Academic Programs

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center offers two distinct academic programs: a two-year Master of Arts in International Studies and a one-year graduate Certificate program. These programs are designed to provide comparative perspectives of China and the United States, as well as illustrate the vital interrelationship between East and West.

2007-2008 Courses and Descriptions

Certificate Program
The Hopkins-Nanjing Center awards a graduate Certificate in Chinese and American Studies to students who spend one academic year at the Center, passing a minimum of five of six content courses attempted in their target language. This academic program includes a flexible interdisciplinary array of courses relating to many aspects of contemporary China. The Center’s international students learn about China from a Chinese perspective; students focus on how the Chinese analyze Sino-American relations, how they view the reform of their economic and political systems, and how they treat their own political, social, and intellectual history. This program should be viewed not as an introduction to China studies, but as a development of previous coursework in the field.

Master of Arts in International Studies
The Hopkins-Nanjing Center Master of Arts in International Studies is a two-year graduate degree jointly offered by The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Nanjing University. The interdisciplinary program asks students to select from one of three areas of concentration: International Politics, International Economics and Comparative and International Law. In addition, all international students must complete the requirements for a minor in China Studies. Master’s students are required to complete 14 courses, including one methods course and a thesis preparation course. Finally, students must complete a thesis both written and defended orally in Chinese.

The degree will bring Chinese and international students together in the classroom—a feature of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center not found in other programs offered in China. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center is accredited through The Johns Hopkins University by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education and the Maryland Higher Education Commission.


SAIS Five-Semester Option
Students who have been admitted to the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and who are sufficiently proficient in Chinese are eligible to participate in a five-semester option culminating in both a Certificate from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and a Master of Arts degree from SAIS. Under this program, students who complete two semesters at the Center in Nanjing receive a Certificate in Chinese and American Studies. After the successful completion of three additional semesters at SAIS in Washington, they will also receive a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins-SAIS. The year at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center may be completed during any contiguous academic year. For instance: a student may (a) attend the Hopkins-Nanjing Center before or while applying to SAIS, (b) spend a year at the Center after completing two semesters in SAIS or (c) begin the Hopkins-Nanjing Center certificate program in the fall after completing three semesters at SAIS in Washington. Students pursuing this option are required to meet the admissions requirements of both the HNC Certificate program and the SAIS M.A. degree. Separate applications are required for each program.

Acceptance to either the Hopkins-Nanjing Center or to SAIS does not constitute acceptance to the other institution.
Further information about SAIS admissions can be found here.

A comparative summary of the programs is presented below: