Structure

Students must take 315 credits in total, comprised of 255 taught credits (45 of which are taught abroad as part of a Summer School) and a 60-credit dissertation (10,000 words with a detailed 2,500-word dissertation plan worth 10% of the mark for this module) as outlined below.

There are five regional pathways within the History part of the programme: Africa, East Asia, Near and the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia. If you have any questions about pathway requirements, please contact the programme convenor.

In their first year, students on the two-year Intensive Language programmes take 60 credits of intensive language instruction and 60 credits in the discipline. During the summer, they participate in a Summer School abroad. In the second year, they take another 30 language credits as well as 60 credits in the discipline; they also complete their dissertation in the discipline.

Year 1 (two years full time)

Language Component

Students take 60 credits in the selected language.

Discipline Component

• Debating Pasts, Crafting Histories

and

A module from List A below to the value of 15 credits.

and

A module from the List of Independent Research Essays in History (IREH1).

Summer Abroad

Students participate in a Summer School abroad for the selected language.

Year 2 (two years full time)

Language Component

Students take 30 credits in the selected language.

Discipline Component

Choose a module(s) from List A or List B below to the value of 30 credits.

and

Choose a module(s) from List A or List B below to the value of 30 credits.

or

Choose a module(s) from List A and the List of IREH1 below to the value of 30 credits.

or

Choose a module(s) from Postgraduate Open Options to the value of 30 credits.

Dissertation

Students must complete a Dissertation (10,000 words).

List of modules (subject to availability)

Dissertation Modules

• Dissertation in History
• Dissertation in History: Africa
• Dissertation in History: East Asia
• Dissertation in History: Near and the Middle East
• Dissertation in History: South Asia
• Dissertation in History: South East Asia

Independent Research Essay

Students must do at least one of these essays; each essay is tied to a specified List A module.

• Independent Research Essay in History 1
• Independent Research Essay in History 2
• Independent Research Essay in History 3

List A

• Comparative/Global
  • The Making of the Contemporary World
  • Environmental History of Asia
  • Colonial curricula: empire and education at SOAS and beyond
• Africa
  • Slavery in West Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries
  • Historical Perspectives on Gender in Africa
  • Social and Cultural Transformations in Southern Africa Since 1945
  • Colonial Conquest and Social Change in Southern Africa
  • Warfare and the Military in Precolonial Africa
  • Warfare and the Military in Modern Africa
  • Colonialism and Christian Missions in Africa: Readings from the Archives
• Near and the Middle East
  • The Early Development of Islam: Emerging Identities and Contending View
  • Iran and the Persianate world, 1400 to 1800
  • Iran and the Persianate world, 1800 to 1979
  • The End of Empire in the Middle East and the Balkans II
  • Encountering the Other: the Middle East during the Crusading Period
  • Modernity and the Transformation of the Middle East I
  • Modernity and the Transformation of the Middle East II
  • The Origin of Islam: Sources and Perspectives
  • Outsiders in Medieval Middle Eastern Societies: Minorities, Social Outcasts and Foreigners
  • Mesopotamian Languages and Literature A: the third millennium
  • Mesopotamian Languages and Literature C: the first Millenium BC
  • Sumerian Language
  • Israel and the Palestinians
  • Modern Trends in Islam
  • Reading Classical Arabic Historians: Themes and Trends in Islamic Historiography
• South Asia
  • Islam in South Asia
  • Gender, law and the family in the history of modern South Asia
  • Colonialism and Nationalism in South Asia
  • The Body and the Making of Colonial Difference in British India
• East Asia
  • Knowledge and Power in Early Modern China
  • Nationhood and Competing Identities in Modern China
  • The Making of Modern Korea, 1864-1953
  • The Two Koreas since 1953 (PG)
• South-East Asia
  • Asian Armies and National Development
  • Asian Wars: World War II and the End of Empire (1942-1960)
  • Histories of Ethnicity and Conflict in South East Asia 1 - Making States and Building Nations
  • Histories of Ethnicity and Conflict in South East Asia 2 - Non-National Perspectives

List B

• Methodology
  • Media Production Skills (Group B)
• Africa
  • Religions and Development
  • International Politics of Africa
  • Government and politics in Africa
  • State & society in Asia & Africa
• Near and the Middle East
  • Medieval Arabic Thought
  • Religion, Nationhood and Ethnicity in Judaism
  • Family, Work and Leisure in Ancient Judaism
  • Comparative politics of the Middle East
  • Culture and Society of Near and Middle East
  • Modern Trends in Islam
  • Approaches in Islamic Intellectual History
• South Asia
  • The Religions of Ancient India
  • The Origins and Development of Yoga in Ancient India
  • Zoroastrianism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
  • The Indian Temple
  • Government and politics of modern South Asia
  • Imagining Pakistan (PG)
  • The Politics of Culture in Contemporary South Asia
• East Asia
  • State and society in the Chinese political process
  • East Asian Buddhist Thought
  • The Great Tradition of Taoism
• South-East Asia
  • Jawi and the Malay Manuscript Tradition (Masters)
  • Government and politics of modern South-East Asia

Learn a language as part of this programme

Degree programmes at SOAS - including this one - can include language courses in more than forty African and Asian languages. It is SOAS students’ command of an African or Asian language which sets SOAS apart from other universities.

Important notice

The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session.

Knowledge

• Factual knowledge about the histories of Asian and African societies, the ways they interacted with each other and other world regions of the world, and the major historical forces that shaped our contemporary world.
• Familiarity with a variety of different approaches to historical research and current scholarly debates, and, on that basis, the ability to formulate a valuable research question.
• How to locate materials and use research resources (particularly research library catalogues, archival hand lists, and digital resources), assess data and evidence critically from manuscripts, printed, and digital sources, and solve problems of conflicting sources and conflicting interpretations.
• Language skills appropriate to chosen region and field of study (recommended).

Intellectual (thinking) skills

• Students should be able to synthesize different kinds of information, become precise and cautious in their assessment of evidence and understand what the different types of historical sources can and cannot tell us.
• Students should question interpretations, however authoritative, maintain an open-minded attitude to interpretations that challenge older interpretations, and analyse and reassess evidence and research questions for themselves.
• Students should be able to think critically about the nature of the historical discipline, its methodology, historiography, and openness for interdisciplinary approaches.
• Students should be able to reflect about the potential of historical research on non-Western societies and civilizations for the advancement of the historical discipline and human civilization in general.

Subject-based practical skills

• Effective writing and referencing skills, attention to detail and accuracy in presentation.
• Effective oral presentation of seminar papers, articulation of ideas, and constructive participation in seminar discussions.
• Ability to retrieve, sift and select information from a variety of sources, including relevant professional databases, effective note-taking, record keeping and planning of projects.
• Ability to formulate research questions and design an independent research project, including the use of primary sources.
• In the two year intensive language pathway, to acquire/develop skills in a language to Effective Operational Proficiency level i.e., being able to communicate in written and spoken medium in a contemporary language

Transferable Skills

• Critical thinking.
• Ability to communicate effectively in oral and written forms.
• Information gathering skills from conventional and electronic sources.
• Effective time-management, writing to word limits, and meeting deadlines

With specialised historical knowledge, an understanding of cultural sensibilities and skills in research and analysis, graduates from the Department of History are well respected by employers across private and public sectors. Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Al Jazeera
• Amnesty International
• Bank of England
• BBC
• Blackstock PR
• Bonhams
• British Council
• British Library
• Dataminr
• Ernst and Young
• Goldman Sachs
• Google
• HSBC
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• KPMG
• Middle East Consultancy Services
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Cyprus
• Natural History Museum
• Publicis Media
• UNESCO
• United Nations Development Programme