| Location | London, United Kingdom | Funding Type | Public |
|---|---|---|---|
| No of Students | 5800 | Establishment | University |
| Founded In | 1916 | Estimated Cost of Living | 12006 GBP |
| Address | Thornhaugh Street Russell Square London WC1H 0XG United Kingdom |
SOAS University of London is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specializing in the study of Asia, Africa, and the Near and Middle East.
SOAS is a remarkable institution. With our vast repository of knowledge and expertise in our specialist regions, we are uniquely placed to inform and shape current thinking about the economic, political, cultural, security, and religious challenges of our world. Our programs are taught by respected academics engaged in fieldwork and research which influences government policy and the lives of individuals across the globe. SOAS scholars grapple with the pressing issues confronting two-thirds of humankind today: democracy, development, economy, finance, public and corporate policy, human rights, migration, identity, legal systems, poverty, religion, and social change.
Origins
The School of Oriental Studies was founded in 1916 at 2 Finsbury Circus, London, the then premises of the London Institution. The school received its royal charter on 5 June 1916 and admitted its first students on 18 January 1917. The school was formally inaugurated a month later on 23 February 1917 by King George V. Among those in attendance were Earl Curzon of Kedleston, formerly Viceroy of India, and other cabinet officials.
The School of Oriental Studies was founded by the British state as an instrument to strengthen Britain's political, commercial, and military presence in Asia and Africa.[6] It would do so by providing instruction to colonial administrators (Colonial Service and Imperial Civil Service), commercial managers and military officers, but also to missionaries, doctors and teachers, in the language of that part of Asia or Africa to which each was being posted, together with an authoritative introduction to the customs, religion, laws, and history of the people whom they were to governor among whom they would be working.
The school's founding mission was to advance British scholarship, science, and commerce in Africa and Asia and to provide London University with a rival to the Oriental schools of Berlin, Petrograd, and Paris. The school immediately became integral in training British administrators, colonial officials, and spies for overseas postings across the British Empire. Africa was added to the school's name in 1938.
Why SOAS?
Choose SOAS and you will be surrounded by people who are passionate about their studies and curious about the world we live in.
Asians (as they like to be called) are politically conscientious and adopt a global world view. (Which is very much strengthened by SOAS’s non-Eurocentric approach to the curriculum.)
Our students strive for social justice and equality and can frequently be found debating - and sometimes protesting - around issues such as migration and refugees, decolonization, climate change, and the environment, freedom of speech and gender equality.
SOAS provides a dynamic, diverse and thriving student environment
There’s a reason we say ‘Meet the World at SOAS’ - we attract the brightest students from all over the world - over 130 countries in fact. It’s the reason we are one of the most international universities in the UK.
SOAS offers a broad and exciting curricula
Law, Economics, Gender Studies, Finance and Management, Politics, Anthropology, Development Studies...and much, much more. Better yet, you have the opportunity to take modules from across SOAS’s wide range of subjects, meaning you can design your own intellectual journey.
Academic excellence
SOAS is consistently ranked among the top higher education institutions in the UK and the world. In the 2017 QS Rankings, 13 of our subject areas across a broad range of disciplines ranked amongst the world's best, up from 11 in 2016 and 9 in 2015.
Learn a language alongside your degree
The majority of SOAS students have the opportunity to learn one of the many languages of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, which we offer as a module choice within our programs of study. No previous knowledge required!
Our central London location
London offers up one of the greatest student experiences in the world. With a greater number of international students than any other city across the globe - over 100,000 from more than 200 countries - you are always on the verge of a new experience.
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