MA History of Art and Archaeology

The MA History of Art and Archaeology programme is a unique opportunity to study the History of Art and Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Your extensive choice of modules will allow you to shape the degree around the areas that interest you most – you can either focus on a region or experience a broad range of themes. Students explore a wide range of arts and material culture, from Islamic art to African diasporic art, contemporary Korean ceramics and South East Asian Buddhist monuments, exploring their specificity and the links between them, in historical and contemporary periods. Modules include field-trips, museum and storage visits, talks by curators, artists and other practitioners.

You will consider theoretical and methodological questions and are invited to question the relevance of the disciplinary distinction between History of Art and Archaeology to the study of the non-Western world. Courses cover a time period spanning from antiquity to present-day, contemporary art.

Why study History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS?

• SOAS is ranked 15th in the UK for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings 2023)
• We are ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023)
• We partner with the British Council to offer a School of Arts student an internship at the Venice Biennale
• We partner with the Chu Te-Chun Foundation to offer a paid internship at the Venice Biennale
• We offer exclusive School of Arts-led internships at the Rietberg Museum, Zurich (2 places available)
• You can apply for a SOAS Co-Creator internship in the Special Collections of the SOAS Library

Students in the School of Arts develop a ​​critical and theoretically informed approach to global arts and culture. In addition to an intercultural awareness and practical expertise, graduates gain a wide portfolio of transferable skills which are especially sought after in the creative and cultural industries.

Recent School of Arts graduates have been hired by:

• Christie’s
• Christine Park Gallery
• Crisis
• Design Museum
• Hong Kong Museum Of Art
• India Foundation For The Arts
• Japanese Gallery
• Museum of East Asian Art
• Music in Detention
• National Gallery
• Pan Arts
• People Projects Culture & Change
• Roundhouse Trust
• Somerset House Trust
• Songlines Magazine
• Sotheby's
• South Asian Art UK
• Stratford Circus Arts Centre
• Taiwan Embassy
• The Alliance for Global Education
• The British Embassy
• The National Museum Of Korea
• The Royal Collection
• Victoria and Albert Museum

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