MA Social Anthropology and Intensive Language (Arabic)

Overview

Social Anthropology – Our MA Social Anthropology programme is designed on a modular basis offering different pathways to suit three categories of students:

• students with a degree in social anthropology wishing to pursue more specialist topics and/or more regional and language-based study
• students with little or no previous knowledge of social anthropology wishing to acquire a broad knowledge of the discipline
• students with little or no previous knowledge of social anthropology wishing to take the degree as a conversion course before proceeding to a research degree in anthropology

This two-year intensive language pathway is directed at students who wish to combine knowledge of the anthropology of development, with expertise in a regional language. It prepares students to apply their anthropological knowledge in a developing country context by achieving proficiency in a language.

Arabic - In this two-year pathway (FT), students can combine intensive Arabic language with several disciplines (see 'Combinations' Tab), including MA Islamic Societies and Cultures, MA Near and Middle Eastern Studies, or MA Palestine Studies, making these programmes unique in Europe.

Access to the Intensive Arabic language pathway is currently available for students with

a) beginner,

b) intermediate,

c) advanced level of proficiency.

Students’ proficiency levels will be assessed through a placement test during registration week (specific dates will be provided to the applicants).

Employment

A Masters in Social Anthropology helps you to understand the world, other peoples’ ways of life and how society is organised.

This programme has a first-rate graduate employability record. Our alumni include everyone from dance therapists and film editors, to teachers, gender violence outreach workers, television and radio producers, international development workers, journalists, analysts, web developers, and more. Students with a SOAS degree in Anthropology are regularly employed by NGOs, charitable organisations, media companies, and voluntary sector organisations. Recent graduates have found jobs at Action on Hearing Loss, British Council, Deloitte, Hackney Migrant Centre, IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), The New York Times, and the Social Mobility Foundation. Many of our graduates have their own successful start-ups, and others go on to research degreees and lectureships/professorships around the world

Postgraduate students leave SOAS with a portfolio of widely transferable skills which employers seek, including analytical and critical skills; ability to gather, assess and interpret data; high level of cultural awareness; and problem-solving.

A postgraduate degree is a valuable experience that provides students with a body of work and a diverse range of skills that they can use to market themselves with when they graduate.