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In the most basic sense of the word, language first developed as a means to gossip. It’s a fact supported by authors and researchers; the idea that humans are innately social creatures who survive through social cooperation — or, in other words, chit chat. Today, language is an art that surpasses gossip. It’s the tool behind the preservation of history and culture. The means for the underrepresented to speak aloud, and the way love and memory are shared, whether spoken, signed, or written.
Language, culture, and society form the heart of the SOAS University of London. Founded in 1916, here’s where the voices of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are amplified through world-class academics. At the School of Languages, Cultures, and Linguistics (SLCL), you come to understand the breadth of cultural narratives in history and politics. Students learn to leverage the knowledge gained to question current world views and shatter stereotypes.
“The perspectives we gain at SOAS are new and fresh from what the common narratives are in media,” says MA South Asian Area Studies graduate Sapna Aggarwal. “This definitely allows for a better understanding of a place and its people, equipping someone to venture into careers in international relations or cultural diplomacy.”
SOAS University of London is the only institution in Europe to focus its programmes on Asian, African, and Middle Eastern regions. Source: SOAS University of London
SOAS postgraduate students do work that aims to disarm the Eurocentric hegemony through MA programmes that underscore non-Western frameworks. In each programme, language and culture play into each other. Students learn to critically analyse literary canons and the role of popular culture in postcolonial societies.
The MA Postcolonial Studies analyses the complexities of colonisation and decolonisation, nationalism in a postcolonial world, and its impact on cultural identity. The MA Comparative Literature takes literary classics of Asia and Africa to study the written word in a multicultural context. The MA Cultural Studies highlights scholars from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East who are reforming what society believes about ideology, class, race, gender, and more.
The university has six departments dedicated to specific regions across the continents, alongside the Department of Linguistics. There’s the African Languages, Cultures, and Literature Section, China and Inner Asia, as well as the Japan and Korea, Near and Middle East, South Asia, and South East Asia sections.
Aggarwal, who is from India, wanted to dive into the culture, politics, and history of South Asia through her master’s degree. SOAS is known to have one of the best programmes for South Asian studies in the world, which was reason enough for her to apply.
“I wanted to study South Asia through an intersection of politics and critical theory and SOAS allowed me to do so by choosing modules from a very wide range of orientations,” she says.
The way the MA programmes are designed allows for a nuanced understanding of a particular region or culture. Aggarwal was able to take courses that sharpened her understanding of the politics of language and ethnicity in the formation of India as a nation-state – a breadth of subjects that she wouldn’t have been able to find elsewhere.
This specialisation of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East is unique to SOAS, as it’s the only higher education institution in Europe that focuses on such. What makes it rarer still is how fluidly its different departments work together. They get to collaborate to find intersections and overlaps across linguistics, history, and literature. It’s a pathway to innovation, colluding with brilliant minds in different fields to find solutions or explanations to undiscovered concepts.
One example is the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies’s Multilingual Locals and Significant Geographies” project funded by the Research Council. Researchers are studying world literature from the angles of three multilingual societies: the north of India, the Maghreb, and the Horn of Africa, aiming to “illuminate the dynamics of appropriation and creativity.” It’s led by Professor Francesco Orsini, the Chair of CCLPS, and observes three periods of time: colonial consolidation, decolonisation, and current globalisation. Like the rest of SOAS, his team comprises internationally recognised experts across diverse fields like decolonial theory, popular culture in postcolonial societies, and the interplay of language and identity.
A master’s education at SOAS broadens perspectives and exposes students to cutting-edge research that debunks cultural stereotypes. Source: SOAS University of London
As decorated as they are, professors always make time for their students. “SOAS has an amazing community of very welcoming and warm people and professors,” Aggarwal says.
From specialised knowledge to community and research opportunities, everything students gain at SOAS sets them up to make an impact in the real world. The university has an alumni network of 75,000 across the world, thriving in diverse careers. They tackle global challenges with nuanced perspectives, a skill gained from a heightened understanding of cultural diversity and geopolitical dynamics. They’ve had alumni shape foreign policy, and others who challenge stereotypical media perceptions of underrepresented communities. They’ve gone to some of the top organisations in the world, like the United Nations, Amnesty International, and the BBC, and they’re slowly building a better one.
If you’re interested in this journey, click here to learn more about SOAS University of London.
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