MA in Postcolonial Studies at SOAS | University of London

Overview

Featured events

06 Jun Postgraduate Open Evening

Convenor

Start of programme: September 2011

Mode of Attendance: Full Time or Part Time

The MA Postcolonial Studies Programme offers a focus on the historical relationships of power, domination and practices of imperialism and colonialism in the modern period (late nineteenth-century to the present) through the study of literature and culture.

The core course will introduce a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the literature, film and media of these areas. A range of literary, filmic and theoretical texts from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Near and Middle East will normally be included in the reading list. These will address representations of colonialism and decolonisation, neo-colonialism, nationalism in postcolonial societies and diasporic experiences, allowing us to explore the heterogeneous meanings, intersections and strategies of analysis that have emerged with reference to postcolonial studies.

Attention will be paid to colonial and postcolonial constructs such as: the Oriental, the Global, the Cosmopolitan, the Third World and the multicultural. The core course of the programme introduces and analyses interdisciplinary theories and ideological practices around a set of historical and current issues from various regions of Asia and Africa. The range of minors offers students more opportunities to explore interdisciplinarity and regional specificities.

Why this programme is special at SOAS

Postcolonial MA Programmes offered in London and other UK institutions are located within the field of English Studies or the Social Sciences. The Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS) is uniquely positioned to offer an inter-disciplinary Postcolonial Studies MA programme which gives students an opportunity to understand and negotiate the field of postcolonial studies with recourse to interdisciplinarity and to theoretical explications from the regions of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. SOAS offers a unique range of regional expertise available amongst the CCLPS’s faculty membership. The Programme also offers a timely intervention at a time when there is a national and international crisis in the understanding of multiculturalism, race relations and religious and national affiliations.

Structure

The Programme will consist of courses valued at 3 units and a dissertation of 10,000 words. Students take three courses (one core, two options) and write a 10,000 word dissertation associated with the core course. Part time students are required to take the core course in Year 1 of their study.

Students may take one language acquisition course at appropriate level as one of their options. All postgraduate language courses offered by the departments of the Faculty of Languages and Cultures are available; for details of course offerings see the departmental websites (Africa, China and Inner Asia, Japan and Korea, Near and Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia).

Core Course

Postcolonial Theory and Practice - 15PCSC003 (1 Unit) - Full Year

Course options (non-language courses)

Regional Literatures and Cultures:

Travelling Africa: Writing the Cape to Cairo - 15PAFC139 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Modern Japanese Literature (Masters) - 15PEAH012 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Modern Chinese Literature in Translation - 15PCHC002 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Traditional Chinese Literature in Translation - 15PCHC004 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Literatures in African languages - 15PAFC124 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Literatures of South Asia - 15PSAC284 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2013/2014
Imagining Pakistan: culture, politics, gender (MA) - 15PSAC313 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Social and Political Dimensions of Modern Arabic Literature - 15PNMC347 (1 Unit) - Full Year
War, Revolution and Independence in South East Asia Literatures in Translation (Masters) - 15PSEH009 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1

Media and Film:

Japanese Transnational Cinema: from Kurosawa to Asia Extreme and Studio Ghibli - 15PMSH017 (0.5 Unit)
Japanese Post-war Film Genres and the Avant-garde - 15PMSH001 (0.5 Unit)
Indian Cinema: Its History and Social Context - 15PSAH001 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Indian Cinema: Key Issues - 15PSAH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Modern Chinese Film and Theatre (MA) - 15PCHH001 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Modern Film from Taiwan and the Chinese Diaspora - 15PCHH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Aspects of African film and video 1 - 15PAFH006 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Aspects of African film and video 2 - 15PAFH007 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2013/2014
Curating Africa: African Film and Video in the Age of Festivals - 15PAFH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Film and Society in the Middle East - 15PNMC230 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Post-crisis Thai Cinema (1997-2007) - 15PSEH008 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
(Post) Colonialism and Otherness in South East Asia on Screen - 15PSEH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2013/2014
Global Media and Postnational Communication: Theoretical & Contemporary Issues - 15PMSC003 (1 Unit) - Full Year

Gender Studies:

Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Film - 15PSEH011 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2013/2014
Gendering migration & diasporas - 15PGNH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2

Diaspora Studies:

African and Asian Diasporas in the Modern World - 15PANH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
African and Asian Cultures in Britain - 15PANH009 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Transnational Communities and Diasporic Media:Networking, Connectivity, Identity - 15PMSH004 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2

Programme Specification

MA Postcolonial Studies Programme Specifications 2012-13 (pdf; 39kb)

Teaching & Learning

Destinations

MA Post Colonial Studies graduates gain competency in intercultural awareness and understanding. Familiarity with the subject wiill be developed through the study of literature, film and media of these areas. Graduates leave SOAS with a portfolio of widely transferable skills which employers seek in many professional and management careers, both in business and in the public sector. These include:written and oral communication skills; attention to detail; analytical and problem-solving skills; and the ability to research, amass and order information from a variety of sources. A postgraduate degree is a valuable experience that provides students with a body of work and a diverse range of skills that they can use to market themselves with when they graduate.

For more information about Graduate Destinations from this department, please visit the Careers Service website.

How to apply

Scholarships

For further information visit the Scholarships section

SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS)