Undergraduate non-language open option modules 2023/24
Non-language open options
The following modules are available in principle as open options at undergraduate level.
Follow the links for full details of whether the module is running/not running and information on pre-requisites (if any) that are needed to take the module. Some modules will need the permission of the module convenor.
Please ensure that you have this permission before choosing the module. This is normally requested through email. Some modules will have a limit on numbers.
Africa
Year 1 modules
- Africa in the World (155906743)
Year 2 modules
- Perspectives on African experience (155900933)
Year 2/3 modules
- Contemporary African literature (155900839)
- Language, Identity and Society in Africa (155900867)
Anthropology and Sociology
Year 1/2
- 101A Anthropology in and of the World: An Introduction (A) (155901506)
- 101B Anthropology in and of the World: An Introduction (B) (155901507)
Year 2/3
- 201 World Social Theory: Imagining Society from 500BCE to 1900 (155901489)
- 202 Social Theory, Reform and Revolution in an Age of Extremes (155901490)
- 211 Anthropology Through History (155901512)
- 212 Theory in Anthropology (155901513)
- 251 Anthropology of Economic Life (155901514)
- 301 Regional Perspectives in Anthropology (I) (155901515)
- 302 Regional Perspectives in Anthropology (II) (155901516)
- 351 Migration, Borders and Space: Decolonial Approaches (151802052)
- 352 Anthropology of 'Race', Gender and Desire (151802088)
- 353 Anthropology and Climate Change (151802087)
Year 3
- 453 Mind, Culture and Psychiatry (151802017)
- 451 Medical Anthropology: An Introduction (155901519)
China and Inner Asia
Year 2
- Contemporary Chinese Society (155901478)
Year 2/3
- Culture and Society of Taiwan (155903020)
- Literature, Politics and National Identity in Modern China (155903017)
Development Studies
Priority will be given to Development Studies students
Year 1
- Introduction to Global Development (151010001)
- Introduction to Political Economy of Development (151010048)
Year 2
- Development from Below (151010022)
- The Working Poor and Labour (151010059)
Year 2/3
- Issues in Borders and Development (151010028)
Year 3
- Issues in Gender and Development (151010021)
- Issues in Cities and Development (151010052)
- Global Forced Migration (15Cr) (151010061)
Economics
Students from departments other than Economics wishing to take more advanced year 2 or year 3 modules in Economics as their open option modules, MUST consult the module convenor of their chosen open option PRIOR to signing up for this module on the precise level and type of prior economics knowledge is required.
This can vary between modules, depending on a number of factors, such as whether these are general theory modules, specialised regional development modules, modules with a strong microeconomic or strong macroeconomic contents, and/or largely applied empirical modules.
Please note that it in the students' own best interest to consult module convenors in this regard prior to signing up for any more advance Economic open options in order to ensure their successful completion of their open option modules.
Year 1
- Economic Principles (Micro) (155901495)
- Economic Principles (Macro) (155901494)
- Statistics 155901500
Year 1/2
- Elementary Statistics (155901496)
- Introductory Mathematics for Economists I (155901497)
- Introductory Mathematics for Economists II (155901502)
Year 2
- Macroeconomic Analysis (153400123)
- Development Economics (155901501)
Year 2/3
- Econometrics (153400103)
- Microeconomic Analysis (153400130)
- Banking and Finance (155901493)
- International Trade and Investment (155901498)
- Global financial Markets (155901499)
Year 3
- Economic Development in the Asia Pacific Region (153400133)
- The Economics of the Environment (153400136)
- China and World Development (153401003)*
- Economic development of Africa (UG) (153401016)
- Applied Econometrics (155901492)
- Professional placement in Economics (155901503)
*requires module convenor’s approval
History
Year 1
- H110 Introduction to the History of Africa (154800228)
- H120 The Confucian World (154800229)
- H130 Introduction to the Early History of the Middle East (154800230)
- H140 Introduction to the History of South Asia (154800231)
- H102 World Histories: Global Encounters and Connectivities (154800293)H150 Introduction to the History of Modern East and Southeast Asia (154800323)
- H150 Introduction to the History of Modern East and Southeast Asia (154800323)
- H160 The Middle East in the Modern World (154800324)
- H103 Colonial Curricula: Empire and Education at SOAS and Beyond (155906741)
Year 2
- H201 Historical Research: Approaches and Methods (154800300)
Year 2/3
Second and third year students may take one of the following intermediate modules (subject to the approval of the module convenor and the module running).
- H234 Colonialism and Culture in Modern South Asia (154800264)
- H297 Democracy in China (154800281)
- H293 Empire and Globalisation in the early modern Muslim world (154800313)
- H343 Reform, Resistance and Revolution: the Ottoman Empire 1876-1909 (I) (154800197)
- H270 Culture and Society in African History, 1900 to the present (154800244)
- H211 Cities in History (154800301)
- H213 Gender in History (154800303)
- H214 Violence in History (154800304)
- H299 Islam in China (154800327)
- H248 Rethinking Middle East History (154800328)
Year 3
Advanced modules can only be taken if the student has taken a relevant introductory or intermediate module.
- H337 Histories of Partition: India and Pakistan 1947 (I) (154800282)
- H382 Opium and Empires: Eastern Asia's Narcotic Trade and Culture in Global Context (154800294)
History of Art and Archaeology
Year 1
- Building Heritage: architecture, cities, landscape (158100023)
- Global Arts: decentering modernity (1800 on) (158100027)
Year 2
- Theories of Art II (154900206)
- Decolonising the Arts (158100024)
Year 2/3
- Approaches to Modern and Contemporary Arts in Africa (154900204)
- Museums and Museology (154900178)
- Islamic Architecture: Spaces and their Interpretation (154900207)
Year 3
- Modern and Contemporary Art in East Asia (154900150)
Japan and Korea
Year 1/2
- Cool Japan: Manga, Anime, Sushi (155901416)
- K-Culture (155901441)
Year 2
- Contemporary Japanese Society (155901479)
- Contemporary Korean Society (155901480)
Year 2/3
- Trajectories of Modernity in Korean Literature and Film (155901390)
- Fieldwork methods in language and culture (155901417)
- Culture and Society in Traditional Korea (155901431)
- East Asian Imperialisms (155901481)
- Gender in East Asian Literature (UG) (155901482)
Year 3/4
- K401: Korean-English Translation (155901414)
- Myths, Legends and Folkways of East Asia (155901460)
Year 4
- The other Korea: North Korea since 1945 (155901356 )
- J400: Advanced Japanese (155901470)
- J401: Japanese-English Translation (155901471)
Languages and Cultures
Year 1
- The Art of Storytelling (155901379)
- Decolonising Otherness (152900120)
- Screen Cultures (155901317)
- The World in London (152900122)
Year 1/2
Year 2/3/4
- Cultural Approaches to Health, Climate Change and the Environment (155900947)
- Understanding Texts (152900123)
- Literatures of Love, Loss and Desire (155901277)
- Postcolonial Literature (155906727)
- Screen Cities (155901354)
- Translating Cultures 1 (155906737)
Year 3/4
- Introduction to audiovisual translation (152900124)
- Literatures of Resistance in South Asia (UG) (155906086)
- Directed Readings in an African, Asian or Middle Eastern Language (152900126)
Law
Year 1
Law modules are not available to first-year students on non-Law programmes
Year 2
- Criminal Justice, Race and Rights (155800098)
Year 2/3
- Law and Society in Africa (155200033)
- Islamic Law (155200037)
- Public International Law (155200083)
- Law and Justice in Contemporary China (155200096)
- Law and the Atlantic Slave Trade, Slavery, and Post-Slavery (155200097)
Year 3
- Law and Society in South Asia (155200032)
Linguistics
Year 1
Year 2/3
- Language, Society and Communication (152900083)
- Introduction to Translation Theory (152900113)
Music
Year 1
- Performance 1 (155800062)
- Sounds and Cultures (155800071)
- Decolonising Pop: K-Pop and Beyond (155800089)
Year 2/3
- Pop and Politics in East Asia (155800077)
- Music and Sound Art in South Asian Religions (155800086)
- The Music Business (155800053)
Year 3
- Urban Soundscapes (155800083)
Near and Middle East
Year 1/2
- Literatures of the Islamic Near and Middle East (155900991)
- Introduction to Arabic Culture (155901205)
Year 2
Year 2/3
- Classical Persian Poetry (155901372)
- Contemporary Middle East Fiction: Race, Gender and Resistance (155906728)
- Classical Arabic A: Biography and History (155906745)
- Classical Arabic B: Travel and Geography (155906746)
- From Palestine to Israel (UG) (155905009)
Year 3
Year 3/4
- Quran and Hadith Studies (155900734)
- Classical Ottoman Texts (155900744)
- Reading Classical Arabic historians (155901334)
- Culture Society and Politics in Classical Arabic Literature (155901373)
- Politics and Aesthetics in Modern Arabic Literature (155901382)
- Arabic Women's Writing (155901406)
- Cinemas of the Middle East and North Africa 1 (155905000)
- Cinemas of the Middle East and North Africa 2 (155905001)
- Modern Palestinian Literature (UG) (155906704)
- Social and Political Dimensions of Modern Arabic Literature (UG) (155906705)
Politics and International Studies
Year 1
- Introduction to Political Theory (153400001)
Year 1/2
- Introduction to Global History (153400084)
- Introduction to International Relations (153400085)
Year 2
- Politics of development (153400042)
- Politics of Nationalism (153400057)
- The state and politics in Africa (153400064)
- Government and politics of China (153400071)
- Politics of the World Economy (153400083)
- Political Parties and Elections (153400158)
- Religion and World Politics (153400162)
Year 2/3
- Government and Politics of the Middle East (153400060)
- International Relations of the Middle East (153400081)
- International Relations of South Asia (153400082)
- Going Global: An Introduction to International Migration (153400088)
- International Relations of Africa (153400090)
- Concepts in Political Theory (153400147)
- Elections, Gender and Social Movements in Taiwan (153700149)
- International Relations of East Asia (153400155)
- Taiwan's International and Cross-Strait Relations (153400166)
- War and the International (153400167)
- Government and Politics of Southeast Asia (153400170)
- Black Atlantic (153402007)
- Foreign Policy Analysis (158000212)
- Politics of South Asia Beyond India (158000214)
- Democracy and Authoritarianism in India and beyond (158000215)
- Globalising East Asia (153400151)
Year 3
- Palestine/Israel and the International (153400087)
- Critical Security Studies (153400148)
- Environment and Climate Crisis (153400150)
- Politics of the "Miracle" Economies (153400159)
- Republicanism, empire and revolution (153400163)
- Decolonising World Politics (153402002)
- Conflict, Rights and Justice (153402006)
Religions and Philosophies
Year 1
- Philosophy, Race, and Racism (158000207)
- Reading and Writing Philosophy (158000208)
- Debates, Methods and Themes in World Philosophies (158000209)
- Introduction to Epistemology (158000210)
Year 1/2
- Introduction to Logic, Critical Reasoning and Argumentation (158000193)
- Philosophies of Language (158000196)
- Metaphysics in Comparative Perspective (158000198)
Year 2
- Islam: Religion and Rationality (158000189)
Year 2/3
- African Philosophy (155901397)
- Indian Buddhist Philosophy (154800308)
- Islam in Britain (154800312)
- Japanese Buddhist Thought (154800315)
- Islamic Philosophy (155901338)
- R490 Zoroastrianism in the Ancient and Modern Worlds (158000029)
- Ancient and Medieval Indian Philosophy (158000098)
- R472 Classical Chinese Thought (158000103)
- The Margins of Philosophy (158000116)
- Philosophies of Interpretation and Understanding (158000135)
- The Holocaust and the Problem of Evil (158000156)
- R451 Jewish Identity from Ancient to Modern Times (158000168)
- Death and the Meaning of Life (158000172)
- R471 Taoism: the Great Tradition (158000181)
- Middle Persian (158000183)
- Comparative Ethics (158000199)
- Political Islam (158000216)
Year 3
- Modern Indian Philosophy (158000192)
- The Zoroastrian Flame (158000187)
School of Arts
Year 1
- Introduction to Film Language, History & Theory (158100009)
- Writing Across the Arts (158100012)
Year 2
- Music in Africa: Musical crosscurrents in East Africa and the Indian Ocean (158100007)
- Film Festivals and Film Curating (155902002)
Year 2/3
- Japanese Art (158100019)
- Art, state and society in South and Southeast Asia (158100021)
- Arts, Culture and Commodification: Themes in the Global Creative and Cultural Industries (158100001)
- Key Concepts in Cultural Theory (158100002)
- Curating Global Arts (158100004)
School of Finance and Management
Year 1
- Introduction to Accounting (151030001)
- Financial Accounting 1 (151030002)
- Principles and Management of Marketing (151030004)
- Quantitative and Analytical Techniques for Managers (151030005)
- Organisational Behaviour (151030025)
- Principles of Management (151030026)
- Introduction to Business In China (151030051)
- Introduction to Business In MENA (151030053)
Year 2
- Management Accounting 2 (151030007)
- International Business Strategy (151030008)
- Managerial Economics (151030009)
- Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (151030027)
Year 2/3
- International Marketing (UG) (151030050)
Year 3
- Financial Strategy (151030012)
- Corporate Governance (151030017)
- International Human Resource Management (151030018)
- Finance in the Middle East and North Africa (151030022)
- Consumer Behaviour (UG) (151030049)
South East Asia
Year 2
- Cultural Studies of South and South East Asia (155907002)
Year 2/3
- War, Revolution and Independence in South East Asian Literatures in Translation (155901316)
- English Literatures of South East Asia (155901410)
- Extended Essay in South East Asian Studies (155901307)
Academic Summer School
For information please contact the Academic Summer School office (email summerschool@soas.ac.uk).