The BA in Global Liberal Arts at SOAS is broad but rigorous, for highly-motivated students who wish to explore a range of subjects from arts and humanities to languages and social sciences. It provides a sophisticated understanding of the world as a whole, expert knowledge of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and the skills you need to succeed on and after your degree.

Each year you will take a module from four different tracks. Skills and methods modules teach critical thinking, project design, and research methods. The global track considers the world as a whole, while providing disciplinary training. The regional track focuses on particular parts of the world, which the fourth track complements, with the study of a language from one of these regions.

The degree is designed to give you the perspective, specialist knowledge, and skills you need to succeed in a broad range of professions. It will provide the adaptability and flexibility you need in our rapidly changing world.

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

General Structure

The programme is designed to ensure breadth and depth, allowing you to acquire expertise in a particular discipline and region, while encouraging you to place this in wider interdisciplinary and global contexts. It is also possible to explore a variety of disciplinary approaches and/or regional settings. All students will acquire the training in skills and methods they need to succeed in their chosen intellectual path.

Each year you will take a module in four different tracks:

• the Skills and Methods track focuses on acquiring the core skills you need to succeed at university and beyond, progressing from modules on verbal and quantitative literacy in the first year, through project design and research methods in the second, to an independent research project in your final year.

• the Global track comprises a series of modules that ask you to understand the world as a whole, providing you with a broad framework within which to place your own regions of interest. It is also possible from the second year to develop a particular disciplinary specialisation.

• the Regional track comprises modules that focus on one of the five regions we study at SOAS - Africa, the Near and Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia - as well as modules focusing on particular countries. It is possible to focus on one region throughout your degree, or to study different regions in different years.

• the Language track allows you to pursue the study of one of the many Asian or African languages we teach at SOAS to the intermediate level. It is possible after the first year to study linguistics or literature in translation instead of languages if preferred.

Within each track, modules are progressive and learning outcomes are cumulative, to ensure that you have the skills and knowledge you need before undertaking each module. In outline, therefore, each year will look as follows. (See the following section for further detail.)

• Year 1: two modules on verbal and quantitative literacy; an introduction to global studies; an introductory regional module; and a language module.

• Year 2: the project design & research methods module; an intermediate global module; an intermediate regional module; and a module of language, or of linguistics / literature in translation.

• Year 3: the core dissertation module; an advanced global module; an advanced regional module; and a module of language, or of linguistics literature in translation.
  

Module Groupings

The degree draws on modules from throughout the School. The options can be found on the list of modules for the global, regional, and language tracks, which will be produced annually and is sub-divided into the lists specified above.

The programme draws on modules from throughout the School, but students should note that the availability of modules may change and that the choice of modules is subject to some restrictions. Please note the following in particular:

• the lists of available modules are subject to change on an annual basis, due to ongoing curriculum revision by the departments concerned. Students will be advised which modules are available each year prior to registration.

• some modules are subject to pre-requisites and other restrictions (eg approval by the module convenor). Students are advised to check individual module pages carefully, so that they can plan ahead.

• the wide range of available modules means that there will be some timetable clashes between modules. Students are therefore advised to consider various module options at each stage of their degree.

The programme convenor and tutors will work carefully with each student to design their programme of study. At the beginning of the programme we will establish your intellectual goals and chart potential pathways. We will then consider your academic progress and future plans before making your module choices each spring.

Programme Specification

• BA Global Liberal Arts Programme Specification 2018/19 (pdf; 304kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

Teaching and Learning

The BA Global Liberal Arts is distinguished in that its core modules are taught seminar-style, in a two-hour bloc, to enable a focus on discussion and application of the skills and methods in question. There are also no written exams in these modules. They are assessed instead exclusively through coursework, which includes peer review and, in the second year, a group project.

The teaching methods in the other modules will vary, depending on the subject matter and level of the module, as well as the number of students in the class. Language modules are taught mostly in small tutorial groups. Most modules in the global and regional tracks will be taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials, usually one hour a week of each. Some modules are less strictly divided between lecture and tutorial and may be taught seminar-style. Students are advised to consult individual module pages for further detail.

Assessment in the global, regional, and language tracks can take a variety of forms, again depending on the module. Most modules use a balance of coursework and written exams. Language modules tend to make use of oral assessment. Some non-language modules can also require oral presentations and other non-written forms of assessment.

 Learning Resources.

The SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

The School makes extensive use of Moodle, an online learning environment, which allows us to distribute electronic materials, facilitate discussions et al. The School also has language laboratory facilities for formal teaching and self-study.

Pre Entry Reading

Given the nature of the degree, it is not possible to suggest readings that will introduce the full range of subjects available during your three years. The following are only starting-points, therefore.

For introductions to the liberal arts:

• Fareed Zakaria. In Defense of a Liberal Education. 2015.
• Jennifer M. Shepard. The Harvard Sampler: Liberal Education for the Twenty-First Century. 2011.

For introductions to the world and its history:

• Robert Marks. The Origins of the Modern World. 2015, 2006, 2002.
• Manfred Steger. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. 2013.
  

And for introductions to the different regions we study at SOAS:

• April A. Gordon and Donald A. Gordon. Understanding Contemporary Africa. 2013 et al.
• Roy Richard Grinker and Christopher B. Steiner. Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation. 2010 et al.
• John Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent. 2007 et al.
• William L. Cleveland. A History of the Modern Middle East. 2009 et al.
• Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples. 2005 et al.
• Albert Hourani, et al. The Modern Middle East: A Reader. 2004 et al.
• Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy. 2011.
• Barbara D. Metcalf and Thomas R. Metcalf, A Concise History of India. 2003
• John Talbot. India and Pakistan. 2000
• Craig Lockard. Southeast Asia in World History. 2009.
• N. Owen. The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia. 2005.
• M.C. Ricklefs et al. A New History of Southeast Asia. 2010.
• Kent E. Calder and Ming Ye. The Making of Northeast Asia. 2010.
• Warren Cohen. East Asia at the Centre. 2000.
• Charles Holcombe, A History of East Asia. 2010.

The programme is designed to give you the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in a broad range of professions, across the public and private sectors. Employers are increasingly asking for evidence of the adaptability and flexibility needed in the rapidly changing world of work, which the interdisciplinary nature of this programme will provide. Graduates will find a wide range of professions and opportunities open to them, including business, charities, the civil service, consultancy, the creative industries, education, finance, government, the heritage sector, journalism, law, PR and marketing, and publishing. The degree will also provide a strong foundation for those wishing to pursue further study at postgraduate level.

Graduates from the SOAS History Department have gone on to work for a wide range of organisations, including the following. Given that the BA Global Liberal Arts allows you to take modules from throughout the School, you may want to look at other department and programme pages to see the full range of opportunities available to SOAS graduates

Graduates from the SOAS History Department have gone on to work for a range of organisations including:

• Embassy of Qatar, Cultural Attache's Office
• United Nations Development Programme
• Social Action for Health
• Abner Stein Literary Agency
• Salusbury World Refugee Centre
• Standard Chartered Bank
• Bunkyo Gakuin University
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Cyprus
• HSBC
• Teenage Cancer Trust
• UK Government Stabilisation Unit
• Oriental and African Strategic Investment Services Limited
• KPMG
• Prisoners of Conscience
• British Library
• Amnesty International
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• University of Oxford
• Freshfields
• Natural History Museum
  Thai Government
• Public Policy Exchange
• Global Philanthropic
• UNESCO
• British Broadcasting Corporation

Graduates have assumed various roles, including:

• Analyst
• Barrister
• Chief Risk Officer
• Civil Servant
• Consultant, IT Practice
• Deployments Officer
• Entrepreneur
• Head of Operations
• Lecturer
• Playwright
• Professional Researcher
• Programme Developer for Community Learning
• Project Manager
• Regional Social Action Coordinator
• Research And Development Executive
• Risk Research Analyst
• Senior Consultant
• Teacher
• UNESCO Intern

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