BA Global Liberal Arts

The programme is designed to ensure breadth and depth, allowing you to acquire expertise in a particular discipline and region, while encouraging you to place this in wider interdisciplinary and global contexts. It is also possible to explore a variety of disciplinary approaches and/or regional settings. All students will acquire the training in skills and methods they need to succeed in their chosen intellectual path.

Each year you will take a module in four different tracks:

• the Skills and Methods track focuses on acquiring the core skills you need to succeed at university and beyond, progressing from modules on verbal and quantitative literacy in the first year, through project design and research methods in the second, to an independent research project in your final year.

• the Global track comprises a series of modules that ask you to understand the world as a whole, providing you with a broad framework within which to place your own regions of interest. It is also possible from the second year to develop a particular disciplinary specialisation.

• the Regional track comprises modules that focus on one of the five regions we study at SOAS--Africa, the Near and Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia--as well as modules focusing on particular countries. It is possible to focus on one region throughout your degree, or to study different regions in different years.

• the Language track allows you to pursue the study of one of the many Asian or African languages we teach at SOAS to the intermediate level. It is possible after the first year to study linguistics or literature in translation instead of languages if preferred.

Within each track, modules are progressive and learning outcomes are cumulative, to ensure that you have the skills and knowledge you need before undertaking each module. In outline, therefore, each year will look as follows. (See the following section for further detail.)

• Year 1: two modules on verbal and quantitative literacy; an introduction to global studies; an introductory regional module; and a language module.

• Year 2: the project design & research methods module; an intermediate global module; an intermediate regional module; and a unit of language, or of linguistics / literature in translation.

• Year 3: the core dissertation module; an advanced global module; an advanced regional module; and a unit of language, or of linguistics literature in translation.
  

• Writing Well (0.5) and Using Numbers (0.5), our two core first-year modules, are taught seminar-style and provide core skills and weekly practice in critical reading, academic writing, and quantitative literacy
• Introduction to Global Studies, a compulsory first year module, provides an introduction to the study of the world, past and present, from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives
• one introductory regional module drawn from List A (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units’ PDF document below for this list)
• one language module drawn from List D1 (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units' PDF document below for this list)

• Project Design and Research Methods, our core second-year module, is taught seminar-style and provides important skills in project and research design and management, laying the foundation for the final-year dissertation
• one intermediate global module drawn from List B (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units’ PDF document below for this list)
• one intermediate regional module drawn from List C or one linguistics / literature in translation module drawn from List D2 (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units’ PDF document below for this list)
• one language module drawn from List D1 or one linguistics / literature in translation module drawn from List D2 (if the latter, you must choose from List C for the preceding module) (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units’ PDF document below for this list)

• the Dissertation, our core final-year module, is an opportunity to design, execute, and present an independent research project
• one advanced global module drawn from List B (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units’ PDF document below for this list)
• one advanced regional module drawn from List C or one linguistics / literature in translation module drawn from List D2 (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units’ PDF document below for this list)
• one language module drawn from List D1 or one linguistics / literature in translation module drawn from List D2 (if the latter, you must choose from List C for the preceding module) (please see the ‘BA GLA Optional Units’ PDF document below for this list)

The degree draws on modules from throughout the School. The options can be found on the list of modules for the global, regional, and language tracks, which will be produced annually and is sub-divided into the lists specified above.

The programme draws on modules from throughout the School, but students should note that the availability of modules may change and that the choice of modules is subject to some restrictions. Please note the following in particular:

• the lists of available modules are subject to change on an annual basis, due to ongoing curriculum revision by the departments concerned. Students will be advised which modules are available each year prior to registration.

• some modules are subject to pre-requisites and other restrictions (eg approval by the module convenor). Students are advised to check individual module pages carefully, so that they can plan ahead.

• the wide range of available modules means that there will be some timetable clashes between modules. Students are therefore advised to consider various module options at each stage of their degree.

The programme convenor and tutors will work carefully with each student to design their programme of study. At the beginning of the programme we will establish your intellectual goals and chart potential pathways. We will then consider your academic progress and future plans before making your module choices each spring.

• BA GLA Optional Modules (pdf; 43kb)

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules