The MA South Asian Area Studies programme provides exceptional opportunities for advanced study of one of the world’s most diverse and important regions. Students can choose to concentrate on pre-modern or modern South Asia and can acquire a basic knowledge of one of the area’s languages, or build upon pre-existing knowledge.

Our MA in American Studies offers a comprehensive overview of the field at the graduate level. Students are required to take core courses in the different subfields of American Studies and in related areas such as cultural studies and cultural history, the social sciences and research methodologies, historical linguistics, popular and visual culture, etc. All these pave the way for the individual research students are required to undertake for their thesis in North American literature and literary studies in an interdisciplinary manner. The thesis supervised by our colleagues at the Institute of English Studies is to be handed in in the fourth semester and defended in order to earn an MA in American Studies.

On the MPhil/PhD African Studies supervision is provided for research leading to MPhil and PhD degrees within the broad general area of African studies. Research topics such as the study of a language (from a descriptive, comparative, philological or textual point of view), of literature (whether author-based, thematic or comparative), or of any of the performing arts, which falls within our own core expertise, are supervised entirely in the African Languages, Cultures and Literatures Department. However, there is great potential for extending the range of topics by means of joint supervision with colleagues from other departments and centres.

Research Degrees (MPhil/PhD) in South Asian Studies has an international reputation for excellence in the field of South Asian studies earned by the world-leading research undertaken. The South Asia Section of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics welcomes applications for the degrees of PhD on any topic related to the research interests and disciplines of the Department’s research-active staff.

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.

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 the 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.

The combination of media and area studies provides in-depth critical knowledge about processes of mediation and signification, and how space and geography intersect with them. The program is based on post-colonial theory, media sociology, memory studies and political geography. This is translated into a very practice based, research oriented approach. You can then gain employment in more senior/advisory positions in state administrations, private sector, public service institutions, and NGOs.

The master’s in African Studies at Leiden University is an advanced area studies qualification that combines world-class scholarship with practice-based learning. This multidisciplinary program offers you the opportunity to learn about Africa from a wide range of perspectives: historical, literary, cultural, socio-economical, and political.

Research Degrees (MPhil/PhD) in Japanese and Korean Studies is able to supervise MPhil and PhD degrees by research and thesis in a wide range of cultural and linguistic subjects. Intending research students should not feel constrained to limit their choice of topics to those indicated against the names of current staff members (postgraduate students have recently been working on a range of topics that include Japanese cinema, Kabuki texts, modern Japanese linguistics and literature, Meiji historical texts, Korean linguistics and literature, Korean colonial and eighteenth-century history).

The master’s degree program Intercultural Communication and European Studies (ICEUS) qualifies students for an international career. It comprises course offers in the social sciences, politics, communication, and law. The program includes courses in the social sciences, political sciences, communication sciences, and law.

Students who already have a BA degree in the humanities or social sciences and speak English at least at C1 level can apply to this two- or four-semester programme providing training in the different aspects - language, history, culture, politics, diversity - of American Studies.

Second-cycle program (the equivalent of an MA program) in European Studies is an interdisciplinary postgraduate course taught in English. Over the course of four semesters of study, students follow courses in various fields: political, social, cultural, and economic. The MA program in European Studies offers few study tracks.

The MA Taiwan Studies programme is the first and only postgraduate degree focussing on contemporary Taiwan in the English-speaking world. It provides an unrivalled programme of advanced interdisciplinary courses on Taiwan’s politics, society and culture, cinema, political economy, and international relations. SOAS is the world’s leading centre for Taiwan Studies teaching, academic events and publications.

The MPhil/PhD in Near and Middle Eastern Studies programme provides training in research methods and the study of the Near and Middle East, an interdisciplinary subject area, with research undertaken in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at SOAS.

The MA African Studies at SOAS provides an unrivalled programme of advanced modules on Africa - one of the world’s most fascinating and challenging regions. The opportunity for interdisciplinary study of the continent is a particular advantage of the degree.