MA History of Art and Architecture of the Islamic Middle East

Students must complete 120 credits of MA-taught modules in addition to the compulsory dissertation (60 credits).

Please note that modules need a minimum number of students to run. Should the module not run, students will be notified of an alternative.

Part-time

Students may be allowed to study for the MA on a part-time basis.

• The part-time MA may be taken over 2 years, in which case the student takes two 30-credit modules (or equivalent 15-credit modules) in the first year, and two 30-credit modules (or equivalent 15-credit modules) and the dissertation in the second year.
• Alternatively, it can be taken over 3 years, in which case the student can distribute the 120 credits modules evenly in each of the 3 years. The dissertation can be written in year two or three, but it is strongly recommended that this be undertaken in the final year of the programme. It must be submitted in September of the year in which the student registers for it.

Core

• Dissertation in History of Art and Archaeology: History of Art and Archaeology of Islamic Middle East

Compulsory

• Theory and Method in Art History

Guided options

Students must take a minimum of 45 credits from the guided option list:

• Islam and the West: Artistic and Cultural Contacts
• Islamic Visual Culture
• Art and Architecture of the Seljuks and Ottomans (12th -15th centuries)
• Islamic Art and Architecture of Eastern Mediterranean of the Period of the Crusades (11th-14th centuries)

Assessment

For each of the taught modules, assessment is primarily by course work and a range of assessment methods are employed. These usually consist of short essays, reports, presentations, annotated bibliographies, journal entries or a combination thereof. Some modules will also be assessed by unseen examination in the form of a slide test. For details on how modules are assessed, consult the individual module page on the SOAS website.

Additionally, for each HAA degree pathway, 60 credits (of 180) are assigned to a dissertation which consists of three assessed components: one 300-word summary of the research project (worth 5%), one 700-word annotated bibliography (worth 9%) and a dissertation of 9,000-10,000 words (worth 86%).

Employment

A Masters from the Department of the History of Art and Archaeology provides students with expertise in the History of Art and/or Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Our postgraduates progress to work in arts, culture and heritage roles, including in galleries, museums, archives, conservation, publishing and arts administration. The large portfolio of transferable skills they acquire enables them to forge careers in a range of other fields across the world. Our Master's programmes are also an excellent foundation for MPhil/PhD research.

Graduates have gone on to work for a range of organisations including:

• Asia House
• Bonhams
• British Museum
• Christie's Hong Kong
• Design Museum
• Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum
• Hong Kong Museum Of Art
• India Foundation For The Arts
• Museum of East Asian Art
• National Gallery National Museum of Singapore
• People Projects Culture & Change
• Schoeni Art Gallery
• Sotheby's
• Taiwan Embassy
• The Alliance for Global Education
• The British Embassy
• The Chester Beatty Library
• The National Museum Of Korea
• The Royal Collection

Types of roles that graduates have gone on to do include:

• Manager of Communications
• Culture Programme Coordinator
• Research Assistant
• Social Anthropology Lecturer
• Specialist - Indian Art
• Architect
• Art Historian
• Development Specialist
• Archivist
• Gallery Director Innovation Programmes Learning Manager
• Creative Director
• Organisational Consultant
• Travel writer
• Art Collector
• Chinese Painting Specialist
• Professor of Silk Road History
• Rights and Reproductions Officer
• Public Education Coordinator
• Senior Curator of Photographs

Teaching consists of a combination of lectures and seminars. Classes are normally between two and three hours per week for each course. Teaching methods include lectures with discussion, seminars (at which students present papers) and museum visits. Students at all levels are expected to take an active part in class presentations. A particularly important element is the training of the student's visual memory.

In addition to their studies in the MA programme, students at SOAS can participate in a wide range of research seminars, lectures and conferences that regularly take place in the School and the University of London.