The
School of Oriental and African Studies (commonly abbreviated to "
SOAS", pronounced ['səuæs] (so as) or ['səuæz] (so az)) is a constituent college of the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
, specialising in languages,
humanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences....
,
economicsEconomics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
,
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
and
politicsPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
concerning
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. SOAS currently offers over 300 undergraduate
Bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
combinations, and over 70 one-year intensively taught
Master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
s. MPhil and
PhDPHD may refer to:* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian reform organization* PHD, a track on The Crystal Method album Tweekend* PHD finger, a protein sequence* PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company...
degrees are also available in every academic department.
Founded in 1916, SOAS has produced several heads of state, government ministers, ambassadors, Supreme Court judges, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and many other notable leaders in
emerging marketsThe term emerging markets is used to describe a nation's social or business activity in the process of rapid growth and industrialization. Currently, there are approximately 28 emerging markets in the world, with the economies of India and China considered to be by far the two largest...
, future superpowers and in the
Next ElevenThe Next Eleven are eleven countries—Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam—identified by Goldman Sachs investment bank as having a high potential of becoming the world's largest economies in the 21st century along with the...
. Located in central
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, SOAS describes itself as the "world's leading centre for the study of a highly diverse range of subjects concerned with Asia, Africa and the Middle East", and is usually ranked amongst the top universities in the UK.
http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=true&Subject=University+ranking&Institution=Soas&Go=Gohttp://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=6524
Background
The institution was founded in 1916 as the
School of Oriental StudiesOriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the term Asian studies has mostly replaced the older term. European study of the region had primarily religious origins,...
at 2 Finsbury Circus,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the then premises of the London Institution. The School received its Royal Charter on 5 June 1916; admitted its first batch of students on 18 January; and was formally inaugurated by King
George VGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 through World War I until his death in 1936...
in the presence of the
Earl Curzon of KedlestonGeorge Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary.-Early life:...
among other cabinet officials just a month later on 23 February 1917. Africa was added to the school's name and remit in 1938 and the school permanently shifted to Thornhaugh Street, which runs between Malet Street and
Russell SquareRussell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Museum. To the north is Woburn Place and to the south-east is Southampton Row...
.
For sometime in the mid-1930s, the School was located at Vandon House, Vandon Street, London SW1. However, its move was held up by delays in construction and the half-completed building took a hit during the
BlitzThe Blitz was the sustained bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, in World War II. While the Blitz hit many towns and cities across the country, it began with the bombing of London for 57 consecutive nights...
in September 1940. The School was, on Government's advice, evacuated to
CambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. It is also at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen....
and returned to London to resume work in July 1940. Most colleges of the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
were evacuated from London in 1939 and billeted on universities all over the provinces. SOAS was transferred, but without its library, to
Christ's CollegeChrist's College is a name shared by several educational establishments. Among them are:* Christ's College, Aberdeen, in Scotland* Christ's College, Cambridge, one of the constituent Colleges of the University of Cambridge, England....
, Cambridge. When it became apparent that a return to London was possible, the School returned to the city and was temporarily housed for some months in 1940-41 in eleven rooms at Broadway Court, 8
BroadwayBroadway is a street in the City of Westminster, in central London. It runs north from Victoria Street.Buildings include:* Metropolitan Police headquarters at New Scotland Yard...
, London SW1.
The institution's founding mission was primarily to train British administrators for overseas postings across the empire. Since then the school has grown into one of the world's most notable centres for the exclusive study of Asia and Africa. A college of the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
, SOAS fields include
LawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
, Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages with special reference to Asia and Africa. SOAS consistently ranks among the top twenty universities in the UK league tables and in 2004 was ranked 44th in the world, 7th in the UK and 11th overall in Europe according to
The Times Higher Education SupplementTimes Higher Education , formerly The Times Higher Education Supplement , is a magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to higher education.-Publication history:...
. The SOAS Library, housed in Philips Building (designed at the beginning of the 1970s by Sir
Denys LasdunSir Denys Lasdun CH was an eminent English architect of the 20th century. Probably his best known work is the Royal National Theatre, on London's South Bank of the River Thames, which is a Grade II listed building and one of the most notable examples of Brutalist design in the United...
, and named after the then SOAS Director), is the UK's national resource for materials relating to Asia and Africa and is the largest of its kind in Europe.
The School has grown considerably over the past thirty years, from fewer than 1,000 students in the 1970s to more than 4,500 students today, nearly half of them postgraduates. SOAS is partnered with the
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientalesThe Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales is located in Paris, France. It was founded in 1795 after the French Revolution and is now one of the country's Grands établissements with a specialization in African, Asian, East European, Oceanian languages and civilisations...
(INALCO) of
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. INALCO is often considered the French equivalent of SOAS.
Campuses
SOAS is currently split into two campuses within 20 minutes walk of each other. The Russell Square campus is located in
Bloomsbury-Places:*Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Virginia-Other:...
, an area at the corner of the West End known to many tourists for its shops, theaters and nightlife. The main campus was moved there in 1938, and has much expanded since then. The closest
UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
station is
Russell Square tube stationRussell Square is a London Underground station on Bernard Street, Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden. It is a small but busy station, used by office workers and tourists staying in Bloomsbury's numerous hotels.-History:...
.
The
Vernon Square campus in Islington was opened in 2001 is close to Kings Cross Station and is only a few hundred yards from Dinwiddy House and
Paul Robeson HousePaul Robeson House may refer to:*Paul Robeson House *Paul Robeson House...
which are exclusive for SOAS students and are owned by Shaftesbury Student Housing.
The school also houses the Brunei Gallery, completed in 1995, which stages temporary exhibitions of both historical and contemporary materials which reflect subjects and regions studied at SOAS. The school also hosted the
Percival David Foundation of Chinese ArtThe Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art is a collection of Chinese ceramics and related items in London, England. The Foundation's main purpose is to promote the study and teaching of Chinese art and culture. The Collection consists of over 1,400 pieces of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing porcelain...
, one of the foremost collections of Chinese ceramics in Europe, however, as of April 2009 the collection has been loaned to and is now on public display in Room 95 of the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
. The present library building (by Sir Denys Lasdun) was added in 1973, the Brunei Gallery in 1995, and an extension to the library building opened in 2004 (the second phase of this expansion was completed in 2006).
The Centenary Masterplan conceives of the development of two new buildings, and a
substantial remodelling of existing space to realign and develop the entrance and two areas
within the Old Building. The cost estimates for the Centenary Masterplan settle at around
£73m for the total project. The full implementation of the School’s Centenary Masterplan will deliver approximately 30%
additional space, approximately 1000 sq metres.
Reputation
In 2006, SOAS placed 5th among United Kingdom universities in a Guardian poll. In the subject tables of this poll, SOAS was placed 3rd for Anthropology, 4th for Economics, 3rd for History and History of Art, 6th for Law, 5th for Music, 3rd for Politics, and 3rd for Theology and Religious Studies. The History Department obtained a rare 6
research rating in the last government assessment, placing it as only one of three departments in the country to achieve such a status.
The
Times Higher Education world rankings place SOAS 44th in the world, 7th in the United Kingdom, and 11th in Europe. SOAS is also regarded for its focus on small group teaching with a student-staff ratio of only 11:1 and some departments 6:1 (although postgraduate students have at times been used to fill in for academic staff). SOAS currently features in the world's top 50 Universities for Arts & Humanities, according to the QS World University Rankings.
SOAS trains government officials on
secondmentSecondment is the transfer of a person from their regular organization for temporary assignment elsewhere, to transfer an employee, official, or soldier temporarily to other duties....
from around the world in; Asian, African and Middle Eastern languages, especially in Arabic and Mandarin Chinese. It also acts as a consultant to several government departments and to companies such as
AccentureAccenture plc is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. It was previously incorporated in Bermuda but since 1 September 2009 has been incorporated in Ireland. It is said to be the largest consulting firm in the world. Accenture is a Fortune Global 500...
and Deloitte - when they seek to gain specialist knowledge of the matters concerning
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
SOAS has also has a reputation for attracting left-wing students and academics, although there is some debate over whether this is completely deserved.
UK University RankingsLeague tables of British universities have been published annually, by The Times, The Independent and several other organizations, since October 1992. These league tables have become increasingly popular over the last few years in the perception of British public,The main aim of these ranking is to...
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| Times Good University Guide |
33rd |
24th |
18th |
19th |
15th |
19th |
22nd |
27th |
23rd= |
14th |
14th |
6th |
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| Guardian University Guide |
12th |
8th |
11th |
6th |
6th |
4th |
4th |
4th |
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| Sunday Times University Guide |
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33rd |
24th |
21st |
21st |
18th |
29th |
14th |
38th |
25th |
13th |
11th |
| Daily Telegraph |
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24th |
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10th= |
12th |
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| FT |
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17th |
13th |
6th |
13th |
6th |
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| Independent / Complete |
15th |
9th |
24th |
15th |
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Management
2006 - present
Paul WebleyProfessor Paul Webley is Director and Principal of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Economic Psychology and former President of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology.He received his...
is the current Director and Principal of SOAS. He was previously Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor and Professor of Economic Psychology at the
University of ExeterThe University of Exeter is a university in the South West of England. Most of its activities are located in the city of Exeter, Devon, where it is the principal higher education institution...
.
2001-2006
Colin BundyProfessor Colin James Bundy is Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford.Professor Bundy was an influential member of a generation of historians who substantially revised understanding of South African history. In particular, he wrote on South Africa's rural past, deploying Africanist, Marxist...
spent five years as Director and Principal of SOAS (and three years as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
). In 2006, he accepted appointment as Warden of
Green College, OxfordGreen College was a graduate college of the University of Oxford in England. It was centred around an architecturally appealing 18th century building: the Radcliffe Observatory, which is modelled after the ancient "Tower of the Winds" in Athens....
.
1996-2000
Professor Bundy's immediate predecessor was
Sir Tim Lankester KCBSir Tim Lankester, KCB is President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, England.Tim Lankester was born in 1942 and educated at Monkton Combe School....
, was Director and Principal 1996-2000 and left the School to become President of
Corpus Christi College, OxfordCorpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
.
Department of Linguistics
The SOAS Department of Linguistics was the first ever linguistics department in United Kingdom, founded in 1932 as a centre for research and study in Oriental and African languages.
J. R. FirthJohn Rupert Firth , commonly known as J. R. Firth, was an English linguist. He was Professor of English at the University of the Punjab from 1919-1928...
, known internationally for his original work in phonology and semantics, was Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor of General Linguistics at the school between 1938 and 1956.
Faculty of Law and Social Sciences
The Faculty of Law and Social Sciences consists of five academic departments, one faculty centre and eight departmental centres:
Departments
- Department of Development Studies
- Department of Economics
- Department of Financial & Management Studies (DeFiMS)
- School of Law
- Department of Politics and International Studies
Faculty Centres
Departmental Centres
- Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP) - distance learning
- Centre for Development Policy and Research (CDPR)
- Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies
- Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS) - distance learning
- Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy
- Centre for Law & Conflict
- Centre of East Asian Law
- Centre of International Law and Colonialism
- Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law
- Law, Environment and Development Centre
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities contains five Departments, one faculty centre and nine departmental centres:
Departments
- Department of Art and Archaeology
- Department of Music
- Department of History
- Department of the Study of Religions (also administers the Centre for Media and Film Studies and MA in Gender Studies)
- Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Faculty Centres
- Centre for Media and Film Studies
Departmental Centres
- Centre of Buddhist Studies
- Centre of Eastern and Orthodox Christianity
- SOAS Food Studies Centre
- Centre for Gender and Religions Research
- Centre of Jaina Studies
- Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies
- Centre for Music and Dance Performance Research
- Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions
- Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures
Faculty of Languages and Cultures
The Faculty of Languages and Cultures consists of a Language Centre, seven academic departments, two faculty centres and four departmental centres:
Departments
- Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa
- Department of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia
- Department of the Languages and Cultures of Japan and Korea
- Department of Linguistics
- Department of the Languages and Cultures of Near and Middle East
- Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia
- Department of the Languages and Cultures of South East Asia
- Language Centre
Faculty Centres
- Centre for Gender Studies
- Centre for Translation Studies
Departmental Centres
- Centre of Excellence in the Teaching and Learning of Languages of the Wider World
- Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS)
- Centre for Jewish Studies
- London Confucius Institute
Note: At present, where The Language Centre employs its own staff and administers language only courses, the respective departments manage language acquisition in their courses.
IFCELS
IFCELS (International Foundation Courses and English Language Studies), lies outside the university's faculty structure and runs a number of foundation courses for students wishing to enter higher education in the UK.
Located in the Faber building, this department is one of the largest departments in the school with currently over 250 foundation students as well as a large number of pre-sessional and in-sessional students.
Regional and interdisciplinary centres
SOAS also includes six regional and 28 interdisciplinary centres apart from its faculties and academic departments. These are responsible for many vigorous programmes of activities such as conferences, colloquia, seminars and publications.
Regional centres
- Centre of African Studies (CAS)
- Centre of Chinese Studies (CCS)
- Centre of Contemporary Central Asia & the Caucasus (CCCAC)
- Centre of Korean Studies (CKS)
- Centre of South Asian Studies (CSAS)
- Centre of South East Asian Studies (CSEAS)
- Japan Research Centre (JRC)
- London Middle East Institute (LMEI)
Departmental and other centres
- Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP)
- Centre for Development Policy and Research (CDPR)
- Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies (CEMS)
- Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS)
- Centre for Gender and Religions Research (GRR)
- Centre for Gender Studies
- Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD)
- Centre for Jewish Studies (CJS)
- Centre for Law and Conflict
- Centre for Media and Film Studies
- Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies
- Centre for Music and Dance Performance Research
- Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions (CSJR)
- Centre of Buddhist Studies
- Centre of East Asian Law (CEAL)
- Centre of Eastern and Orthodox Christianity
- Centre of International Law and Colonialism (CILC)
- Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (CIMEL)
- Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS)
- Centre of Jaina Studies (CoJS)
- Centre of Taiwan Studies
- Contemporary China Institute
- International Foundation Courses and English Language Studies (IFCELS)
- Languages of the Wider World CETL (LWW-CETL)
- Law, Environment and Development Centre (LEDC)
- London Confucius Institute
- Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Art
- SOAS Food Studies Centre
Students' accommodation
Many SOAS students are accommodated in the college's own halls of residence: Dinwiddy House (located on Pentonville Road in
Kings CrossKings Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
) and
Paul RobesonPaul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was an internationally renowned American basso profundo concert singer, scholar, actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator and lawyer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism...
House, a block away from Dinwiddy House, on Penton Rise; SOAS students are also eligible to apply for places in the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
intercollegiate halls of residence, such as
Connaught HallConnaught Hall is a fully catered hall of residence owned by the University of London and situated on Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, London, UK. It is an intercollegiate hall, and as such provides accommodation for full-time students at constituent colleges and institutions of the University of...
.
Most students in college or university accommodation are first-year undergraduates. The majority of second, third and fourth-year students and
postgraduatesPostgraduate education involves studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of tertiary or higher education...
live out.
A UNITE accommodation, named Elisabeth Croll House, is currently being built on the Vernon Square Campus, due to be completed in late 2009, availlable for students from September 2009.
Students' Union
SOAS has an active
Students' UnionA students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges, universities and has started to appear in some high schools...
, which is seen among the students' movement to be radically left-wing. In recent years the Students' Union has been particularly vocal in anti-war protests, and been active in reducing its carbon footprint. Recent campaigns by the union have involved campaigning for extended library opening hours, against closure of the
Hindi, and for higher pay for the SOAS cleaners and staff, to prevent further walk out strike action like the walk out in 2005. It has also gone through an environmental audit and has started to actively tackle environmental issues within its student union and in the university. Adopted motions are decided upon by vote at a UGM, usually held at least twice a term.
The union elects three full-time co-presidents a year, who have separate responsibilities; and there are many part-time officers working with them who have specific briefs. Since a revision of the Union's constitution it has been possible for a Union General Meeting to elect an honorary president to serve a one-year term. The post has previously been held by former
Mayor of LondonThe Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London . Since 4 May 2008, Conservative Boris Johnson holds the position...
Ken LivingstoneKenneth Robert Livingstone is an English politician; he has twice held the leading political role in London local government, firstly as Leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986 by the government of Margaret Thatcher, and secondly as the first Mayor of...
whilst the current Hon. President is Burmese political activist and SOAS alumna
Aung San Suu KyiAung San Suu Kyi AC , born 19 June 1945, is an opposition politician and general secretary of the National League for Democracy in Burma . Aung San Suu Kyi was the third child in her family. Her name is derived from three relatives; "Aung San" from her father, "Kyi" from her mother and "Suu" from...
.
OpenAir Radio
SOAS runs its own radio station, OpenAir Radio, based on the 5th floor of the Russell Square Building. The initial
Restricted Service LicenceA UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
ran from November until 16 December 2005, and broadcast on 101.4FM over a three mile radius in the Camden/Central London area. The remit of the station is world music, culture and current affairs, with programmes focusing on Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. OpenAir programmes include everything from local news to international media analysis, and cookery programmes to DJ sets.
OpenAir is currently broadcasting over the internet and also providing shows as podcasts at
http://openair.fm/.
Notable students and alumni
Royalty
- Sultan Salahuddin
Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj ibni Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj was the eleventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and eighth Sultan of Selangor.-Early life:...
, King of Malaysia 1999-2001
- Mette-Marit
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway , is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.-Background and education:...
, Crown Princess of Norway
- Anthony Brooke, Rajah Muda of Sarawak
Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke, , was appointed His Highness the Rajah Muda of Sarawak on 25 August 1937, and succeeded to the title of Rajah in 1963, on the death of Rajah Vyner....
- Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este
Government and politics
- John Atta Mills, Current President of Ghana
- Luisa Diogo
Luísa Dias Diogo has been Prime Minister of Mozambique since February 2004. She replaced Pascoal Mocumbi, who had been Prime Minister for the previous nine years. Before becoming Prime Minister, she was Minister of Planning and Finance, and she continued to hold that post until February 2005. She...
, Current Prime Minister of Mozambique
- Bülent Ecevit
Mustafa Bülent Ecevit was a Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist, who was the leader of Republican People's Party , later of the Democratic Left Party and four-time Prime Minister of Turkey.- Personal life :Born in Ankara, Ecevit's father was Ahmet Fahri Ecevit who was born in...
, Former Prime Minister of Turkey
- Lord Wilson of Tillyorn
David Clive Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, KT, GCMG, PRSE is a retired British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist...
, 27th Governor of Hong Kong
- Edward Youde
Sir Edward Youde GCMG, GCVO, MBE was a British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist. He served as Governor of Hong Kong between 20 May 1982 and 5 December 1986.-Early years:...
, 26th Governor of Hong Kong
- Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi AC , born 19 June 1945, is an opposition politician and general secretary of the National League for Democracy in Burma . Aung San Suu Kyi was the third child in her family. Her name is derived from three relatives; "Aung San" from her father, "Kyi" from her mother and "Suu" from...
, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and elected Honorary President of the SOAS Students' Union
- David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British politician and the Labour Member of Parliament for Tottenham, one of two constituencies within the London Borough of Haringey....
, Member of the British Parliament and Government Minister
- Idris Kutigi, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
- Sylvester Umaru Onu
Sylvester Umaru Onu is a Nigerian judge. He has been an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court since June 1993.Onu is from Egume, in what is now Kogi State. He attended Government College, Keffi, Ahmadu Bello University, Gibson and Weldon College of Law, and the School of Oriental and African...
, Judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
- Femi Fani Kayode, Former Nigerian Minister of Culture and Tourism and Former Minister of Nigerian Aviation
- Johnnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and Former US Ambassador to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda
- Ambassador David Warren, UK Ambassador to Japan
- Quinton Quayle
Quinton Mark Quayle is a British diplomat. Educated at Bromsgrove School and Bristol University. Entered Foreign Office in 1977 and studied Thai at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. In February 2007, he was appointed Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Kingdom of...
, UK Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand and to Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Aaron Mike Oquaye
Aaron Mike Oquaye is a Ghanaian politician who has been the Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana since 2009. A member of the New Patriotic Party, he was Ghana's High Commissioner to India from 2001 to 2004, then Minister of Energy from 2005 to 2006 and Minister of Communications from...
, Minister of Communication in Ghana
- Samia Nkrumah
Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah is a Ghanaian politician and member of the Convention People's Party. In the 2008 parliamentary election, she won the Jomoro constituency seat at her first attempt. She is also a freelance journalist....
, Ghanaian Member of Parliament
- Hüseyin Çelik
thumbHüseyin Çelik is a former Minister of Education of Turkey and member of parliament for Van for the ruling AKP....
, Turkish Minister of Education and Member of Parliament
- Kraisak Choonhavan
Kraisak Choonhavan is a Thai politician. He was a member of the Senate for Nakhon Ratchasima Province from 2000 till 2006....
, Former Senator in the Senate of Thailand
- Jemima Khan
Jemima Marcelle Khan is best known as the ex-wife of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, with whom she had two sons in the 1990s...
, UK Ambassador to UNICEF
- Francis K. Butagira
Francis K. Butagira is currently the Permanent Representative to the United Nations from Uganda.-Education:...
, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Mission of the Republic of Uganda to the United Nations
- Michael C Williams
Michael C. Williams is the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon. He was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in August 2008....
, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon
- Ivor Stanbrook
Ivor Robert Stanbrook was a British Conservative party politician and barrister.-Early life:Stanbrook was born in Willesden, North London, the son of a laundry manager within family business, the Sunlight Laundry...
, Member of the British Parliament and Diplomat
- Herbert Chitepo
Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo led the Zimbabwe African National Union until the Central Intelligence Organization of Rhodesia assassinated him in March 1975....
First Black Rhodesian Barrister
- John Vinelott
Sir John Evelyn Vincent Vinelott was a leading barrister at the Chancery bar and an English High Court judge in the Chancery Division from 1978 to 1994....
, lawyer and judge
- Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, linguist, writer, academic, soldier and poet.He was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament between 1950 and February 1974, and an Ulster Unionist MP between October 1974 and 1987. He was controversial through most of his career, and his tenure...
, British politician
- Varun Gandhi
Feroze Varun Gandhi is an Indian politician. He is the grandson of Indira Gandhi and great grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru.-Early life:...
, Indian politician, Bharatiya Janata PartyThe Bharatiya Janata Party , translation: Indian People's Party) is a major political party in India, founded in 1980. The party is a strong force in Hindu nationalism and advocates conservative social policies, self-reliance, free market economics, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda,...
youth leader
- Walter Rodney
Walter Rodney was a prominent Guyanese historian and political figure.Born to a working class family, Rodney was a bright student, attending Queen's College in Guyana and then attending university on a scholarship at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, graduating in 1963.-Career:...
, historian and Guyanese political activist
- Alan Senitt
Alan Senitt was a British political activist whose murder in Washington, DC garnered media attention. He had just graduated with an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.From Pinner, North London, Senitt was a...
, political activist for homosexual rights
- Lord Jay of Ewelme
Michael Hastings Jay, Baron Jay of Ewelme, GCMG is a former senior diplomat in the United Kingdom and is currently the Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission....
, civil servant
- Emma McCune
Emma McCune was an expatriate British foreign aid worker in Sudan who married guerrilla leader Riek Machar. She was killed in a car accident in Kenya....
, British foreign aid worker
Media/writers
- Abdulsalam Haykal
Abdulsalam Haykal is a Syrian technology and media entrepreneur, and a social activist, who lives and works in Damascus, Syria. In 2009, the World Economic Forum named Haykal as a Young Global Leader, the first Syrian to receive this recognition....
, CEO of Haykal Media, Syria, publisher of Aliqtisadi, and Forward Magazines.
- Zeinab Badawi
Zeinab Badawi, born , is a television and radio reporter and news presenter in the United Kingdom. She was the first presenter of the ITV Morning News co-presented Channel 4 News with Jon Snow for several years, before joining BBC News....
, newsreader
- Fatima Bhutto
Fatima Bhutto , is an Afghan born Pakistani poetess and writer.She currently writes columns for The Daily Beast, New Statesman and other publications....
, author and journalist
- James Brandon
James Brandon is a British journalist, most recently working in Iraq freelance on assignment from the Sunday Telegraph and The Scotsman, covering the occupation and insurgency...
, newspaper journalist
- Martin Bright
Martin Bright is a British journalist. He has worked for the BBC World Service and The Guardian before becoming The Observer's Education Correspondent and then Home Affairs Editor...
, journalist, Political Editor of the New Statesman
- Aidan Hartley
Aidan Hartley , formerly was a foreign correspondent for Reuters news agency, assigned to Africa.Hartley was born in Nairobi in 1965.In his early years, from 7 years old until he was 12, he was sent to boarding school in Devon, England...
, author and journalist
- Dom Joly
Dominic John Romulus "Dom" Joly is a British television comedian and journalist. He came to note as the star of Trigger Happy TV, a hidden camera show that was sold to over seventy countries worldwide...
, television comedian and journalist
- Sabiha Al Khemir
Sabiha Al Khemir is a Tunisian writer, illustrator, translator and expert in Islamic art whose work is concerned with cultural bridging and cultural dialogues. She was the founding director of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. She was born in Tunisia and grew up in Korba, Tunisia, where...
, Tunisian writer and expert in Islamic art
- Khyentse Norbu, film-maker and Tibetan Buddhist Lama
- Andrew Robinson
W. Andrew Robinson is a British author and former newspaper editor.Andrew Robinson was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College where he was a King's Scholar, University College, Oxford where he read Chemistry and finally the School of Oriental and African Studies in London...
, author and journalist
- Saira Shah
Saira Shah is an author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films.- Life and work :...
, journalist and film-maker
- Freya Stark
Dame Freya Madeleine Stark, DBE was a British travel writer.-Life:Freya Stark was born in Paris, where her parents were studying art...
, travel writer
- Sufiah Yusof
Sufiah Yusof is a mathematics prodigy from Britain who later worked as a prostitute.- Biography :Sufiah Yusof first made headlines in 1997 when she gained entry into St Hilda's College, Oxford to study mathematics at the age of 13....
, mathematics prodigy
- Daniel Ziv, author and freelance Southeast Asia correspondent
- Taimur Rahman
Taimur Rahman is a Pakistani musician and is the band leader and spokesperson for the Laal Band. He is also a political activist and is a member of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party. He was involved with the theater in his teen years as an actor, director and producer...
, Member CentComm Communist Mazdoor Kissan PartyCommunist Mazdoor Kissan Party is a political party in Pakistan formed in 1995 through the unification of the Communist Party of Pakistan and the Mazdoor Kissan Party ....
- Reinaldo Avila da Silva, Labour Minister Peter Mandelson's boyfriend
Academia
- Akbar Ahmad, academic, anthropologist, sociologist, Islamic scholar
- Vivek Bammi, author and expert on Indonesian cultures and peoples, lecturer at Jakarta International School
- Urvashi Butalia
Urvashi Butalia is an Indian feminist and historian. She is the Director and Co-founder of Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house.Butalia was born in Ambala India in 1952. She earned a B.A...
, historian and feminist; founder and director of Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house
- K.N. Chaudhuri, historian, author, creative writer, and graphic artist
- Kusuma Karunaratne
Kusuma Karunaratne nee Ediriweera Jayasooriya is a Sri Lankan academic, university administrator, Professor and scholar of Sinhalese language and literature.-Early life:...
, Sri Lankan academic, university administrator, Professor and scholar of Sinhalese language and literature
- Antony Flew
Antony Garrard Newton Flew is a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, he is notable for his works on the philosophy of religion....
, philosopher
- Hamilton Gibb, historian
- Fred Halliday
Fred Halliday, FBA is an Irish writer and academic specializing in international relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian peninsula....
, academic, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics
- Ian Hancock
Ian Hancock is a linguist, Romani scholar, and political advocate. He was born and raised in England, and is one of the main contributors in the field of Romani studies....
, linguist and Romani scholar
- Robert Graham Irwin
Robert Graham Irwin is a British historian, novelist, and writer on Arabic literature.He read modern history at the University of Oxford, and did graduate research at SOAS. From 1972 he was a lecturer in Medieval History at the University of St. Andrews. He gave up the academic life in 1977, to...
, historian and writer on Arabic literature
- M. Chloe Mulderig, anthropologist
- Martin Orwin
Martin Orwin is a British linguist, scholar and writer, specializing in the languages and cultures of the Horn of Africa.-Biography:Orwin studied Arabic and Amharic and has a Ph.D. in the phonology of the Somali language...
, author, scholar, and poet
- James R. Russell
James Robert Russell is a scholar and professor in Ancient Near Eastern, Iranian and Armenian Studies. He has published extensively in journals, and has written several books....
, academic, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University
- Ivan van Sertima
Ivan Gladstone Van Sertima was a British historian, linguist and anthropologist at Rutgers University in the United States. He was noted for his controversial Afrocentric theory of pre-Columbian contact between Africa and the Americas.-Early life:He was born in Kitty Village, Guyana, when Guyana...
, historian and anthropologist, professor of African studies at Rutgers University
- Alireza Shapour Shahbazi
Alireza Shapour Shahbazi was a prominent Persian archeologist, Iranologist and a world expert on Achaemenid archeology.Alireza Shahbazi got a BA degree in and an MA degree in East Asian archeology from SOAS...
, prominent Persian archeologist, Iranologist, world expert on Achaemenid archeology
- Patrick Sookhdeo
Patrick Sookhdeo, is a British Anglican canon. He is also the director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity and of the Barnabas Fund. Sookhdeo is an outspoken spokesman for persecuted Christian minorities around the world...
, theologian and Anglican canon
- Romila Thapar
Romila Thapar is an Indian historian whose principal area of study is ancient India.-Work:After graduating from Panjab University, Thapar earned her doctorate under A. L. Basham at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London in 1958...
, historian, Professor Emerita of Ancient Indian History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Thomas Trautmann
Thomas R. Trautmann is an American historian. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of London. His studies focus on Ancient India and other subjects.- Works :*Kautilya and the Arthasastra *Dravidian Kinship...
, historian
- George N. Clements
George N. Clements was an American theoretical linguist specializing in phonology. Clements was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and educated in New Haven, Paris and London. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 1973, defending a thesis on the...
, linguist, Senior Research Director at the CNRS, Paris, France
- Konrad Tuchscherer
Konrad Tuchscherer is an educator, scholar, writer, and public intellectual. Tuchscherer currently serves as the Co-Director of the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project in Cameroon and is Associate Professor of History and Director of Africana Studies at St...
, academic, Associate Professor of History and Director of Africana Studies at St. John's University (New York City)
- Ehsan Yarshater
Ehsan Yarshater is the director of The Center for Iranian Studies and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University....
, academic, Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University,USA
- William Montgomery Watt
William Montgomery Watt was an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh...
, historian and Islamic scholar
- Than Tun
Dr. Than Tun was an influential Burmese historian as well as an outspoken critic of the military junta of Burma...
, historian of Burma
- Ed Husain
Mohammed Mahbub Hussain , better known as Ed Husain, is the author of The Islamist, a book about Islamic fundamentalism, and an account of his five years as an Islamist activist...
, writer, author of The Islamist
- Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, Orientalist, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...
, Islamic scholar and Emeritus Professor at Princeton University,USA
- Rosemarie Said Zahlan
Rosemarie Said Zahlan was a Palestinian-American historian and writer on the Gulf states. She was a sister of Edward Said...
, historian, writer on the Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The...
states
- Marsden Jones
John Marsden Beaumont Jones , known as Marsden Jones, was an emeritus professor and the founder and first director of the Center for Arabic Studies at the American University in Cairo....
, Islamic scholar, Emeritus Professor and founding director of the Centre for Arabic Studies at the American University in CairoThe American University in Cairo is an English-language liberal arts university located in Cairo, Egypt. The university provides educational opportunities to students from different segments of Egyptian society, as well as from other countries, and contributes to Egypt's cultural and intellectual...
- Duncan McCargo
Duncan McCargo is a professor of Southeast Asian politics at the University of Leeds specializing in Thailand and Asia-related topics. He holds three degrees from the University of London: a First in English ; then an MA in Area Studies , and a PhD in Politics...
, Professor of Southeast Asian Politics at University of LeedsThe University of Leeds is a major teaching and research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire and, with over 33,000 full-time students, is the second largest single site university in the United Kingdom. In the world university league tables published in November 2008, the university's ‘employer...
- Giles Ji Ungpakorn, Former university lecturer at Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and has been long-time considered the country's most prestigious university. It now has eighteen faculties and a number of schools and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university of Thailand, it normally attracts top...
- Wang Gungwu
Wang Gungwu, CBE is an academic who has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora, although he has objected to the use of the word diaspora to describe the migration of Chinese from China, because it is inaccurate and has been used to perpetuate fears of a "Chinese threat". He was born in...
, (obtained his PhD from SOAS in 1957) noted Chinese historian, former Vice Chancellor of University of Hong Kong, Current Chairman of East Asian Institute (National University of SingaporeThe National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
)
- Graham Furniss, (obtained his first degree at SOAS) Current Pro-Director of SOAS, Professor of African Language Literature and a Fellow of the British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established by Royal Charter in 1902, and is a fellowship of more than 800 scholars...
Music and the arts
- Cheng Yu
Cheng Yu is a Chinese musician. She is internationally renowned in Pipa, the Chinese four-stringed pear-shaped lute, but also plays the Guqin, the seven-stringed zither, and is a virtuoso, scholar and specialist of Chinese music....
, musician
- Paul Robeson
Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was an internationally renowned American basso profundo concert singer, scholar, actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator and lawyer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism...
, musician, writer and civil rights activist
- Raman Mundair
Raman Mundair is a British poet, writer, artist and playwright. She was born in Ludhiana, India and came to live in the UK at the age of five. Her poetry has been featured in Acumen, Poetry Scotland, Kavya Bharati and widely anthologized...
, writer, artist, poet and playwright
- Thurston Clarke
Thurston Clarke is an American writer and historian best known for general interest non-fiction, although he has also written one work of fiction...
, writer
- M.K. Asante, Jr., writer and filmmaker
- Jung Chang
Jung Chang is a Chinese-born British writer now living in London, best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in mainland China....
, writer and historian
Business and finance
- Humera Akram, Chairwoman - Bu Investments Plc
- Abdulsalam Haykal
Abdulsalam Haykal is a Syrian technology and media entrepreneur, and a social activist, who lives and works in Damascus, Syria. In 2009, the World Economic Forum named Haykal as a Young Global Leader, the first Syrian to receive this recognition....
, CEO of Transtek Systems, Syria
- Roberto Petz, Director - Barclays Capital
Barclays Capital is a leading global investment bank. It is the investment banking division of Barclays plc which has a balance sheet of over £1.2 trillion . Barclays Capital provides financing and risk management services to large companies, institutions and government clients. It is a primary...
- Guy Henriques, Head of Institutions - Schroders
Schroders plc is a leading global, asset management company, with over 200 years of experience in the world's financial markets. Headquartered in the City of London, it is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index....
- Prima Wong, Director - Four Seasons Hotel
Religion
- Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville
Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville was the seventh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 25 March 1982 until his retirement on 12 June 1999, having formerly been a priest of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and chaplain of Fisher House, Cambridge.-Early career and priesthood:Maurice...
, Archbishop of Birmingham 1982-99
- Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald
Michael Louis Fitzgerald is a Roman Catholic archbishop. He is the papal nuncio to Egypt and delegate to the Arab League. He was previously the head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.-Early life and ordination:...
, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious DialogueThe Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue is a dicastery of the Roman Curia. It was erected by Pope Paul VI on May 19, 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, and later renamed by Pope John Paul II on June 28, 1988....
2002-2006, Apostolic NuncioNuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church....
to Egypt (from 2006)
- Andrew Bertie, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and distant relative of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
.
- David Young, Bishop of Ripon 1977-1999
Notable academics
Principals
- Sir Cyril Philips (often credited as the creator of modern SOAS)
- Colin Bundy
Professor Colin James Bundy is Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford.Professor Bundy was an influential member of a generation of historians who substantially revised understanding of South African history. In particular, he wrote on South Africa's rural past, deploying Africanist, Marxist...
- Paul Webley
Professor Paul Webley is Director and Principal of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Economic Psychology and former President of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology.He received his...
Faculty of Law and Social Sciences
- Gilbert Achcar
Gilbert Achcar is a Lebanese-French academic, writer, socialist and antiwar activist. He lived in Lebanon until moving to France in 1983. He taught politics and international relations at the University of Paris VIII until 2003, when he took up a position at the Marc Bloch Centre in Berlin...
, Globalisation
- Malcolm Caldwell
Malcolm Caldwell was a British academic and a prolific Marxist writer. He was a consistent critic of imperialism, a writer on Asian liberation and socialist movements, and a strong supporter of Pol Pot...
, Southeast Asian economic history
- Christopher Cramer, Political Economy of violence and conflict
- Bassam Fattouh, Islamic Banking and Finance
- Nick Foster, Islamic Finance and Law
- Ben Fine
Ben Fine is Professor of Economics at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. He is the author of a number of key works in the broad tradition of heterodox economics, and has made contributions on economic imperialism and social capital. Perhaps his most significant book...
, Economics
- Mushtaq Khan
Mushtaq Husain Khan is a heterodox economist and Professor of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London...
, Economics
- Laleh Khalili
Dr. Laleh Khalili is an Iranian American and a lecturer in Middle East Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She received her PhD from Columbia University. Her main research areas are policing and incarceration, gender, nationalism, political and social...
, Middle East Politics
- Werner Menski, Law
- Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer is a contemporary American poet and translator. He has worked extensively with Contemporary dance for over thirty years and has collaborated with many composers and visual artists. Palmer has lived in San Francisco since 1969.Palmer is the 2006 recipient of the Wallace Stevens Award...
, East Asian Law
- Philip Stott
Philip Stott is a professor emeritus of biogeography at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a former editor of the Journal of Biogeography .-Background:...
, Biogeography
- Jan Toporowski, Economics
- Charles R. H. Tripp
Prof. Charles R. H. Tripp, Ph.D., is an academic and author specializing in the politics and history of the Near and Middle East.Tripp's main areas of research include the study of state and society in the Middle East, especially Iraq, and Islamic political thought., he lectures on government and...
, Middle East Politics
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
- Timothy Barrett, East Asian History
- Arthur Llewellyn Basham
Professor Arthur Llewellyn Basham was a noted historian and indologist and author of a number of books. It is perhaps not a mere coincidence that two of the most renowned living historians of early India, Professors R.S...
, Indian History
- K.N. Chaudhuri, Indian History
- Michael Cook
Michael Allan Cook is an English-Scottish historian and scholar of Islamic history. He has co-authored a book with Patricia Crone, notably Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World....
, Islamic History
- Patricia Crone
Patricia Crone, Ph.D., is a scholar, author and historian of early Islamic history working at the Institute for Advanced Study...
, Islamic History
- Lucy Duran
Dr. Lucy Duran BMus MMus PhD is a record producer and radio presenter. In the 1980s, Duran worked as a curator at the National Sound Archive...
, African Music
- Richard Fardon, Anthropology of West Africa
- Paul Gifford
Paul Gifford, B.A. , M.Litt. , b. 1944, is Professor of African Christianity and Deputy Head of the Department of the Study of Religions in the School of Oriental and African Studies .-Books: author:...
, African Christianity
- Gerald Hawting, History of the Near Middle East
- Monica Janowski, Anthropology of South East Asia
- Nasser David Khalili
Nasser David Khalili, KSS, KCFO is a British-Iranian property developer, art collector and philanthropist based in London. He holds both United Kingdom and United States citizenship....
, Islamic Art
- Roland Oliver
Roland Oliver is Emeritus Professor of African history at the University of London.- Career :Following his undergraduate and doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge between 1941 and 1948, Roland Oliver joined the staff of the School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS at the University...
, African History
- Alexander Piatigorsky
Alexander Piatigorsky is a Russian philosopher and scholar of Buddhism and Indian philosophy.Alexander Piatigorsky was born in Moscow and was the son of Moses, a Chief Engineer in a large Artillery plant...
, History of South Asia
- Timon Screech
Timon Screech is a Professor in the History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies , University of London. He is a specialist in the art and culture of early modern Japan....
, Japanese art, architecture and history
- Mrs.Kazumi Tanaka, Senior lecturer in Japanese
- Charles R. H. Tripp
Prof. Charles R. H. Tripp, Ph.D., is an academic and author specializing in the politics and history of the Near and Middle East.Tripp's main areas of research include the study of state and society in the Middle East, especially Iraq, and Islamic political thought., he lectures on government and...
, Middle East History
- John Wansbrough
John Edward Wansbrough was an American historian who taught at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies . Wansbrough's emphasis was on the critique of traditional accounts of the origins of Islam...
, Islamic History
- Jim Hoare, Set up the British Embassy in North Korea. Lecturer in Modern Korean History.
Faculty of Languages and Cultures
- Muhammad Abdel-Haleem
Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem, OBE is Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England; and editor of the Journal of Qur'anic Studies. Born in Egypt, he learned the Qur'an by heart during childhood, and is a hafiz. In 2004, Oxford University Press...
, Islamic Studies
- Shirin Akiner
Shirin Akiner is a lecturer in Central Asian Studies at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies . She has produced many works, particularly on Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and is a Member of Editorial and Advisory Board of Journal of Central Asian and Caucasian Studies, published by...
, Central Asian Studies
- David Appleyard
- Biography :David Appleyard is a British academic and an expert on Ethiopian languages and linguistics. ...
, Languages of the Horn of Africa
- Mary Boyce
Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce was a British scholar of Iranian languages, and a recognized authority on Zoroastrianism.The Royal Asiatic Society's annual Boyce Prize for outstanding contributions to the study of religion is named after her....
, Iranian Studies
- John Rupert Firth, Linguistics
- Hamilton Gibb, Islamic Studies
- Angus Charles Graham
Angus Charles Graham , Professor of classical Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, was a noted sinologist....
, Classical Chinese
- Alfred Guillaume
- Career :Guillaume took up Arabic after studying Theology and Oriental Languages at the University of Oxford. In the First World War he served in France and then in the Arab Bureau in Cairo...
, Islamic Studies
- Charles Bawden
Charles R. Bawden is Emeritus Professor of Mongolian in the University of London. From 1955 to 1984, he was a Lecturer, Reader, and Professor of Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London...
, Mongolian Studies
- Walter Bruno Henning
Walter Bruno Henning was a scholar of Middle Iranian languages and literature, especially of the corpus discovered by the Turpan expeditions of the early 20th century.-Biography:...
, Iranian Studies
- George Hewitt, Caucasian Languages
- Michel Hockx
Michel Hockx is a Professor of Chinese at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. He is the author of several books, mainly focusing on modern Chinese poetry and literature....
, China and Inner Asia Studies
- Philip J. Jaggar, West African languages/linguistics
- Reginald Johnston
Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston was a Scottish academic, diplomat and pedagogue and the tutor of Puyi, the last emperor of China, and later appointed as commissioner of British-held Weihaiwei.-Early:...
, Chinese language and literature
- Ann Lambton
Ann Katharine Swynford Lambton, PhD, FBA, OBE was a British historian and leading figure on medieval and early modern Persian history, Persian language, Islamic political theory, and Persian social organisation...
, Iranian Studies
- Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Indian religion
- Vladimir Minorsky, Iranian Studies
- David Marshall Lang
David Marshall Lang , was a Professor of Caucasian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was one of the most productive British scholars who specialized in Georgian, Armenian and ancient Bulgarian history.David M...
, Caucasian Studies
- Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, Orientalist, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...
, Middle East Studies
- Tudor Parfitt
Tudor Parfitt is a British Professor of Modern Jewish Studies at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies , where he was the founding director of the Centre for Jewish Studies.-Biography:...
Modern Jewish Studies
- Xiao Qian
Xiao Qian , alias Nuoping was a famous essayist, editor, journalist and translator from China. His life spanned the country before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.-Early years:Xiao was born on 27 January 1910 in Beijing, China...
, China and Inner Asia Studies
- William Radice
William Radice is a Poet, Writer and Translator.He is the Senior Lecturer in Bengali in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.His research area is in Bengali language and literature....
, Bengali language and literature
- Ralph Russell
Professor Ralph Russell SI was a British scholar of Urdu literature and a Communist. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, UK. He taught Urdu and Urdu literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and also in universities in India and Pakistan...
, Urdu language and literature
- Nicholas Sims-Williams
Nicholas Sims-Williams is a professor of the School of Oriental and African Studies , University of London, where he is the Research Professor of Iranian and Central Asian Studies at the Department of the Languages and Cultures of Near and Middle East. Sims-Williams is a scholar who specializes in...
, Iranian and Central Asian Studies
- David Snellgrove, Tibetan Studies
- Arthur Stanley Tritton
Arthur Stanley Tritton, D. Litt. was a British historian and scholar of Islam. He was appointed Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 1938, and also spent some time teaching at Aligarh University...
, Arabic language and literature
- Paul Thompson
Paul Mulligan Thompson was a British sinologist and pioneer in the field of Chinese computer applications.-Biography:Paul Thompson was born at Xingtai in Hebei province, China, where his Northern Irish parents worked as missionaries with the China Inland Mission...
, Classical Chinese
- Edward Ullendorff
Edward Ullendorff is a British academic, and an authority on Semitic languages and Ethiopia. He is now Professor Emeritus at SOAS, where he was Professor of Ethiopian Studies and then of Semitic Languages....
, Ethiopian Studies and Semitic Languages
- Arthur Waley
Arthur David Waley CH, CBE was a noted English Orientalist and Sinologist.-Life:Waley was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, as Arthur David Schloss, son of the economist David Frederick Schloss. Of Jewish heritage, he changed his surname to his paternal grandmother's maiden name, Waley, in...
, Japan & China Studies
- Richard Olaf Winstedt
Sir Richard Olaf Winstedt , or more commonly R.O. Winstedt, was an English Orientalist and colonial administrator with expertise in British Malaya.-Early life and education:...
, Malay language and literature
External links