MA South Asian Area Studies

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.

This degree provides a wide-ranging interdisciplinary analysis of the South Asian countries – India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, with more limited coverage of Bangladesh and Bhutan. Disciplines available include Politics, Economics, Anthropology, Law, Literature, Cinema, Culture, Religion and History.

The South Asian Area Studies MA programme attracts students from a variety of backgrounds. While some wish to broaden their previous studies or experience of South Asia, others approach the programme without having a South Asian element to their first degree, but with a desire to focus their previous training on the region.

Why study South Asia at SOAS?

• SOAS is ranked 1st in London and 9th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2023 for Asian Studies.
• We are ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023).
• We are ranked top 10 in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2023 for African and Middle Eastern Studies.
• Modern Languages and Linguistics at SOAS has been ranked 10th in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

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
• Google
• 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

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