Overview and entry requirements

The MA Middle Eastern Studies provides exceptional opportunities for studying this diverse and fascinating area at the postgraduate level through a variety of disciplinary approaches. The main emphasis of the programme is on the modern period through the modules in history, geography, politics, economics and anthropology. Some exposure is provided, however, to the pre-modern culture and society of the area through modules in religious studies, Islamic art and archaeology, and history. Modules based on Arabic are offered for those with an adequate knowledge of the language, while modules in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish are available for those who wish to acquire or develop skills in these languages.

If you are interested in taking the MA Middle Eastern Studies combined with an intensive language, you may also like: 

• MA Middle Eastern Studies and Intensive Language
• MA... and Intensive Language (Arabic)

See Near and Middle East Department

Why study Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS

• SOAS is ranked 1st in London in the Complete University Guide 2021 for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and 6th in UK
• SOAS has an unrivalled reputation as the foremost provider of Near and Middle East studies
• students have an opportunity to develop a holistic and integrated approach to the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East through their languages and cultures

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

Structure

Students take 180 credits, 60 credits from a dissertation and 120 credits from taught modules. 

Major module

As part of the application process, all students have to select and be admitted into a so-called ‘Major’ module, in relation to which they complete a 10,000-word dissertation. Major modules will have their own academic pre-requisites and acceptance will require approval. All students accepted into the programme will be asked to indicate their Major preferences from the list of modules available as Majors for the programme in good time so that they can be admitted into a Major before enrolment in September.

Generally, the convenor of the Major module will be the supervisor of the dissertation, unless the department offering the Major module has separate arrangements about the assigning of dissertation supervisors. Please note that most Major modules are 30 credits, but some are 15 credits. Also, some modules can only be taken as a major and some, including language modules, only as a minor.

Taught modules

Besides the Major course into which they have been accepted (30 or 15 credits), students have to take the compulsory modules, 'Remapping Area Studies' (15 credits) and 'The Middle East in Ten Weeks' (15 credits). In addition, students select 60 or 75 credits from the list of minors (including 30 credits of language courses) and the final 30 credits may be chosen either from:

• the list of minor modules (including another language module), or
• any approved open options modules available from other departments and schools at SOAS.

As the emphasis in the Regional Studies programmes is on interdisciplinary study, students are required to select their modules from a minimum of three different disciplines, and a maximum of 60 credits may be taken in any one discipline. For the purposes of this requirement, modules convened by members of SLCL staff may be classified under different disciplines (culture, history, literature or politics) as indicated in the List of Guided Options so as to allow students maximum choice

Some disciplines such as politics, economics or social anthropology require an appropriate qualification (such as all or part of a first degree) if any of their courses are to be taken as the major subject.

Programme

Dissertation

Compulsory Modules

Optional Modules

Anthropology and Sociology

Available as minors only

Art and Archaeology

Available as majors or minors

Development Studies

Available as a major or minor

Available as minors only

Economics

Available as a major or minor

Available as a minor only

Gender

Available as a minor only

History

Available as majors or minors

Available as a minor only

Language

You may select modules to the value of 60 credits from the languages below.

Students are allowed to take any of the NME language courses offered in any given year

Law

Available as majors or minors

Available as minors only

Media

Available as a major or minor

Music

Available as majors or minors

NME Culture

Available as majors or minors

NME History

Available as majors or minors

NME Literature

Available as majors or minors

NME Politics

Available as majors or minors

Politics

The two 15 credit modules below together constitute the major option for Politics of the Middle East

Available as minors only

Study of Religions

Available as majors or minors

Programme Specification

• MA Near and Middle Eastern Studies Programme Specification (pdf; 219kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

One-year Masters programmes consist of 180 credits. 120 credits are taught in modules of 30 credits (taught over 20 weeks) or 15 credits (taught over 10 weeks); the dissertation makes up the remaining 60 units. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

Contact hours

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study, including reading and research, preparing coursework and revising for examinations. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. At SOAS, most postgraduate modules have a one hour lecture and a one hour seminar every week, but this does vary. 

There are ten weeks of teaching and a Reading Week in each of Term 1 and 2, and two weeks of revision teaching in Term 3, the rest of which is dedicated to exams. 15-credit modules are taught over ten weeks in either Term 1 or Term 2.

More information is on the page for each module.

Part-time studies

Part-time students divide their workload of the required modules evenly between the number of years of part-time study, with the dissertation module taken in the last year of study. It is also best practice to take the Major module in the last year of study. However, different arrangements are possible with the approval of the convenor of the Major module.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge

• How to assess data and evidence critically from manuscripts and digital sources, solve problems of conflicting sources and conflicting interpretations, locate materials, use research-sources (particularly research-library catalogues) and other relevant traditional sources.
• Subject-specific skills are an amalgam of the skills described for each of the three options chosen by candidates from the cross-department/faculty choices available in the relevant course-descriptors.

Intellectual (thinking) skills

• Students will learn to become precise and cautious in their assessment of evidence and should also come to understand through practice what documents can and cannot tell us.
• Students will learn to question interpretations, however authoritative, and reassess evidence for themselves.
  Communicate effectively in writing.

Subject-based practical skills

• Language-students will learn the chosen language at the appropriate level.
  Present seminar-papers.
• Listen and discuss ideas introduced during seminars.
• Practise research-techniques in a variety of specialised research-libraries and institutes.

Transferrable skills

• Writing good essays and dissertations.
• Structure and communicate ideas effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Study a variety of written and digital materials in libraries and research-institutes of a kind they will not have used as undergraduates.
• Present (non-assessed) material orally.

Linguistic skills (two-year Intensive Language pathways)

• To acquire/develop skills in a language spoken in the Near and Middle East to Effective Operational Proficiency level
• To demonstrate awareness of the conceptual and communicative underpinnings of that language and through this interlinguistic and intercultural understanding.
• Communicate in written and spoken medium in a relevant language.
• Engage with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, understand the role of different frames of reference.

SOAS Library

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.

Tuition fees

Fees for 2022/23 entrants, per academic year (Band 1 tuition fee) 

Fees go up each year, therefore, your tuition fee in your second and subsequent years of study will be higher.

Our continuing students, on the same degree programme, are protected from annual increases higher than 5%.

For full details of postgraduate tuition fees see our postgraduate tuition fees page.

Scholarships

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

Employment

Graduates of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics leave SOAS not only with linguistic and cultural expertise, but also with skills in written and oral communication, analysis and problem solving.

Recent School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics graduates have been hired by:

• Africa Matters
• Amnesty International
• Arab British Chamber of Commerce
• BBC World Service
• British High Commission
• Council for British Research in the Levant
• Department for International Development
• Edelman
• Embassy of Jordan
• Ernst & Young
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Google
• Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
• Middle East Eye
• Saïd Foundation
• TalkAbout Speech Therapy
• The Black Curriculum
• The Telegraph
• United Nations Development Programme
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
• Wall Street Journal

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