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Discover what makes the MA History at SOAS unique, with its focus on global, interconnected histories beyond the West.

This reflection on region departs from an earlier essay, “Metaphor as Method: Curating Regionalism in Mainland Southeast Asia” (2013), which examined controversial curatorial uses of geographical metaphors (such as the Mekong and the Ho Chi Minh Trail) to promote contemporary artists and foster artistic collaboration in mainland Southeast Asia.

This lecture focuses on the compositional patterns of Vessantara Jātaka bas-reliefs scenes carved during this period and compares these visual representations with corresponding literary sources.

Joseph Torigian will talk about his latest book, which is the first biography of Xi Zhongxun written in English.

As industrial livestock systems expand across regions and sectors, the lack of publicly accessible, reliable data on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) poses major challenges for research, community advocacy, and regulatory oversight. This workshop brings together perspectives from research and practice to examine how better mapped CAFO data could support transparency, strengthen accountability processes, and enable communities to navigate and contest the impacts of industrial animal agriculture.

This project re-examines Sumatran sculpture by comparing it directly with material from South and Southeast Asia. It aims to identify both stylistic connections and the extent to which a Sumatran style can be defined.

1980s South Korea saw many reports promising a 'new office revolution' or a 'new wind' that would dramatically change South Korean work life through automation (jadonghwa). Drawing on newspaper archives from the 1980s and 1990s, this presentation looks at some of the technological promises and narrative tropes that were used in this period to show how offices would allow greater connections to developed countries.

Monika Hinkel's lecture will examine how the phenomenon of Japonisme—the Western reception and adaptation of Japanese visual culture—significantly changed the course of modern art.

In this talk, Uditha Devapriya will present an overview of Wickramasinghe’s life and work in the context of cultural modernism in South Asia. The presentation draws on Devapriya’s research on Wickramasinghe, including his contribution to South Asian art, culture, and society.