Master's Degree programme

Degree: Master of Social Sciences

Duration: 2 academic years, 120 ECTS credits

Mode of study: Full-time

Faculty / Department: Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for East Asian Studies

Location: Turku, Finland

Language of instruction: English

Tuition fee for citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland:  None

Tuition fee for citizens of non-EU/EEA countries:  €8,000 / academic year

Scholarships available: check the website

Please also check our FAQ before applying to our Master's Degree Programme.

Academic director of the Master’s Programme,
University lecturer Sabine Burghart
sabine.burghart@utu.fi

Education coordinator Tuula Karjalainen (application process)
tuusah@utu.fi

The University of Turku has bilateral agreements with several East Asian universities:

• China (People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan)
• Japan
• South Korea  

Further information about exchange studies and the application process is available at Applying for Exchange pages (UTU Intranet) of the International Office.

Master's degree theses (pro gradu) written by the students of the Centre for East Asian Studies.

2022

Lavikainen, Laura: The EU-China relationship through public discussion on the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment

Eronen, Tessa: Pandemic Models and Image Management: South Korea’s Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jungner, Frank: Perceptions of the Deployment of the Thermal High Air Area Defense in the Republic of Korea and the Discussion of Experts and Scholars

Kauranen, Pihla: The War at Home, the War Abroad : (Trans)Formations of Far-Right Activism in Contemporary Japan

Rönkkö, Tanja: Breaking the Silence: Current discussion on sexual violence in Japan and in the West in connection with intersectional feminism

Selonen, Lauri:  “If they were my son I’d have to apologize” An Examination of Masculinity in Terrace House: Opening New Doors

2021

Dao, Ngoc: The Impacts of the South China Sea Disputes between Vietnam and China on the Vietnamese Government’s Perspectives on Joining the Belt Road Initiative

Haapala, Milja: Love with Flaws : A Qualitative Study on LGBTQ+ Representation in South Korean Drama

Henttonen, Heikki: CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL IDENTITY UNDER DICTATORSHIP — DEPICTION OF YOUTH AND MESSAGES TO THEM IN NORTH KOREAN CINEMA BETWEEN 1971—2016

Lampione Gombas, Noemi: “Arashi for Dream” : Idol—fan relationships in Japan

Lehto, Roosa: Rise of the China Threat: The Development of the China Discourse in the U.S. Administrative Documents in 2010-2021

Ludwiczak, Izabela: How South Korean female university students perceive women’s beauty standards and their connotations

Saarinen, Fred: PROPAGANDA IN DEMOCRACY CASE STUDY : How South Koreans in Their 20s Detect and Understand Propaganda

Sava, Ville: Manufacturing The Meiji Era : Portrayal of The Meiji Restoration in Kagoshima Museums and Heritage Sites 

Siivonen, Johanna: Robotics in Japanese elderly care - attitudes of young university students and the Japanese government, and their implications

Suomalainen, Eveliina: Reducing Stigmas : How the South Korean Government Aims to Reduce Mental Health Stigmas and Stigma-based Discrimination?

Väisänen, Laura: Qualitative Content Analysis of North Korean Defectors' Self-Representations On Youtube

Ying, Hao: A Study about Impacts of China’s Universal Two-child Policy on Chinese Professional Women

Bernardi, Nicholas: While Searching for a Scoop - Developing an Understanding of Working Conditions of Journalists in Japan Through an Analysis of Firsthand Accounts

2020

Arki, Petra: Framing the Comfort Women: Non-governmental organizations and the United Nations framing the issue from 2008 till 2018

Eason, Brooke: The Okinawa Problem and Okinawa Movement: Contemporary Views and Identities

Kastepohja, Jussi: The Effect of China’s Political Reforms on Taiwanese Third Sector: Qualitative Study of Religion Affiliated Taiwanese NGOs: Border-crossing Civil Society across the Taiwan Strait

Katajamäki, Sasu: Voluntary departures, expulsions, or profitable extortion? : The politics of expulsion and the ethnic Chinese Vietnamese refugees 1975 - 1979

Kääriäinen, Lotta: China's Changing Role in the New Era, a Case Study Based on China's First Overseas Military Base in Djibouti

Santiago, Antonio: COMMUNIST SEX CULTURE AND LEWD MARXIST FEMINISTS: The Protestant Response to the 16th Seoul Queer Culture Festival

2019

Heikkinen, Milla: Attitudes Toward Future Japanese Families among Japanese University Students: Tradition, Ideals and Stigmas

Huh, Seyeon: Perception of Contemporary History in South Korea: The Formation of Contested Legacy of Syngman Rhee

Kwon, Jung Ah: The Programme "Now on My Way to Meet You" and its Impact on Exchanges between North Korean Defectors and South Koreans

Nguyen, Minh Nga: Regional initiatives for Japanese Entrepreneurs: A study on the Tokyo metropolis area

Ranta, Mika: Japan's Official Development Assistance: Case Philippines and Human Security

Sidz, Malgorzata: Reproduction of Mothering in East Asia

2018

Cahill, Samantha: Building Better Tourists? Insight into China´s Civilized Tourism´campaign

Gouiffès-Santarelli, Perrine: Road to Nowhere: Transitions to Adulthood and the New Social Vagrants in post-1997 South Korea

Hakulinen, Noora: Human Trafficking in China – An analysis of national policies and their impacts on punishment levels in human trafficking court cases between 2012-2016

Hautala, Iina: Commemorative Landscape of Dokdo in South Korea – Reflections on Dokdo's importance in the South Korean national narrative

Isohanni, Heikki: Mythology Marches to Modernity : Yōkai in Contemporary Japan

Kurki, Suvi: Finding a New Narrative of Chinese Business Leadership

Liu, Bayoing: Factionalism in the CCP and the DPP -One´s Obstruction, the Other´s Impetus

Morozova, Aleksandra: Illicit Drugs in Modern China: Production, Trafficking and Consumption

Pihl, Marko: Dependent Autonomy: A Study of Chinese Environmental Social Organisation's Operational Autonomy

Pitkänen, Ari-Joonas: A Dichotomy Dismantled – Reflections on National Identity among Supporters of Third Force Political Parties in Taiwan

Šilhánová, Barbora: From the Village to Heaven – The development of the social role of Taiwanese Bunun prayer pasibutbut in the course of the modernization of the tribe

Tuorila, Eero: Opposition Discourse on Security Policy in Japan: Case of the 2015 Legislation for Peace and Security

2017

Ilo, Reetta: Hidden Pride, Crouching Nationalism? The Worldview of Japanese Private University Students

Kuzina, Viktoriya: Protecting the Right to Know in Japan: Social Advocacy versus the Special Secrecy Law 

Pence Jr, Gary Leon: A History to Open the Future: Obstacles and Possibilities of Joint History Books in Northeast Asia

Schüssler, Fabien: Assessing Travel Motivations, Satisfactions and Branding Success in Heritage Tourism: Fang Gu Jie in Chengdu, Sichuan

Yoochadchawan, Tais: Chinese Public Intellectuals' Call for Constitutionalism - Yu Jianrong's and Xu Zhiyong's Advocacy and Engagement

2016

Alexeeva, Anna: Towards Interdependence? – Russian-Chinese Economic Relations 1990–2014 with the Focus on Energy Trade​

Coratella, Eva: From the Great Famine (1958-1962) to the Food Waste Problem: the Role of Memory to Enhance the Awareness in the City of Shanghai

Jokinen, Risto: The Cheonan Incident: The Contested Fate of the South Korean Ship

Jämsä, Heli: ​Remembering the War and Aggression: A Discourse Analysis of Japan's State Apologies and Commemoration Speeches on August 15th 1995–2015​

Lapshina, Tatiana: The Contemporary Image of Hikikomori and Otaku Phenomena in Mass Media​

Miao, Shiyu: A Power for Peace and Development - The White Papers of the Chinese Government from a Public Diplomacy Point of View

Männistö, Maria: Government-foreign industry relations in China: How Finnish companies perceive China's officials

Piantadosi, Tina: Japan's Shining Women: Young Women Negotiating the Transition to Adulthood in Japan

Pinchuk, Anastasiia: Loneliness and Ageing Society in Japan: Case Study of Burari Elderly Care Center

Shushina, Lidia: The image of the Russian Federation in the Japanese Newspapers : Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun publications concerning the Russian militray operation in Syria

Song, Mary Hyunhee: Cosmetic Surgery and Rites of Passage in Korean Society – A Study on Cosmetic Surgeries after the University Entrance Exam

Yin, Yilin: Ethnic Koreans in China – Korean School Closings and Losing Korean Ethnicity

2015

Fagnoni, Federica: Molded Identity: Manchu Sinicization and Self-Perception of the Bannermen's Descendants

Hankamäki, Mikko: Supply Chains' Environmental requirements in China in 2025: Scenario Analysis

Kamppuri, Virpi: Grassroots Charity in China: Case Analysis of a Charity Project Organised by Jane Zhang Fan Club​

Kiema, Eveliina: Trivial Pursuit? Asian Antics in the Arctic – Securitization in Northeast Asian Power Struggle in the Context of Arctic Cooperation

Pankakoski, Paula: Place and Belonging - An Ethnography of Rural Migrant Children in Beijing

Scibilia, Adèle: The Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands Dispute: An Integrated Factor Of Instability In The Asia-Pacific Region

Wang, Yue: China's War Memory: From Victor to Victim - The Portrayal of Japanese Figures in Chinese "Anti-Japanese War" Film 

Xiang, Jingbei: The Role of Chinese TV Media in Popularising Chinese Traditional Culture - In the Case of Lecture Room

2014

Cheung, Shun: Sinicization and Chinese Language and Culture Education (CLCE): A Case Study of Confucius Institute in Wellington, New Zealand

Haverinen, Anna-Kaisa: From Invisibility to Twitter - Four Decades in the Life of Japanese Lesbians

Ma, Jing: A Study on the Implementation Effects and Upgrading Paths of Export-oriented Economy Strategy of China's Coastal Areas

Maezono, Junko: The Influence and Transformation of a Long Term Residence Abroad on Self-Identity and Gender: A Case Study of Japanese Wives Married to Finnish Men Living in Turku, Finland

Peltonen, Jenny: South Korean presidents and the alliance with the United State 1998-2012 - A case study of the Free Trade Agreement

Volkova, Anastasia:  New Directions of the Japanese Management System: Case study of two Japanese corporations

2013

Ganina, Irina: "Cool Japan" Strategy: What Kind of Coolness?

Heikkilä, Jukka-Pekka: Change of Power Dynamics in North Korea: Three Scenarios

Jaatinen, Nina: No Money and no Pressure? Policies, their Implementation and Implications: The Case of Unemployed Return Migrant Workers in Southern Jiangxi Province

Kauppila, Liisa: "Use the Past to Serve the Present!" - PRC History Politics and the Hong Kong handover 1997

Kelhu, Johanna: Democracy and Human Rights Beyond Borders: The Meaning of the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 for Chinese Transnational Democracy and Human Rights Activists

Kettunen, Annemari: Language of the Future, Language of the PRC - Representations of Putonghua in South China Morning Post

Kuramitsu, Kanako: The Problem of ''Skills'' in Japan's Disguised Guest Workers Program and Its Implications

Kynsilehto, Anni: Suematsu Kenchō and Japan's Struggle for Civilized Status

Laaksonen, Iris: Japan's renewable energy policy in the third industrial context

Lappalainen, Erja-Liisa: The role of microblogs behind the Great Firewall of China - Chinese urban youth and the microblog bandwagon

Liu, Le: Promoting Employment Opportunities of the Elderly Employees in Japan's Aging Society

Montonen, Mikko: On Transformation of Bugei Culture from Sengoku to Modern era

Spezza, Gianluca: North Korea Approaches Modernity: Science, Education and Ideology in the DPRK. An Exploratory Study of International Cooperation for Knowledge Sharing with North Korea, 1997-2012

Vainio, Anna: 20 Years of Making Babies that Were Never Born - Japanese Family Friendly Policies for the Diminishing Social Ideal

Zhang, Baoqi: Analyzing China's High-Speed Rail Strategy from a Geo-Strategic Perspective

2012

Ahonen, Pilvi: Animal Lovers, Bridge-Builders and Supervising Watchdogs : Framing and Civil Society Construction by Japanese Pro-Animal Orgnizations in the Kansai and Tokyo Areas

Hakkio, Christine: In Search of the Way: Kokugaku and Its Influence on Meiji Policies

Hartonen, Olavi: Taiwanese English Language Newspapers' Partisan Communication on National Identity Issue - Text Mining Editorials From the First Decade of the 2000s

Li, Miaozhu: Hiding behind the Mass Media: How did the Chinese Government React to the Emergence of the Middle Class through the Mass Media  

2011

Kolehmainen, Samu: A bridge builder or raconteur? : how Japan manoeuvres the global development discourse within the TICAD process

Glogan, Timothy: China’s ‘Assertive’ South China Sea Policy And Rhetoric: Proactive, Reactive Or Myth?

Hakanen, Kari: “Xiamen Commits Suicide” – the framing of the Xiamen PX incident

Mäenpää, Marjaana: Pushing the Boundaries and Siding with the Government: Construction of Chinese Nationalism in the Internet

Wang, Rui: Post-Disaster Reconstruction in Qianag Ethnic Group Rural Communities of Maoxian County, Sichuan Province, China

Sillman, Tanja: Redefining cultural subjectivities: Japanese women artists and strategies for power in contemporary Japanese society

2010

Kärkkäinen, Annina: Propping Up Pariahs or Building a Brighter Future for All? The Effects and Framings of China's Foreign Aid in Namibia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe 2000-2008

Lindholm, Niko: Does Nikkyoso have a political opportunity now that the DPJ  is governing?

Mutanen, Anne: LGBT Activism in Urban China: Online, Underground or Under Construction?

2009

Setälä, Mikko: Demystifying Face: the significance of ’face’ in negotiating with the Chinese 

Tsai, Natalia: Constructing Ainu Identity within Law: Negotations between the Collective, the State, and External Bodies

2008

Haverinen, Hanna:Discursive Effects of Anti-prostitution Law in Korea​

2007

Koskenranta, Hanna: Migrant Workers at Perlos Factory in the Context of Rural-Urban Migration in the Pearl River Delta​