Programme specification 2013/2014
School of Oriental and African Studies
The following information forms the programme specification at the School of
Oriental and African Studies, University of London. It gives definitive
information relating to a programme of study and is written for a public
audience, particularly prospective and current students. It is also used for other
purposes such as initial programme approval, and is therefore produced at the
start of the programme development process. Once approved, it forms the baseline information for all statements relating to the programme and is updated as
approved amendments are made.
CORE INFORMATION
Programme title
Final award
Intermediate awards
Mode of attendance
MA in Islamic Societies & Cultures
MA
N/A
Full-time (1 year) or part-time (2 or 3
years)
N/A
N/A
March 2011
UCAS code
Professional body accreditation
Date specification created/updated
WHY CHOOSE THIS PROGRAMME?
Why study at SOAS?
SOAS is unique as the only higher
education institution in the UK
specialising in the study of Africa, Asia
and the Middle East. The School also has
the largest concentration of specialist
faculty concerned with the study of these
areas at any university in the world.
SOAS is consistently ranked among the
top higher education institutions in the
UK and the world and it also offers a
friendly, vibrant environment for students
in a diverse and close-knit community.
What is special about this programme?
Various Departments at SOAS offer
courses relevant to the study of the
Islamic world, and this programme
allows students to select, from an offering
of options, three courses that appeal to
their own interests without requiring any
native-speaker knowledge of, say,
Arabic, which is required for the MA in
Islamic Studies. There is no single course
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that has to be taken obligatorily, though
certain restrictions apply as regards the
choice of the Major option and as regards
which combinations are permitted.
Students can take advantage of the
expertise that SOAS offers across its
offerings of postgraduate courses.
The main difference between this MA
and the MA in Near and Middle Eastern
Studies is that some courses available to
this programme relate to the Islamic
world beyond the Middle East.
Anyone wishing to acquire an academic
qualification in the Islamic world for a
career in (for example): the media, civil
service, journalism, aid-work, charitywork, NGO-work, banking, the law, etc.
One option from List A is taken as the
Major and two options from List B as the
Minors. Students write a 10,000-word
dissertation linked to their Major course.
All SOAS courses include an element of
coursework in the overall assessment, but
the precise balance between exam and
coursework (70/30, 60/40, 50/50)
depends on the individual courses taken.
Whom would it suit?
Programme structure
Assessment summary
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
SOAS has general minimum entrance requirements for registration for a postgraduate
taught degree and these can be viewed at
http://www.soas.ac.uk/admissions/pg/howtoapply/
Students wishing to take certain options as their Major will normally be expected to
have their 1st degree in that discipline. This applies to those wishing to have their
Major in Social Anthropology, Economics, Politics (of the Middle East), and Law.
PROGRAMME AIMS
What will this programme give the student an opportunity to achieve?
 The programme aims at academic training in the study of Islam through a
variety of disciplines, cultural contexts and periods.
 The programme aims at equipping students with an advanced level of
understanding of disciplinary academic topics and issues regarding Islamic
tradition, law and art, as well as the place of Islam in modern politics and
alongside other religions.
 The programme aims at equipping students with the critical and analytical
skill that enable them to conduct research on Islam on a solid methodological
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and disciplinary basis.
PROGRAMME LEARNING OUTCOMES
What will the student learn?
Learning outcomes will vary depending on the combination of courses chosen by
individual students. Learning outcomes for each course can be found under the
information provided on the relevant list of postgraduate courses on the departmental
page of the SOAS website. In general, by the end of the course students will have
learnt the following:
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
Transferable 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 researchinstitutes of a kind they will not have used as undergraduates
 Present (non-assessed) material orally
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINING AN
AWARD
Structure, duration and requirements for gaining an award
SOAS has standard requirements relating to the structure and duration of taught
postgraduate programmes and for the award and classification of these programmes.
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Details can be found at
http://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/degreeregulations/file60379.pdf
Programme structure diagram
Students take three taught courses (one Major, two Minor) and write a 10,000 word
dissertation. The dissertation is linked to the Major and supervised by the teacher of
the Major subject. The Minors must be from a different discipline to that of the Major.
Both Minors can be in the same discipline.
Only one language-course can be chosen, and language-courses are only available as
Minors.
Students taking the course part-time over 2 years tend to take 2 units in their first year
and the remaining unit and the dissertation in their second year. Students taking the
course part-time over 3 years tend to take one course unit per year.
Below is a structure diagram for this programme.
Level
7
Year of
study
n/a
Course
code
n/a
7
n/a
n/a
7
n/a
n/a
7
n/a
n/a
Course title
Credit
Status
Major course from
List A
Minor course from
List B
Minor course from
List B
Dissertation
45
Compulsory
45
Minor option
1
Minor option
2
Compulsory
45
45
Notes
linked to the
Major course
The availability of optional/elective courses may vary in a given academic session due
to factors such as staff absence and student numbers. For an up to date list of
courses running in a given academic session please refer to the degree structures as
listed on the SOAS website for the degree programmes taught by each Department.
List A: Major Options
 Origins and Early Development of Islam in the Middle East: Problems and
Perspectives
 Modern Trends in Islam
 Islamic Law
 Law and Society in the Middle East and North Africa
List B: Minor Options
Near and Middle East
 Problems of Development in the Middle East and North Africa (half-unit, term
1)
 Migration and Mobility in the Middle East and North Africa (half-unit, term 1)
 Human Rights and Islamic Law
 Medieval Arabic Thought: the Philosophical and Theological Traditions
 Economic Development of the Middle East
 Islam and the West: Artistic and Cultural Contacts (half-unit, term 1)
 Art and Architecture of the Fatimids (half-unit, term 1)
 Art and Architecture of Egypt and Syria 13th to 16th Centuries
 Ottoman Art
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 Studies in early Islamic Art and Archaeology
 Gender in the Middle East (half-unit, term 1)
 Music of the Middle East and North Africa (Masters)
 Comparative Politics of the Middle East
Central Asia
 Politics and Society in Central Asia
South Asia
 Islam in South Asia
Languages
Only one language-course can be chosen, and language-courses are only available as
Minors.
 Introduction to Standard Modern Arabic
 Arabic 200 (PG)
 Arabic 300 (PG)
 Arabic 2 (PG)
 Arabic 3 (PG)
 Arabic 4 (PG)
 Swahili 1 (PG)
 Intermediate Swahili 2A (PG)
 Swahili 3 (PG)
 Urdu Language 1 (PG)
 Urdu Language 2 (PG)
 Indonesian Language 1 (PG)
 Indonesian Language 2 (PG)
 Indonesian Language 3 (PG)
 Indonesian Language 4 (PG)
TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT
Knowledge
 Students are required to attend lectures and seminars. They are expected in
addition to study extensively on their own and prepare non-assessed work on a
regular basis.
 The relevant paths for each individual option are set out in the relevant coursedescriptors
Intellectual (thinking) skills
 All courses will introduce information that will need to be assessed critically
and will demonstrate how conflicting interpretations might arise from the
same information. In this way relevant skills will be imparted.
Subject-based practical skills
 Language-students will practise speaking, reading and writing in the said
language
 The writing of long essays and the dissertation will hone writing ability
 Preparation and planning the necessary essays and dissertation will hone skills
in retrieval and selection
 Presentation of, and discussion within, seminars will result in acquisition of
these skills
 Observance of deadlines for submitted work will hone this self-disciplinary
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aspect of research-work
 Assessment is again by a mixture of unseen examination, dissertation, long
essay and coursework
Transferable skills
 Practice at writing long essays, coursework and the dissertation tests the skill
 Participation in presentation and discussion of seminars hones the skill
 Totality of skills assessed in unseen examinations, long essays, coursework
and the dissertation
See also the information for each option chosen under the course’s entry in the list of
Postgraduate Courses on the departmental websites.
REFERENCE POINTS
What has been the basis for the design of this programme?
 School learning and teaching strategy
 Staff research
 QAA framework for higher education qualifications
The programme as above has been administered successfully over a number of years,
as attested to by external examiners’ comments and programme reviews. The basis
for the programme remains the freedom for students to choose among the wide range
of course offerings in Islamic Studies available at SOAS. This remains distinctive
and, in light of student feedback, an advantage.
QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ENHANCEMENT
SOAS has internal procedures to assure the quality of provision to be offered to
students and to enhance the quality in the light of experience following delivery,
taking into account the input of external experts and students. The procedures are set
out in the School’s Quality Assurance Handbook and can be viewed at
http://www.soas.ac.uk/add/qualityassurance/quality-assurance-handbook/.
SOAS is also subject to periodic external review from bodies such as the Quality
Assurance Agency for Higher Education and relevant professional and statutory
regulatory bodies.
The procedures described in the Quality Assurance Handbook are in place to provide
a high quality student experience for those choosing to study at SOAS, and student
input and evaluation of their experiences is greatly valued. Students make an input to
the ongoing development of their programmes, and the environment in which they
operate, in a number of ways, including:
 formal student evaluation as part of the annual programme review;
 student representation on School committees at various levels (through the
Students’ Union) where many relevant issues are discussed-
FURTHER INFORMATION

SOAS Vision and Strategy Statement;
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Postgraduate Handbook;
Quality Assurance Handbook;
UCAS website;
QAA website.
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