Courses related to Asia and the Middle East in the 2026-2027 fall semester

In the 2026-2027 fall semester, you can find several courses at the University of Tartu related to Asia and the Middle East. These include courses on Asian culture, history and geography, and language courses. The courses available in English are listed below. Registration and more information in the SIS portal (OIS2).

HVKU.10.003 Asian and Middle Eastern Civilizations
Lecturer Alevtina Solovyeva
The aim of this course is to introduce societies of Asia (East and South Asia) and Middle East in their synchronic and diachronic perspectives, using analytics of multidisciplinary and social studies approaches. This course aims to form general and subject-specified practical competencies that allow students to work successfully in their chosen field and provide effective tools to improve their professional skills, competitive abilities and benefits at the labor market

HVKU.10.004 Mindsets in Modern Day Asia and Middle East
Lecturer Alectina Solovyeva
The aim of the course to introduce contemporary features and processes characterising societies and ethnic cultures of Asia (East and South Asia) and Middle East. The course aims to provide students with knowledges and analytical multidisciplinary tools to understand and interpret specific epistemological forms, models of behaviour, social values and cultural codes applied in various situations and spheres of today's life in Asia and Middle Eastern.

LTOM.02.030 Demography, Global Migration and Contemporary Cities
Lecturers Tiit Tammaru, Kadi Kalm, Kadri Leetmaa, Madli-Johanna Maidla
The aim is to get overview of the global population trends and their relationship to urban development and planning.

USUS.05.068 Aramaic Language
Lecturer Urmas Nõmmik
The aim of this course is to give an overview of the writing system, grammatical and syntactical structure, phonology and morphology of the Aramaic language.

HVLC.08.012 Chinese for beginners I (On the Basis of English) 0> A1.1
Lecturer Mart Tšernjuk
Mastering the basics of spoken and written Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin). It contains: (1) basic rules for pronunciation; (2) using Chinese phonetic alphabet (pinyin) for writing Chinese words; (3) basic rules and principles of Chinese characters (hanzi/kanji); (4) mastering the elementary vocabulary and speech patterns in speech and writing.

HVLC.08.013 Chinese for beginners II (On the Basis of English) A1.1> A1.2
Lecturer Mart Tšernjuk.
Mastering the basics of modern spoken and written Chinese (Mandarin). Practicing reading, conversation (in the limits of topics and vocabulary given in the textbook), and writing characters; learning the basic rules of grammar and syntax of the Chinese language.

HVLC.08.017 Korean for Beginners I (on the Basis of English), Level 0 > A1.1
Lecturer: Anna Maria Laumets
This course aims to develop basic linguistic skills in Korean. Students will learn and practice fundamental vocabulary and grammar in order to talk about their daily life. They will understand and use Korean better by carrying out simple communicative activities and tasks.

HVKU.04.038 Magic, Belief, and Embodiment in South Asia
Lecturers: Margaret Lyngdoh, Ülo Valk
The objective of this course is to study the bodily experiences of the uncanny and the related narrative traditions in India within the broader context of religious traditions in South Asia. Not only concepts in the folkoristics of religion, but case studies from fieldwork materials from Northeast India will offer a comprehensive perspective of Indian religious worldviews.