London, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,320 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas student fees | home student fees: GBP 12,220 per year
Key Summary
Introduction
The MA in Middle Eastern Studies provides exceptional opportunities for studying this diverse and fascinating area at the postgraduate level through a variety of disciplinary approaches.
The main emphasis of the programme is on the modern period through modules in history, geography, politics, economics and anthropology. Some exposure is provided, however, to the pre-modern culture and society of the area through modules in religious studies, Islamic art and archaeology, and history. Modules based on Arabic are offered for those with adequate knowledge of the language, while modules in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish are available for those who wish to acquire or develop skills in these languages.
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
Degree programmes at SOAS can include language courses in more than forty African and Asian languages. It is SOAS students’ command of an African or Asian language which sets SOAS apart from other universities.
Students take 180 credits, 60 credits from a dissertation and 120 credits from taught modules.
Major module
As part of the application process, all students have to select and be admitted into a so-called ‘Major’ module, about which they complete a 10,000-word dissertation. Major modules will have their academic prerequisites and acceptance will require approval. All students accepted into the programme will be asked to indicate their Major preferences from the list of modules available as Majors for the programme in good time so that they can be admitted into a Major before enrolment in September.
Generally, the convenor of the Major module will be the supervisor of the dissertation, unless the department offering the Major module has separate arrangements about the assigning of dissertation supervisors. Please note that most Major modules are 30 credits, but some are 15 credits. Also, some modules can only be taken as a major and some, including language modules, only as a minor.
Taught modules
Besides the Major course into which they have been accepted (30 or 15 credits), students have to take the compulsory module 'Remapping Area Studies' (15 credits). In addition, students select 45 or 60 credits from the list of minors (including 30 credits of language courses) and the final 30 credits may be chosen either from:
- the list of minor modules (including another language module), or
- any approved open options modules available from other departments and schools at SOAS.
As the emphasis in the Regional Studies programmes is on interdisciplinary study, students are required to select their modules from a minimum of three different disciplines, and a maximum of 60 credits may be taken in any one discipline. For this requirement, modules convened by members of SLCL staff may be classified under different disciplines (culture, history, literature or politics) as indicated in the List of Guided Options to allow students maximum choice
Some disciplines such as politics, economics or social anthropology require an appropriate qualification (such as all or part of a first degree) if any of their courses are to be taken as the major subject.
Compulsory
- Dissertation in Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Guided Options - Major
- Islam and the West: Artistic and Cultural Contacts
- Art and Architecture of the Seljuks and Ottomans (12th -15th centuries)
- Islamic Art and Architecture of Eastern Mediterranean of the Period of the Crusades (11th-14th centuries)
- Political Economy of Development and Change in the Middle East
- Human Rights and Islamic Law
- Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
- Music, Exile and Diaspora: the Jews of Arab Lands
- Classical Persian Poetry: Texts and Traditions (PG)
- Palestine, History, Culture, Politics
- Zionism: Critical Perspectives (PG)
- From Palestine to Israel
- Turkey: Continuity and Change (1908-1945)
- Film and Society in the Middle East and North Africa
- Qur'an and Hadith Studies Part A
- Qur'an and Hadith Studies Part B
- Iran, History and Politics
- Iran: Society and Culture
- Political Society in the Middle East
- State and Transformation in the Middle East
- International Politics of the Middle East
- Muslim Britain: Perspectives and Realities
Guided Options - Minor
- Islam and the West: Artistic and Cultural Contacts
- Islamic Visual Culture
- Art and Architecture of the Seljuks and Ottomans (12th -15th centuries)
- Islamic Art and Architecture of Eastern Mediterranean of the Period of the Crusades (11th-14th centuries)
- China and the Silk Road: Art and Archaeology
- Political Economy of Development and Change in the Middle East
- Queering Migrations and Diasporas
- Human Rights and Islamic Law
- Gender, Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
- Israel, Palestine, and International Law
- Islamic Family Law
- Islamic Legal Theory
- Practical Translation: English into Other Languages
- Practical Translation: Other Languages into English
- Mediated Culture in the Middle East: Politics and Communications
- Transnational Communities and Diasporic Media: Networking, Connectivity, Identity
- International Political Communication
- Music, Exile and Diaspora: the Jews of Arab Lands
- Classical Persian Poetry: Texts and Traditions (PG)
- Arabic 1 (PG)
- Advanced Arabic/English/Arabic Translation Project (PG)
- Arabic 2 (PG)
- Palestine, History, Culture, Politics
- Zionism: Critical Perspectives (PG)
- Turkish 1 A (PG)
- Turkish 1B (PG)
- Hebrew 1 A (PG)
- Hebrew 1 B (PG)
- From Palestine to Israel
- Persian 2 A (PG)
- Persian 2 B (PG)
- Arabic 1 B (PG)
- Arabic 1 A (PG)
- Turkey: Continuity and Change (1908-1945)
- Arabic 4 B (PG)
- Arabic 4 A (PG)
- Arabic 3 B (PG)
- Arabic 3 A (PG)
- Arabic 6 A (PG)
- Arabic 6 B (PG)
- Arabic 5 A (PG)
- Arabic 5 B (PG)
- Arabic 2 B (PG)
- Arabic 2 A (PG)
- Turkish 2 B (PG)
- Turkish 2 A (PG)
- Film and Society in the Middle East and North Africa
- Hebrew 2 B (PG)
- Hebrew 2 A (PG)
- Qur'an and Hadith Studies Part A
- Qur'an and Hadith Studies Part B
- Iran, History and Politics
- Iran: Society and Culture
- Political Violence
- Politics of Resistance in the Middle East
- Urban Politics in the Middle East
- International Politics of the Middle East
- Muslim Britain: Perspectives and Realities
Program Outcome
Knowledge
- How to assess data and evidence critically from manuscripts and digital sources, solve problems of conflicting sources and conflicting interpretations, locate materials, use research sources (particularly research library catalogues) and other relevant traditional sources
- Subject-specific skills are an amalgam of the skills described for each of the three options chosen by candidates from the cross-department/faculty choices available in the relevant course descriptors.
Intellectual (Thinking) Skills
- Students will learn to become precise and cautious in their assessment of evidence and should also come to understand through practice what documents can and cannot tell us
- Students will learn to question interpretations, however authoritative, and reassess evidence for themselves.
- Communicate effectively in writing.
Subject-Based Practical Skills
- Language students will learn the chosen language at the appropriate level
- Present seminar papers
- Listen and discuss ideas introduced during seminars
- Practice research techniques in a variety of specialized research libraries and institutes.
Transferrable Skills
- Writing good essays and dissertations
- Structure and communicate ideas effectively, both orally and in writing
- Study a variety of written and digital materials in libraries and research institutes of a kind they will not have used as undergraduates
- Present (non-assessed) material orally.
Linguistic Skills (Two-Year Intensive Language Pathways)
- To acquire/develop skills in a language spoken in the Near and Middle East to Effective Operational Proficiency level
- To demonstrate awareness of the conceptual and communicative underpinnings of that language and through this interlinguistic and intercultural understanding
- Communicate in written and spoken medium in a relevant language
- Engage with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and understand the role of different frames of reference.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics leave SOAS not only with linguistic and cultural expertise but also with skills in written and oral communication, analysis and problem-solving.
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- Africa Matters
- Amnesty International
- Arab British Chamber of Commerce
- BBC World Service
- British High Commission
- Council for British Research in the Levant
- Department for International Development
- Edelman
- Embassy of Jordan
- Ernst & Young
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
- Middle East Eye
- Saïd Foundation
- TalkAbout Speech Therapy
- The Black Curriculum
- The Telegraph
- United Nations Development Programme
- UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
- Wall Street Journal
Program delivery
One-year Masters programmes consist of 180 credits. 120 credits are taught in modules of 30 credits (taught over 20 weeks) or 15 credits (taught over 10 weeks); the dissertation makes up the remaining 60 units. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which are optional.