning anything, and thus came back to London. He said for connexion making, the States is best, but for actual learning the UK is better. I'm not sure your university is the same, since yours is more postgraduate research based, is small and seems specialized, so I guess they are more like a UK university than you'd admit. But this is pure conjecture. (I have a feeling your going to bite at this, so I'm emphasizing that this is the impression I got from my enquiries.)

Cambridge I believe is like INALCO. It's a lot of theory, and it's a lot more focused on the literature, and on essay writing (in English), to understand China, not Chinese. My friend who comes from INALCO is in the same case as the boy you mention, her spoken is horrible, but her reading comprehension is impressive.

Finally, I just want to add that I do believe that American Universities have fantastic Oriental Studies programs, especially summer programs (I've been on a few, and loved it, and I know they have other amazing ones.) But at the end of the day, it's always short, and they're only obsessed with their credits, not with the actual language learning.

PS: And about your oral pronounciation, if you grew up in a Chinese environment, no wonder your Chinese is better than the average student of Chinese. And you lived here for many years. Why even compare yourself in that case? That's not even fair play.



I was considering calling you the same actually, but I didn't dare out of politeness.

Once again, a Chinese completely imbued with Propaganda it's scary. I wonder how long you'd stand in an argument about Chinese literature with my friend. Probably less than 10 mins.

I don't believe you need a good command of the language to get a good firm understanding of the country, just like you speaking English means nothing about how much you understand about the West.
To get empirical data sure, you need to get primary sources and stuff, but even if you stick with secondary sources (like Cambridge probably does) you'd still get a good understanding of the country.

And just in general, it's physically impossible to know everything about a country, even if its your own. I doubt you're better than my tutor at Chinese Missionaries in the 19th century, and she doesn't even speak good chinese. That's why people go into research (though it's a pity since she doesn't speak Chinese, she has to stick to secondary sources.)

Anyways, with that kind of great thinking that you have, you might as well say that all Asians will beat Europeans at anything Asian.

You sound like a scientist. :/

Lol, whytf is this thread about chinese studies???? The OP is asking about Violence, Conflict and Development. Generally speaking, no one in the UK wants to study chinese. I wouldn't be surprised if European Studies in China is 10 times as crap. Are you really sick and tired of false civility? Oh yeah, gosh darnit, I can see why that's so...

I doubt Chinese universities are world leading schools of critical thinking on issues to do with human rights, conflict resolution and development either.

I'm surprised Tarataru hasn't found this thread and started barking on about how UCL is more mathematical than SOAS and complaining about the SOAS library that he always goes in despite not being a student.

Congrats.

I can give you my two cents, though my views are based purely on what I've been told by others and the research I've done as I've applied to both unis for an undergraduate degree.

I know that Sussex has one of the best Development departmens in the UK, so you can't go far wrong if that's what you're looking to go into post-MA. As I've not been I can't comment on teaching practices but the university is considered very well in general, even from it's slightly disadvantaged starting point. As it's a new university, Sussex doesn't automatically have the 'aura' of an institution hundreds of years old and so some may, unjustly, not be held in quite the same esteem as other unis. I imagine those in the know involved in charities and relief organisations understand it's quality though.

SOAS is in the centre of London and used to be a post-grad uni apparently. It really does have a world view as you can see from the various languages etc that are studied there. Having said that, I do not know how it's Development department is rated, though I imagine it would be highly thought of. Having been to open days for my BA, there does seem to be a big focus on academia, though in the MA's this may well be different. It's got a strong left-wing bent and is regarded very highly by charitable organisations. As I'm looking to go into relief/charity, I asked how well the uni was suited for my future plans and was told that "it's the place to be" to get connected to charities - though they would say that!

Based on my little knowledge, I doubt there is a very big difference between the universities and neither would hinder your future prospects. SOAS certainly isn't the usual university and it is apparently a 'love it or hate it' place - hence the reaction of the poster above me. Personally, I loved the general vibe on the open day, as much as it's location. There will be a big difference in the cost of studing in London compared to Sussex, so that should be taken on board. Having said that, most UK charities (and often international) have their HQ's in London and so you would be ideally placed to get any internships/volunteering with them whilst you study.

Hope this helps.