Programme specification
SOAS, University of London
The following information forms the programme specification at SOAS, 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 base-line 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
UCAS code
Professional body accreditation
Date specification created/updated
Buddhist Studies
MA
n/a
Full time, part-time
n/a
n/a
October 2013
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?


1
The breadth and depth of the
academic expertise of the key staff
involved in the Buddhist Studies
programme in the department, as
well as the wide course offers,
within SOAS, makes the MA
Buddhist Studies the most
attractive postgraduate curriculum
on Buddhism in the U.K.
It is strongly interdisciplinary and
methodologically diverse, offering
advanced learning in the historical,
art historical, anthropological,
philological and philosophical
approaches to the study of
Buddhism.
The structure of the programme is
unique, and provides a study
pathway that is at the same time
coherent and flexible. Hence, while
students taking this programme as
a stepping stone for further
research are strongly advised to
pick up or further the study of a
Buddhist language among the wide
courses on offer at SOAS, we do
not make this a compulsory option,
thus allowing students with a
personal or comparative interest in
Buddhism to make the best of this
programme.
 It provides a unique opportunity to
tap cutting-edge academic
expertise and library facilities on
Buddhism. SOAS library is the best
University Library on Buddhist Asia
in the U.K., while the British Library
and British Museum both constitute
unparalleled treasure-troves of
Buddhist artefacts. Moreover, the
rich lecture and conference
programmes offered by the Centre
for Buddhist Studies, Centre for the
Study of Japanese Religions, the
China Institute, and the Circle of
Tibetan and Himalayan Studies
attract first class scholars on
Buddhism from all over the world,
so students will be able to meet
leading figures in their field.
 The programme allows all those
interested in the study of Buddhism
to take part in a spirited,
cosmopolitan student community,
itself within the intense religious
and cultural scene of London.
The MA Buddhist Studies is designed both
as an end qualification and as a platform
preparing students for more advanced
graduate work. It will therefore suit
students with different academic
backgrounds and prospective personal
objectives, from those interested in
broadening their knowledge of Buddhism
as a whole or of specific Buddhist traditions
to those intending to embark on languagebased research or fieldwork among
Buddhist communities.
Who would it suit?
It will typically suit students falling into one
of the following four categories:
 students planning to pursue further
research in Buddhist studies, which
may involve at a subsequent stage
the acquisition of a doctoral degree
and a career in higher education.
 students willing to pursue a career
or professional activity, for which
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advanced knowledge of Buddhism
as a global cultural force is
essential: teaching, NGOs,
interfaith dialogue, consultancy for
governmental agencies or the
private sector, arts, media,
museums, and more.
 students who wish to pursue the
academic study of religions as a
complement to their personal
experience and commitments:
Buddhist monks and lay followers
from all traditions, believers, yoga
and meditation practitioners;
anyone looking for a deeper
understanding of the historical and
cultural contexts in which their
tradition developed, as a
complement to their spiritual path,
and to obtain a degree that might
help their career within Buddhist
communities or institutions.
 overseas students from traditionally
Buddhist countries in Asia, willing
to broaden their knowledge of
Buddhism as a pan-Asian religion,
and to be introduced to an
academic approach that is
characterised both by its critical
distance and by its empathy.
Students are required to follow taught units
to the equivalent of three full courses and
to submit a dissertation of 10,000 words.
Programme structure
The core course, Critical Concepts in
Buddhist Studies (0.5 Unit), co-taught by
four staff whose expertise cover most of
Buddhist Asia, will guarantee the overall
coherence of the study Pathway and
provide students with a broad and
stimulating introduction to key notions and
methods in the study of Buddhism. The
remaining 2.5 Units may be taken freely by
students, in dialogue with the programme
convenor, within the large pool of open
options available within and outside the
Dept. (with a limit of 1 Unit outside the
Dept.)
Courses in this MA are assessed through a
combination of essays, oral presentation
and written exams. An overall percentage
mark is awarded for each course, based on
the marks awarded for individual
assessment items within the course. The
MA may be awarded at Distinction, Merit or
Pass level in accordance with the common
regulations for MA/MSc at SOAS.
Assessment summary
3
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
SOAS has general minimum entrance requirements for registration for an undergraduate
degree and these can be viewed at (http://www.soas.ac.uk/admissions/ug/entryreq/)
The entrance requirements for the MA Religions of Asia and Africa are in line with those
of SOAS. However, due consideration is given to the applicants’ individual profiles, and
to the fact that great potential for the successful undertaking of the academic study of
religions is not necessarily acknowledged or certified through the applicant’s academic
qualifications. Interviews can be arranged for applicants who do not meet the minimum
entrance requirements, and early contact with academic members of staff is generally
encouraged.
PROGRAMME AIMS
What will this programme give the student an opportunity to achieve?




A sound knowledge and understanding of selected approaches, methods and
theories in relation to one or more areas of Buddhist Asia.
Advanced skills in researching and writing about Buddhism from an academic
perspective, also as a platform for further research at doctoral level.
Advanced skills in presentation or communication of knowledge and
understanding of topics in religious studies.
Specialisation in one area from among those covered by the units listed in the
programme structure.
PROGRAMME LEARNING OUTCOMES
What will the student learn?
Knowledge
 Students will learn how to assess data and evidence critically, locate and
synthesise source materials, critically evaluate conflicting interpretations and
sources, use research resources (library catalogues, journal databases,
citation indices) and other traditional sources.
 Subject specific skills, for instance, textual criticism, edition, translation, and
interpretation of literary, epigraphical, and ethnographic sources, as well as
analysis of archaeological and art-historical artefacts.
 Whenever appropriate, students will enhance their knowledge of one Buddhist
language, or gain familiarity with one of these languages, freely chosen among
a wide pool on offer.
 Students will gain familiarity with Buddhism in its various regional and historical
contexts, and with the academic field of Buddhist Studies, its rich history and the
variety of academic perspectives on Buddhism.
Intellectual (thinking) skills




Students should become precise and cautious in their assessment of evidence,
and understand through practice what documents can and cannot tell us.
Students will develop the capacity to discuss theoretical and epistemological
issues in an articulate, informed, and intellectual manner.
Students will learn to become precise and critical in their assessment of
scholarly arguments and to question interpretations, however authoritative, in
order to reassess evidence for themselves.
Students will learn to present complex arguments clearly and creatively.
4


Those students who take a language option should be able to assess primary
sources in foreign languages and critically evaluate interpretations proposed by
different scholars.
Students will acquire both theoretical and regional expertise in order to
develop and apply sound academic approaches to the study of Buddhism.
Subject-based practical skills
The programme aims to help students with the following practical skills:
• Academic writing
• IT-based information retrieval and processing
• Presentational skills
• Independent study skills and research techniques
• Reflexive learning
Transferable skills
The programme will encourage students to:
• Write concisely and with clarity.
• Effectively structure and communicate ideas (oral and written).
• Explore and assess a variety of sources for research purposes.
• Work to deadlines and high academic standards.
• Assess the validity and cogency of arguments.
• Make judgements involving complex factors.
• Develop self-reflexivity.
• Question the nature of social and cultural constructs.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINING AN AWARD
How will the student’s study be structured? How will they achieve an award?
Structure, duration and requirements for gaining an award
SOAS has standard requirements relating to the structure and duration of undergraduate
programmes and for the award and classification of these programmes.
Details can be found at http://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/degreeregulations/
Programme structure diagram
Below is a structure diagram for this programme.
MA Buddhist Studies: general structure

Students are required to take taught courses to the equivalent of three full units
(which may include one language course) from the list below, and to submit a
Dissertation in Buddhist Studies of 10,000 words.

The dissertation topic must be linked with a taught course from the list below, and
must be approved in advance by the MA Convenor. Dissertation will be chosen from
the course chosen as a major.

Students are allowed to take one language course.

Students are allowed to take courses taught outside the department of the Study of
Religions up to one unit, which may or may not include a language. A list of permitted
options is given below.
5
An appointment with the programme convener during registration week will help students
to design a study path that suits best their personal interest and that is coherent
academically.
N.B. Not all courses listed below will be taught every year. A list of the available courses
available is published yearly on the School’s website as well as in the Study of Religions
Department MA Handbook.
Level
7
Year of
study
1
Course code
7
Final
15PSRC990
7
Any
15PSRC059
7
Any
15PSRC172
7
Any
15PSRH008
7
Any
15PSRH009
7
Any
15PSRH018
7
Any
15PSRH036
7
Any
15PSRC071
7
Any
15PSRH014
7
Any
15PSRC160
7
Any
15PSRH036
7
Any
15PSRC024
7
Any
15PSRC173
7
Any
15PSRC168
7
Any
15PSRH038
7
Any
15PSRC053
TBA
Course title
Credit
Status
Critical Concepts in
Buddhist Studies
Dissertation in
Buddhist Studies
History and
Doctrines of Indian
Buddhism
Buddhist Meditation
in India and Tibet
Buddhism in Tibet
22.5
Core
45
Core
45
Major OR
Minor
45
The Buddhist
Conquest of Central
Asia
East Asian Buddhist
Thought
East Asian
Traditions of
Meditation
Religious practice in
Japan: texts, rituals
and believers
Features of Buddhist
monasticism
Chinese Buddhism
in the pre-modern
period
The Great Tradition
of Taoism
Jainism: history,
doctrine and the
contemporary world
The Origins and
Development of
Yoga in Ancient
India
Oriental religions in
European academia
and imagination,
1815-1945
Chinese religious
texts: a reading
seminar
Pali: intermediate
level
22.5
Major OR
Minor
Major OR
Minor
Major OR
Minor
6
22.5
22.5
22.5
Major OR
Minor
Major OR
Minor
45
Major OR
Minor
22.5
Major OR
Minor
Major OR
Minor
45
22.5
45
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Major OR
Minor
22.5
Major OR
Minor
45
Minor
ONLY
Notes
Courses taught in other departments:
7
Any
15PSAC294
7
Any
15PSAC306
7
Any
15PSAC309
7
Any
15PSAC298
7
Any
15PSAC298
7
Any
15PCHC008
7
Any
15PCHC011
7
Any
15PCHC009
7
Any
15PCHC012
7
Any
15PCHC010
7
Any
15PCHC018
7
Any
15PJKC008
7
Any
15PJKC009
7
Any
15PJKC010
7
Any
15PJKC011
7
Any
15PJKC012
7
Any
15PJKC005
7
Any
15PSEC039
7
Any
15PSEC027
7
Any
15PSEC040
Sanskrit Language 1
(Postgraduate)
Sanskrit Language 2
(Postgraduate)
Prakrit language 1
(Postgraduate)
Nepali Language 1
(Postgraduate)
Nepali Language 2
(Postgraduate)
Special Course in
Chinese 1
(Postgraduate)
Special Course in
Chinese 2
(Postgraduate)
Special Course in
Chinese 3
(Postgraduate)
Special Course in
Chinese 4
(Postgraduate)
Special Course in
Chinese: Reading
Classical and Literary
Chinese
(Postgraduate)
Intensive Elementary
Tibetan
(Postgraduate)
Basic Japanese 1
(Postgraduate)
Basic Japanese 2
(Postgraduate)
Intermediate
Japanese 1
(Postgraduate)
Intermediate
Japanese 2
(Postgraduate)
Advance Japanese:
Contemporary Topics
(Postgraduate)
Readings in PreModern Japanese
Literature (Masters)
Burmese Language 1
(Postgraduate)
Burmese Texts and
Translation
Thai Language 1
(Postgraduate)
7
45
45
45
45
45
45
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
45
45
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
45
45
7
Any
15PSEC041
7
Any
15PSEC042
7
Any
15PSEC036
7
Any
15PSEC037
7
Any
15PJKC015
7
Any
15PJKC013
7
Any
15PEAC018
7
Any
15PARC032
7
Any
15PARC034
7
Any
15PARH049
7
Any
15PARH057
7
Any
15PARH056
7
Any
15PMUH017
Thai Language 2
(Postgraduate)
Thai Language 3
(Postgraduate)
Vietnamese
Language 1
(Postgraduate)
Vietnamese
Language 2
(Postgraduate)
Elementary Korean
(Postgraduate)
Intermediate Korean
(Postgraduate)
Korean Advanced
(Masters)
Art and Archaeology
of the Silk Road
The Indian Temple
45
Art of monumental
Southeast Asia
Esoteric Buddhist Art
of South and
Southeast Asia
Sacred Art and
Architecture of
Ancient Korea
Aspects of Music and
Religion in South
East Asia
22.5
45
45
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
45
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
Minor
ONLY
45
45
45
45
22.5
22.5
Minor
ONLY
22.5
Minor
ONLY
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.
TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT
What methods will be used to achieve the learning outcomes?
Knowledge




Acquisition through lectures and seminars. Students are required to attend all
classes, study extensively on their own and prepare non-assessed work (for
presentation at course seminars) regularly.
Acquisition through preparation of essays and dissertations.
Acquisition through taking optional courses in the study of the religions of Asia or
Africa.
ASSESSMENT: Students will be assessed by a variety of methods: long essays,
seen or unseen examinations, group or individual presentations, coursework and
a dissertation (the dissertation is a required method of assessment for the MA).
Intellectual (thinking) skills

Acquisition of all skills will be fostered directly through the programme’s core
8


options and indirectly through both the additional options, and supervision of the
students’ dissertations.
The development of intellectual skills will be facilitated through lectures and
seminars, and students’ progress will be monitored through close assessment
and supervision of coursework as well as through non-assessed seminar
presentations. All courses will introduce information that will need to be assessed
critically and will demonstrate how conflicting interpretations arise from the same
information. By the acquisition of language skills, students will be enabled to
assess primary sources in foreign languages.
ASSESSMENT: The emphasis on assessed written work (by essay and
examination) is in order to ensure advanced level training in skilled cognitive
argumentation as a core contribution to preparation for further postgraduate study
at the MPhil/PhD level.
Subject-based practical skills







Acquisition of academic writing skills through the preparation of long essays and
the dissertation.
Acquisition of information retrieval skills through course teaching and training
sessions offered by the Library and Information Services staff.
Acquisition of presentational skills through seminar and tutorial presentations.
Acquisition of examination techniques through training sessions offered by the
Learning and Teaching Unit.
Acquisition of independent study skills and research techniques through
supervised individual research and writing (dissertation and long essays).
Acquisition of reflexive learning through seminar discussion and supervised
coursework.
ASSESSMENT: Seen or unseen examinations, essays, group or individual
presentations, dissertation.
Transferable skills
Acquisition of transferable skills through:





Lectures
Regular monitoring and feedback on student progress during each stage of the
programme’s courses.
Substantial elements of independent learning, with feedback
Seminar discussion and individual supervision
ASSESSMENT: Through seen or unseen examinations, dissertation, long essays,
individual or group presentations and course work.
REFERENCE POINTS
What has been the basis for the design of this programme?
1. School Learning and Teaching Strategy
2. Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategy
3. Staff research
4. QAA framework for higher education qualifications
5. Relevant subject benchmark
QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ENHANCEMENT
9
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
Add in links to other relevant information, both internal and external, including:
 SOAS Vision and Strategy Statement;
 Undergraduate and Postgraduate Handbooks;
 Quality Assurance Handbook;
 UCAS website;
 QAA website;
10