MSc African Politics

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.

ONE module from List A (core)
THREE modules from B, C or D, with no more than 30 credits coming from List D, and no more than four x 15 credit modules.
Dissertation on some aspect of African Politics (compulsory).

Please note that not all option modules may run every year.

• Government and politics in Africa

• Politics of Globalisation and Development in Asia and Africa
• State & society in Asia & Africa
• International Politics of Africa
• Islamic/Democratic Political Thought

• Violence, justice and the politics of memory
• Conflict, rights and justice
• International migration and diaspora politics
• The Politics of Global Security
• Comparative International Political Thought
• Queer Politics in Asia, Africa and the Middle East
• Political Thought on the Just Rebellion
• Approaches to Comparative Political Thought
• The Indian Ocean in World Politics
• Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Social Research
• Foreign Policy Analysis

Courses from this section may only be taken with permission of the programme convenor and relevant course convenor.

• Amharic 1 (PG)
• Hausa 1 (PG)
• Somali 1 (PG)
• Swahili 1 (PG)
• Yoruba 1 (PG)
• Zulu 1 (PG)
• Literatures in African languages
• Zulu 2 (PG)
• Amharic 2 (PG)
• Somali 2 (PG)
• Yoruba 2 (PG)
• Zulu 3 (PG)
• Hausa 2 (PG)
• Travelling Africa: Writing the Cape to Cairo
• Intermediate Swahili 2A (PG)
• Swahili 3 (PG)
• Visual Cultures in South Africa: Past and Present
• Swahili 4 (PG)
• Directed Readings in an African Langauage
• Advanced Somali: Formal Usage (PG)
• The Story of African Film: Narrative Screen Media in Africa
• Aspects of African film and video 2
• African Philosophy (PG)
• Afrophone Philosophies (PG)
• Curating Africa: African Film and Video in the Age of Festivals
• The Structure of Bantu Languages (PG)
• African and Asian Cultures in Britain
• African and Asian Diasporas in the Modern World
• Culture and Society of East Africa
• Culture and Society of West Africa
• The Art of the African Diaspora
• Modern and Contemporary Arts in Africa
• Arts and Society in sub-Saharan Africa
• Visuality and Islamic Art
• Photography and the Image in Africa
• Neoliberalism, Democracy and Global Development
• Marxist Political Economy and Global Development
• Security
• Global Commodity Chains, Production Networks and Informal Work
• Water and Development:Conflict and Governance
• Borders and Development
• Understanding Economic Migration: Theories, Patterns and Policies
• Natural resources, development and change: putting critical analysis into practice
• The Working Poor and Development
• Gendering Migration & Diasporas
• Gender, Armed Conflict and International Law
• Colonial Conquest and Social Change in Southern Africa
• Social and Cultural Transformations in Southern Africa Since 1945
• Slavery in West Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries
• Historical Perspectives on Gender in Africa
• Warfare and the Military in Precolonial Africa
• Warfare and the Military in Modern Africa
• Law and Development in Africa
• Colonialism, Empire and International Law
• Colonialism and Christian Missions in Africa: Readings from the Archives

This would focus on some aspect of African Politics raised by the compulsory module 15PPOC205

• Dissertation in Political Studies

If you are a current student you can find structure information on Moodle or through your Department.

• MSc African Politics Programme Specification 2012 (pdf; 95kb)

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules