What culture would be most interesting to study in university

So, bit of a personal question. I'm going to study philosphy next year. (haha useless degree and all that) My university requires philosophy students to take up a seperate course next to their philosophy course. Depending on the course I take, ending with two bachelor degrees after three years.
I've been certain about wanting to study philosophy for a long time, but I'm not sure what else to do. My university offers three courses that I'm interested in that combine the study of the language and the history of a specific culture. Egyptology, Sinology and Japanology. These cultures all interest me on a surface level, but I'm only a layman after all. So which one does Veeky Forums think will offer me more depth, which one is actually just plebeian garbage, which one will offer a more interesting learning experience etc.

>tl;dr: Which is better Japan, China or Egypt

Studying China would benefit you most because it's most influencial country of those three in current era. That would bring some job opportunities """somehow""".

probably china, japan is for nerds who think they're not consumerists and egypt was largely conservative through their history so they didn't really change all that much from what I know about it

I took a class on Egyptology and enjoyed it greatly, but that's all I can really say on the subject.

>Egypt
Probably full of KANGZ at this point.
>Japan
Not really relevant
>China
Best of the three, had the most influence.

I mean, I'm studying philosophy. I'm not exactly in it for the job opportunities. I want a job, but if it's a position where I can keep myself busy with the things I've studied I'll be content.

The Egyptology course mainly focuses on ancient Egypt as far as I know.

Ancient Egypt has always appealed to me, but I'm kind of apprehensive because there's the possibility that what I've come to like is just a twenty-first century glamourization rather than the real thing. Maybe that's the case, I don't know.
Glad to hear that someone enjoyed it though. Could you expand a little on what sorts of things you learned about, and what about that appealed to you?

Pre-Islamic Iran. Basically Iranology. Read Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present by Richard Foltz to understand how much influences Zoroastrianism and Mithraism had on world religions.

Of those three, China. It has a vast and ancient literature and a philosophical discourse to rival the Greeks.

Egypt is long dead and everything ever written in Egyptian is available in translation, Japanese civilization is to a large extent a derivative of China, in terms of range of interests and opportunity for direct hands-on learning, it's between China, Greece and India.

I know this has nothing to do with the thread, bit I still must ask. What's the difference between studying on your own and studying in uni?

I'd say if stuck with those three, egyptology. But I'm.more interested in the Western and near east history. If you prefer the far East, the other two are obviously better.

If you want something that will tie in with Greeks, Phoenicians, Assyrians, etc, egypt is a better option.

Depends heavily on the professor. If they know their shit they can really provide insight on the topic.

It's hard to justify paying for it though. I mostly use iTunes U and Coursera for lectures.

When you take it to a university level, you won't just be passively engaging with the information. You'll be actively engaged with it. It provides you with an environment where you're surrounded with people that have a similar interest and where you can be tested on your ability to put the information you take in, to practical use.
Anyone can read all the information you can get in a university course, but you won't be engaged with it in the same way a university student would be.
Also, and this is probably the most tangible thing compared to the more idealistic view of the academic environment I just described, is that you're going to get a piece of paper that recognizes the fact that you learned certain things. Which you can use to get a job in the field related tot that subject.
If you just want to learn about a subject, there's not really a point in going to university for that subject. If you want to (hopefully) be able to put that knowledge to professional use, you should go to university.

Egypt.

T. Somebody trying to justify the money they've drained for a piece of paper

In all seriousness though, it might be because my actual professional field is technical (information security) I don't put that much weight in the university stuff.

I think it can provide insight, but researching on your own accord can provide just as good of knowledge.

Also, formal academic study teaches you research skills that you're not likely to pick up on your own. That includes things like critical thinking, textual analysis, historiography, theory, and other skills and ideas that aren't innate and most people don't really have exposure to. That means instead of just reading about things you find interesting, there's more of a focus on reflection of the materials themselves and a deeper understanding of the events. It's basically the difference between following popsci and actual academic sources.

Basically, you're not just learning about a topic, you're learning about how the field itself works. A degree in a subject doesn't mean you know a lot of facts about a subject, it means you know how to carry out competent research.

bump

Japan

The changing definitions of England

Or the emergence of a British identity

Care to elaborate?

I'm sure it's very interesing, and the Brits are somewhat related to the cultures mentioned. Not really what I was looking for though

Japan is pretyy interesting.

It's interesting shit, and if you like modern history or about the 19th/20th century, it provides an interesting case study into how the role of government, religion and people play in shaping whether a nation is a democracy or Autocracy as Japan has been both in a very short place of time.

As someone who studies Japanese culture, I can tell you that there is a great wealth of meaning to be discovered from studying Japanese morality, society, and history. Comprehending a Japanese worldview is a very relaxing exercise for me, because it gives me a perspective on whatever cultural or contextual biases I have at the time. Authors like Yukio Mishima, the conflict and synthesis of Buddhism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and all in between, all within a stunningly intriguing background of drama, intrigue, and conflict that is Japanese political history.

bump for more info on Egypt

There is a free PDF of The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson if you Google (700 pages). And here's a book list.

Ah great! Massive thanks