The School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London

Overview

BA South Asian Studies is a 3-year degree, and four courses are taken each year. The first year features the core course South Asian Culture, a modular course which introduces aspects of the languages and cultures of the subcontinent. This is taken alongside an introductory language course in Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Sanskrit, or Urdu, which in turn leads to further units in the same language and its literature in Years 2 and 3. (Gujarati, Pali, Punjabi, Sinhala and Tamil are also available, but in a more limited range of courses.) Not all language courses are available every year, and all courses are subject to quorum; current availability can be checked by contacting the South Asia Department. Further courses relevant to South Asia are selected from options taught in other departments. Given the range of courses available, the Department is careful to offer appropriate advice to each student in making his or her selection, in order to ensure an overall coherence of coverage.

Introductory language courses taught in Year 1 assume no previous knowledge of the chosen language or its script: they start completely from scratch. Courses in modern languages concentrate on all four linguistic skills – understanding, speaking, reading and writing; classes are small and interactive, with students being encouraged to use the language actively from the outset. Many of our introductory language courses have been written especially for our needs by members of the Department staff; and Intermediate and advanced language courses feature a wide range of ‘real world’ teaching and study materials. The formal teaching is complemented by the frequent open lectures, seminars and cultural events on South Asian themes that are held regularly in SOAS.

Final-year options include an Independent Study Project, which gives the student an opportunity to pursue a subject of personal interest (in language, literature, politics, culture, religion, the arts and media, or any other aspect of contemporary or historical India), leading to the writing of a 10,000-word dissertation under tutorial supervision.

BA South Asian Studies can be taken as a single-subject degree, or as a two-subject degree in combination with African Studies, Development Studies, Economics, Geography, History, History of Art/Archaeology, Law, Linguistics, Management, Music, Politics, Social Anthropology, Study of Religions. The two-subject degree must include at least five units in South Asian Studies over the three years.

Students with a specific interest in Hindi, Bengali, Nepali or Sanskrit may like to consider, as an alternative to BA South Asian Studies, one of the degrees featuring these languages as a named component; these degrees have a more specific focus on the respective language itself.  Hindi, Bengali and Nepali are all available as four-year, two-subject BA degrees including a year abroad; Sanskrit is available as a three-year, two-subject BA degree.