MA Gender Studies

SOAS University of London

The MA Gender Studies is our most popular programme and is unique not only in the UK but in the terrain of Gender Studies programmes across the Anglophone world.

With a focus on the study of Gender that attends to the complex specificities of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and their diasporas, this programme creates a cutting edge pedagogical space where students grapple with the limits of ‘Western’ and elite feminisms and tackle the problems of class violence, racism, transmisogny, Islamophobia, ableism and queerphobia in contemporary feminist political projects.

In addition to drawing on the interdisciplinary expertise of staff across all SOAS faculties, this MA in Gender Studies programme offers plenty of opportunities to participate in ongoing dialogues between various social justice movements and the University classroom. Drawing cohorts of students from Asia, Africa and the Middle East as well as the Global North, this programme offers students a chance like no other to forge connections to feminist movements, activists and thinkers situated across the world.

The SOAS MA in Gender Studies will appeal to students with a variety of backgrounds and objectives:

• Those coming from Women's Studies or Gender Studies who wish to engage more deeply with gender theory in relation to regional specialisation, especially, but not exclusively, the societies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East;
• Those coming from Asian, African or Middle Eastern Studies who wish to incorporate the study of gender into their own areas of expertise; and
• Those having previously trained in particular disciplines, such as Cultural and Media Studies, Religious Studies, Comparative Literature, History, Anthropology, Politics, etc. who wish to deepen their training in feminist knowledge production.

Why study MA Gender Sudies at SOAS?

• SOAS is ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023).
• Specialised research training MA in Gender Studies, perhaps including a relevant language. This pathway is suitable for students contemplating advanced postgraduate research in Gender Studies with regard to regional specialisation.
• A broad MA programme for students with some background in Women's Studies, Gender Studies, and Area Studies etc. who wish to enhance their knowledge of gender in relation to cross-cultural issues, with or without language study.
• A special interest MA, which enables students to study in depth gender issues in relation to a particular regional or disciplinary specialisation.