Social Anthropology and Intensive Language

Overview

The MA Social Anthropology and Intensive Language at SOAS University of London 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

Why study MA Social Anthropology at SOAS

• our Anthropology Department is ranked 5th in the UK and 13th in the world in the 2020 QS World University Rankings
• we draw on the exceptional regional expertise of our academics in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern languages and politics, many of whom have joined us with a practical working knowledge of their disciplines
• you will be joining our thriving community of alumni and academics who have an impact on the world outside of academia
• you will be able to flexibly structure your programme using our optional modules and/or the optional modules from other departments, including the opportunity to learn a regional language

• we are specialists in the delivery of languages. Your command of a language at SOAS will set you apart from graduates of other universities

May be combined with:

The following Intensive Language pathways are available with the MA Social Anthropology

• Arabic
• Japanese
• Korean
• Persian
• South East Asian Languages: Burmese, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese
• Swahili
• Turkish 

Employment

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.