Korean
Korean is the newest language on offer from Birkbeck’s longstanding profile of language provision. The rise of Korean popular culture has attracted attention on this important Asian culture in recent decades. If you love learning about Korean language and culture, come and study Korean with us.
Korean courses
We offer a range of flexible courses and study modes, from language short courses and joint BA degrees, allowing you to deepen your interest in Korean studies.
BA Degree
You can study Korean on a range of our undergraduate courses, together with another language within our flexible BA Modern Languages.
If you are especially interested in how languages work and keen to orient your study towards linguistics, you can study Korean as part of BA Language Teaching and Language or BA Linguistics and Language.
Or you can study Korean with another subject as part of a combined honours degree (English, Film and Media, Digital Media, History, Art History, Journalism, Politics, Global Politics and Law).
A number of our modules feature Korean content, specialising in Korea-Japan relations and critical studies of contemporary Korean pop culture and literature.
If you focus on Korean in any of our degrees, this will be reflected in your degree title when you graduate.
View Korean BA degree courses.
BA degree with foundation year
If you haven’t studied for a while or don’t immediately meet our entry requirements, we also offer BA Modern Languages and BA Language Teaching and Language with a Foundation Year. This four-year degree with an in-built foundation year prepares you for study at university level, giving you the skills needed to succeed in the following three years of your course.
View Korean BA degree courses with foundation year.
Short Courses and Certificate of Higher Education
Enrol on our year-long short courses to improve your Korean language skills and cultural knowledge of South Korea. We offer different courses from Korean 1 (Beginners) to Korean 3 (Intermediate).
Birkbeck's Certificate of Higher Education in Linguistics and Languages offers you the chance of taking 120 credits the equivalent of a first year of our BA programme if you prefer not to commit to a full degree programme at this stage. The part-time Culture and Language introductory course enables you to study Korean to intermediate level, while also exploring the culture, history and society of South Korea. You can always transfer your credits if you love your studies and want to continue!
Research
Birkbeck’s lecturers conduct research in Korean popular culture such as literature and pop music.
Our library has more than 1,000 resources on the Korean peninsula, making it a great resource bank for Korean Studies. As Birkbeck students, you can also gain free access to the Korean collection at the British Library, Senate House Library, and SOAS Library.
Campus
Birkbeck is located within the beautiful neighbourhood of Bloomsbury in central London, home to libraries, theatres, museums and galleries. Thanks to our central London location, the Korean Cultural Center UK at the Strand, which is the main cultural organisation on South Korean culture in the UK, is a stone’s throw away. We also hold Korean film events in tandem with our Film cohorts.