BA Languages and Cultures (Middle East, Africa, South and Southeast Asia)

The BA Languages and Cultures (Middle East, Africa, South and South East Asia) degree introduces students to the cultures and societies of Africa, the Middle East, South and South East Asia through the study of languages, film, literature and cultural studies.

In the first year, you will be equipped with a broader understanding of these regions in order to gain a vital comparative perspective. You will have the opportunity to explore particular regional interests through your language study, selected optional modules and in course work throughout the degree, culminating in the final year Study Project where you will draw on skills gained over the course of the degree to produce your own original research.

Language is crucial to the understanding of culture and therefore all students will be required to choose from a range of languages in their first year of study. We encourage students to further develop their language skills as the degree progresses. You will have the option to spend a year abroad or a summer abroad to gain cultural and linguistic fluency in languages including Swahili, Turkish, Hebrew, Persian, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Indonesian and Vietnamese.

Key critical thinking, project management and study skills are built into the programme to ensure that students graduate with a range of transferable skills ensuring they are prepared for a range of careers.

Why study Languages and Cultures (Middle East, Africa, South and South East Asia) at SOAS?

• SOAS is specialist in the studies of Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South East Asia.
• SOAS is ranked 1st in London in the Complete University Guide 2021 for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and 6th in the UK.
• We are ranked 12th in the UK for Modern Languages (QS World University Rankings 2023)
• Ranked 8th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2021 for South Asian Studies.
• Modern Languages and Linguistics at SOAS has been ranked 10th in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
• We've also been ranked 4th for research environment - with 100% of our research ranked as 'internationally excellent' and 85% as 'world-leading' - and 8th for research outputs in the REF 2021.

Global Partnerships

This programme can be offered as part of a dual Undergraduate degree with Thammasat University.

Students start their undergraduate award at Pridi Banomyong International College on the BA Thai Studies programme and after two years of study, can transfer into the second year of the BA Languages & Cultures (Middle East, Africa, South & South East Asia) completing a further two years of study at SOAS. Upon completion of the programme students gain a bachelors degree from both institutions.

For more information about the dual undergraduate degree, please see the SOAS-Thammasat partnership.

Graduates of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics leave SOAS not only with linguistic and cultural expertise, but also with skills in written and oral communication, analysis and problem solving.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Africa Matters
• Amnesty International
• Arab British Chamber of Commerce
• BBC World Service
• British High Commission
• Council for British Research in the Levant
• Department for International Development
• Edelman
• Embassy of Jordan
• Ernst & Young
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Google
• Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
• Middle East Eye
• Saïd Foundation
• TalkAbout Speech Therapy
• The Black Curriculum
• The Telegraph
• United Nations Development Programme
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
• Wall Street Journal

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