BA/BSc Business, Management, Economics and Law with Foundation Year

This module introduces the core skills required for successful university study. You will develop oral, written, visual, analytical, and team-working skills, with a focus on critical thinking, academic reading and writing, and independent study.

Focused on the skills required for university, the module acts as a focal point for the Foundation Year, supporting your transition to undergraduate study. Tutors act as academic mentors, helping you progress across your modules and assignments. Assessment is based on a portfolio that develops week by week, allowing you to apply seminar learning and build a body of work that clearly demonstrates your progress as a university student.

This Academic Practice module supports your transition through the Foundation Year by developing the core skills needed for undergraduate study. You will build oral, written, visual, analytical, and team-working skills, including academic writing and research, referencing, critical reading and thinking, independent study, and exam preparation.

The module connects with themes across your other Foundation Year courses, giving you opportunities to apply these skills in context. Assessment is based on an Independent Study Project (ISP) and a reflective piece on the academic process. The ISP allows you to explore a topic of your choice, develop research skills, and produce a substantial piece of independent work, supported by weekly guidance through the research process.

The contemporary world is awash in numbers, but many of us remain cautious in using them, if not actively scared. What does it mean to be literate in such a world? How can we learn to think with and about numbers in making decisions? How can we marshal the power of numbers in argument? This course aims to help you do this, strengthening your ability to reason with numbers. It is not a mathematics course and we will not spend our time in mathematical calculation. We will encounter some very basic statistical concepts, but most of our discussion will focus on how numbers are used in everyday life. By the end, you will be able to think more clearly, reason more sharply, and argue more effectively about the numbers that surround us—and even to enjoy yourself as you do so.

In this module, students develop core skills and competencies relating to digital technologies and media, including basic coding, website design, video production and editing, and the use of artificial intelligence tools. A survey is provided of key concepts for understanding digital technologies and their impact on contemporary societies. Students apply the skills, concepts and competencies that they have developed in the creation of a digital portfolio. They are encouraged to think about their online self-presentation through social media and other networking tools. The skills and competencies developed during the module are used in other Foundation Year modules and during subsequent years of undergraduate study.

This thematic module introduces students to key issues and debates in the contemporary world, such as inequality, diversity and pluralism, migration, human rights, global justice, environmental change and democracy. The module develops critical thinking by challenging students to re-assess their pre-existing views and encouraging them to think critically about areas of the world in which SOAS specialises.

This module introduces students to a range of theories and concepts related to culture, identity and power. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, seminar sessions raise questions such as: How do different forms of power shape our outlooks or opportunities? What does it mean to study other cultures, as well as one’s own? How do different cultures relate to each other? How do key theories relevant to your studies at SOAS shift across cultural contexts? Students are encouraged to think critically about notions of culture and citizenships, and their own experiences in relation to these concepts.

This interdisciplinary module aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in subjects taught in SOAS, while providing helpful context for approaching global problems and academic debates. This module introduces students to the ideologies, theories, methods and schools of thought that inform the disciplines of Business, Management, Economics and Law, while also cultivating the academic skills required for studying these subjects.

This multi-disciplinary module aims to prepare students for study on SOAS degrees in Business, Management, Economics or Law. Students will receive lectures from SOAS departments introducing their areas of expertise and giving students an overview of how their discipline approaches its subject matter. This will aid the development of subject-specific knowledge and enable students to make an informed choice of degree pathway.