The Doctorate Program in Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Culture meets three major needs. Firstly, to serve the national “Belt and Road” strategy and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area development, the Macau S.A.R. needs to cultivate more middle and high-end talents with national sentiment, international vision and cross-cultural communication skills, so as to better integrate into the national development situation. Secondly, in promoting the strategy of “one center, one platform and one base” as confirmed by the Central Government, Macau’s higher education institutions need to play a leading role in establishing “a base for exchange and cooperation with Chinese culture as the mainstream and multiple culture coexistence”. Thirdly, Macau Millennium College has long been committed to promoting the characteristics of Chinese and Western exchanges and integration on Macau. MMC strives for fulfilling its mission of promoting Chinese and Western cultural exchanges and academic research. Therefore, there are needs to offer this doctoral program.

Currently, in local higher education institution, only the University of Macau offers a doctoral degree program for the Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Culture, namely Literature and Cross-Cultural Studies-Portuguese. As a PhD program in the Department of Portuguese, Faculty of Humanities Social Sciences, it focuses on analyzing intercultural exchange between Portugal and other countries and regions, such as Macau, through the study of Portuguese language and literature. The language of instruction and research is limited to Portuguese. Due to this specific curriculum positioning, the course direction is limited too. The content and methods of teaching and research are relatively single, which require a high level of Portuguese language proficiency from students. Also, the platform for academic exchange is relatively small. It is difficult to meet the urgent demand for experts and research platforms for comparative studies of Chinese and Western cultures for the current development of the country and Macau.

Course Positioning

This course is positioned as an international academic research and exchange platform for the coexistence, communication, and integration of Chinese and Western cultures. The program aims to cultivate academic researchers and comprehensive professionals who have a solid theoretical foundation in cultural studies and practical experience in the comparative study and exchange of Chinese and Western culture.

Course Features

The course is committed to highlighting the following features through its professional scope and required and elective courses. Firstly, with a broad perspective on the fundamental theory of cultural studies, the course covers Chinese and Western culture in the field of language, literature, philosophy, art and communication. Secondly, there are one center and three key points, namely centering on intercultural exchange between Chinese culture and Western culture via Macau, and emphasizing on culture, arts and communication in research. Thirdly, teaching staff owns multicultural and academic background. Currently, there are seven instructors. Five of them have experience studying and researching in Western countries or regions. Four of whom have lived and worked in Western countries for many years. Five of whom have academic capabilities in both Chinese and English. Three of them are scholars of Chinese and Western history and culture. Two are scholars of cross-cultural communication, and two are scholars of Chinese and Western art history.

Training Objectives

The objective of this program is to cultivate academic and comprehensive professionals who possess a solid foundation in cultural theory and are skilled in the study and exchange of Chinese and Western culture.

Employment Prospects

After graduation from this program, students can join various higher education institutions and research institutes to engage in teaching and research work in intercultural studies, Chinese-Western arts comparison, and China’s foreign communication, etc. Also, students are able to join relevant international organizations, central foreign affairs departments, local foreign affairs organizations in Macau and neighboring regions to engage in research and management work. As well as that, students are capable of joining various large multinational enterprises (especially those operating in countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”), assisting or directly taking charge of research on the cultural and social environment of destination countries, corporate strategy setting (such as communication and dissemination strategy design and implementation), and foreign liaison work. Students can also work in international trade, economic, cultural and tourism departments at all levels of government, engaging in related research and management. Graduates can work in various mass media and publishing organizations, as editors, reporters, or other related jobs in the Chinese-Western exchange filed. They can also join various non-governmental organizations such as associations and think tanks to conduct comparative research on Chinese and Western cultures and to liaise with foreign countries.

Admission Requirements

Applicants who have a master’s degree and pass the entrance examination for doctoral students organized by Macau Millennium College may apply for admission, with priority given to majors in foreign language and literature, art, fine arts, journalism and communication, history, international trade and economics, etc.

Graduation Requirements

Each students must complete 33 credit (including 3 compulsory courses, 2 compulsory professional courses, 1 academic activity, and a graduation thesis) within the study period of 3-6 academic years. Only those who pass the course are eligible to apply for graduation. Each student will be awarded a Doctorate degree in Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Culture from Macau Millennium College, after completing all the requirements of the degree program with a passing grade and with the approval of the Academic and Teaching Committee.