SOAS and NSYSU, Taiwan launch new joint Master’s in global citizenship

A new joint one-year Master's in Global Citizenship has been launched by SOAS and National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. This agreement marks the first joint Master’s programme in Taiwan with a UK university.

Co-designed by the School of Anthropology, Media and Gender at SOAS and NSYSU’s College of Social Sciences, the programme has been built around key themes of equality, citizenship, and social change to help students develop a framework for global equality and sustainable development.

The partnership responds directly to Taiwan’s increasing demand for expertise in global citizenship and social change. Aligned with the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) strategic emphasis on enhancing multicultural competence in schools, NSYSU will provide up to 18 full and partial fee scholarships for students on this joint Master’s.

The programme encourages students to reimagine citizenship from a transnational perspective and to develop the ability to understand and navigate complex global issues.

A decade-long collaboration between Jieyu Liu, Professor of Sociology and China Studies, and Dean Mei-Hua Chen at NSYSU’s College of Social Sciences has led to this partnership. Students will spend their first semester in Kaohsiung followed by a semester in London. Teaching staff at SOAS will include the programme's academic co-lead, Professor Sanjay Srivastava, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. The programme will be co-delivered and co-awarded by both institutions, and each student will be co-supervised by faculty from both institutions, with a single tuition fee for all students.

Professor Liu said: “The programme encourages students to reimagine citizenship from a transnational perspective and to develop the ability to understand and navigate complex global issues. The design of cross-cultural mobility will enable students to engage with diverse perspectives, learning to critically analyse different cultural values and practices, and to foster mutual respect and global cooperation.

Dean Chen said: "This Master's aims to encourage professionals from various fields, including schoolteachers, multinational corporation employees, and civil servants, to pursue further studies to cultivate higher education talents who can meet the needs of globalization."

SOAS Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Habib said: “We are incredibly pleased to be announcing this partnership today with one of Taiwan’s top-tier institutions. Our global partnerships continue to provide a pathway for the next generation to transcend boundaries and tackle key global issues. We very much look forward to working with NSYSU to offer a new and progressive approach to the study of global citizenship.”

The inaugural cohort is scheduled to begin in September 2026.