Our MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies is a broad-based degree for students who want to receive research training in Migration, and Diaspora, as well as Humanitarian and Refugee Studies, including a relevant language as part of the specialisation.

The degree prepares you to proceed to advanced postgraduate research or to work as practitioners in fields related to Migration, Refugees and Humanitarian relief.

The MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies is designed to those who:

• wish to know more of the transnational nature of the modern world
• wish to engage with critical theories to understand the management of mobility and the impact of humanitarian relief
• wish to understand the role of migration in the major political and cultural processes of the contemporary world
• come from other disciplines, such as Law or Politics, and now wish to incorporate an anthropological perspective on issues of migration and diaspora

The degree offers students a chance to pursue their specific areas of interest by a selecting from optional modules. You will have the option of studying the degree from either:

1. a broad-based perspective enhancing your knowledge in light of continuing contemporary research
2. a specific area, allowing you to study diaspora and migration issues in depth in relation to a particular discipline or region

The MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies is considerably enriched by the SOAS Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies, which runs seminars, films and public lectures and also hosts a number of international scholars. The Centre is also a part of a migration research network of London colleges including LSE and UCL. Students on the programme therefore have unparalleled access to a critical body of scholars and scholarship on migration and diaspora related issues.

This programme has a first-rate graduate employability record, with graduates moving on to find employment in lectureships and professorships throughout the world in areas such as information and technology, government service, the media and tourism. 

Prospective students are encouraged to contact the Programme Convenor, Dr Ruba Salih, at an early stage of their application to seek advice on the most appropriate options for study. For more information email: ruba.salih@soas.ac.uk

Start of programme: September only

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

Programme Overview

The programme consists of 180 credits in total: 120 credits of modules and a dissertation of 10,000 words at 60 credits.

Students are expected to take all the core and compulsory modules listed below.

All students must audit the compulsory module, Ethnographic Research Methods during term 1.  This will not count towards the 180 credits.  Students will be expected to attend only lectures and do not attend seminars or submit any assessments.  Students may choose to take this module (worth 15 credits) as part of their 120 credits from the option lists.

All students are required to take 30 credits from the Department of Anthropology and Sociology list.

The remaining credits can be selected from the relevant lists in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology or relevant options from other departments or a language module.  See below for a detailed programme structure.

Programme Detail

Dissertation

Students must complete a Dissertation (10,000 words)

Taught Component

Core Module

Compulsory Module

AND

Guided Option

Choose modules from the List of Anthropology and Sociology modules below to the value of 30 credits

AND

Choose modules from the List of Anthropology and Sociology modules below to the value of 60 credits

OR

Open Option

Choose modules from List of Modules in Other Department below to the value of 60 credits

OR

Language Component

Choose Post Graduate Language modules to the value of 60 credits

List of Modules (subject to availability)

Anthropology and Sociology

Modules in Other Department

Programme Specification

• Ma Migration and Diaspora Studies Programme Specification (pdf; 228kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

SOAS also has a large range of options on migration and diaspora related issues across the school. Teaching methods and assessment vary across these options, and their availability will depend on appropriate staff being available in the relevant academic year.

In addition, students are required to attend the weekly seminars held by the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies, where they will hear international scholars give papers on a variety of migration and diaspora related topics. The seminars provide an invaluable backdrop for the transdisciplinary approach of the programme overall. Students are also encouraged to apply to the London in Motion workshop: https://www.soas.ac.uk/anthropology/ 

The student learning experience is also be enhanced by the public lectures, films and workshops the Centre organises.

Modules

In the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, most postgraduate modules have a one or two-hour lecture and a one hour seminar every week. Lectures and seminars are often taken by different teachers to provide a variety of angles on the subject.  The majority of the student’s time will be through their own independent study. Students become more active in class through their reading and essay-writing and should greatly enhance their participation in discussion groups.  

The Dissertation

These are taken by final-year students only, its aim is to provide an opportunity for students to conduct original historical research on their own initiative, to engage in in-depth analysis of particular subjects and to use a range of primary historical sources. It is assessed by a single 10,000-word dissertation (including notes but excluding bibliography).

Tuition Fees

Full details of postgraduate tuition fees can be found on the Registry's Postgraduate Tuition Fees page.

This is a Band 1 tuition fee.

Fees for 2020/21 entrants. The fees below are per academic year. Fees go up each year, therefore, your tuition fee in your second & subsequent years of study will be higher. Our continuing students, on the same degree programme, are protected from annual increases higher than 5%.

Scholarships

For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section

A Masters in Migration and Diaspora Studies helps you to understand the world, other peoples’ ways of life and how society is organised.

Postgraduate students leave SOAS with a portfolio of widely transferable skills which employers seek, including analytical and critical skills; ability to gather, assess and interpret data; high level of cultural awareness; and problem-solving.  

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.

Former MA student Jorge Rodriguez Solorzano testimonial:

"My time in the Migration and Diaspora Studies MA programme at SOAS helped me expand my intellectual and creative horizons in very exciting ways. The programme’s interdisciplinary structure allows students to pick up many skills along the way and facilitates access to opportunities to engage in extracurricular projects, such as the London in Motion Documentary Film Workshop. The programme is headed by a compelling group of scholar-teachers. These foster an approach to the study of mobility and migration that is unique among Anthropology departments: you will read Paul Gilroy, Avtar Brah and Didier Fassin in the same module! In addition to pursuing exciting coursework in Anthropology, I took a rigorous full-year course in Modern Standard Arabic and also joined a module in Postcolonial thought with a phenomenal professor in the Law department. Professionally, the MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies is highly regarded in the academy, in the UK and transnationally. I am set to start a PhD in Anthropology in my top school in the U.S. this fall, which would have been unthinkable without this enriching intellectual experience. SOAS itself is an incredibly dynamic institution because of the global composition of its study body and the inherently political ethos of the school. Finally, the dissertation component of the MA trains you to be an independent researcher while giving you room to explore. I would definitely recommend this department to prospective students, particularly if you hope to continue on to a PhD". (Jorge Rodriguez Solorzano,PhD student Columbia University)".

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