SOAS develops curriculum to improve learning experience for students
22 June 2020
SOAS University of London has developed its curriculum to maintain a high quality and supportive learning experience for all students.
For the 2020/21 academic year, SOAS will continue to offer a range of courses in all of its specialist areas and regions, by aligning programmes to concentrate on core programmes and combining the School’s strengths in research excellence to ensure a slightly larger, more diverse cohort for each programme area.
This comes following a comprehensive curriculum review by all departments with the aim to ensure all programmes remain relevant, high-quality and focussed for the future.
Bringing programmes together allows SOAS to offer tailored pathways which sustain areas of expertise at SOAS. Courses such as Japanese Studies and Korean Studies will be combined to become East Asian Studies which will offer students a wider understanding of the region whilst also providing them with the opportunity to create pathways tailored to their interests.
In developing the curriculum, SOAS has made every attempt to ensure that we continue to offer programmes and modules that closely match existing programmes of study. This curriculum development will provide students with a more comprehensive and structured academic offering whilst also providing students with a better quality learning environment with more scope for discussion and student interaction.
Emilia Onyema, Pro-Director Learning and Teaching said:
“We strongly believe that the pedagogic benefits of having fewer, medium-sized programmes and modules makes for better quality learning environments. This allows for more scope for discussion, opportunities for relationships among students, and more substantial ‘communities of learners’, instead of having very small programmes and modules with fewer opportunities for interaction.”
These curriculum developments are being made now alongside the proposed wider restructure of academic departments which are designed to ensure SOAS can be sustained and thrive as a vital and distinctive institution in UK higher education.
In making these developments the School is mindful of the protection of students and their overall student experience at SOAS – so all current students will continue to be able to complete their current degrees and offer holders have the option to construct their own pathways and transfer on to the new courses.
We want to continue to ensure our students’ succeed in their academic careers and have the best student experience at SOAS.