School of Oriental and African Studies

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SOAS, University of London

Arms of SOAS
Motto Knowledge is Power
Established 1916
Type Public
Endowment £22.6m[1]
Chancellor HRH The Princess Royal (University of London)
President The Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC
Director Professor Paul Webley
Pro-Director Professor Nirmala Rao, OBE
Students 4,525[2]
Undergraduates 2,430[2]
Postgraduates 2,095[2]
Location London, United Kingdom
Campus Urban
UK University Ranking 2012 13th (Guardian)
Colours
                     
Mascot Arabian Camel and Asian Elephant
Affiliations University of London
ACU
1994 Group
Website www.soas.ac.uk
SOAS logo.jpg

The School of Oriental and African Studies (commonly abbreviated to "SOAS", pronounced /ˈsoʊ.æs/ SOH-as or /ˈsoʊ.æz/ SOH-az) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London. Specialising in laws, politics, economics (specifically development economics), humanities and languages concerning Asia, Africa and the Middle East, SOAS currently offers over 300 undergraduate Bachelor's degree combinations, and over 70 one-year intensively taught Master's degrees. MPhil and PhD 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 markets, future superpowers and in the Next Eleven. Located in central London, 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 consistently ranked amongst the top universities in the UK.[3][4]

Contents

[edit] History

The institution was founded in 1916 as the School of Oriental Studies at 2 Finsbury Circus, London, England, 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 V in the presence of the Earl Curzon of Kedleston 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 Square.

For sometime in the mid-1930s, the School was located at Vandon House, Vandon Street, London SW1 (with the library located at Clarence House). However, its move was held up by delays in construction and the half-completed building—begun in June 1938—took a hit during the Blitz in September 1940. The School was, on Government's advice, evacuated to Cambridge and returned to London to resume work in July 1940. Most colleges of the University of London were evacuated from London in 1939 and billeted on universities all over the provinces. SOAS was transferred, but without its library, to Christ's College, 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 Broadway, London SW1. From May 1942 SOAS' Japanese department became the centre for training military translators and intelligence officers.[5]

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, Africa and the Middle East. A college of the University of London, SOAS fields include Law, 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 Supplement.[citation needed] The SOAS Library, housed in Philips Building (designed at the beginning of the 1970s by Sir Denys Lasdun, 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.[6]

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 orientales (INALCO) of Paris. INALCO is often considered the French equivalent of SOAS.[citation needed]

[edit] Campuses

Russell Square campus.
Torrington Square, with SOAS to the left, Birkbeck to the right, and Senate House in the background.

SOAS is currently split into two campuses within 20 minutes walk of each other. The Russell Square campus is located in Bloomsbury, an area at the corner of the West End known to many tourists for its shops, theatres and nightlife. The main campus was moved there in 1938, and has much expanded since then. The closest Underground station is Russell Square tube station.

The Vernon Square campus in Islington, opened in 2001, is close to King's Cross railway station and only a few hundred yards from Dinwiddy House and Paul Robeson House, exclusive to SOAS students and owned by Sanctuary Management Student Housing. The Ritsumeikan Trust opened its U.K. Office at the Vernon Square campus in 2010.

The school also houses the Brunei Gallery, built as a result of an endowment from the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, and inaugurated by the Princess Royal, as Chancellor of the University of London, on 22 November 1995. Its facilities include exhibition space on three floors, a book shop, a lecture theatre, and conference and teaching facilities. The Gallery stages a comprehensive programme of temporary exhibitions of both historical and contemporary materials which reflect subjects and regions studied at SOAS. On 11 October 2007, the Gallery presented an exhibition drawn from the School's own collections, Objects of Instruction: Treasures of the School of Oriental and African Studies, and a rotating selection from this collection is on permanent display in the Foyle Special Collections Gallery.

The Japanese style roof garden on top of the Brunei Gallery was built during the Japan 2001 celebrations and was officially opened by the sponsor, Haruhisa Handa, an Honorary Fellow of the School, on 13 November 2001. The garden is dedicated to Forgiveness, which is the meaning of the kanji character engraved on the garden’s granite water basin. Peter Swift, a designer with experience of adapting Japanese garden design principles to the British environment and climate, conceived the garden as a place of quiet contemplation and meditation as well as a functional space complementary to the Gallery and its artistic activities.

The school also hosted the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, one of the foremost collections of Chinese ceramics in Europe. The collection has been loaned to and is now on permanent display in Room 95 of the British Museum. 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 1,000 sq metres.

[edit] Academics

The entrance to the Brunei Gallery(at the Russell Square campus).
Outside the SOAS Faber Building, 24 Russell Square, commemorating T. S. Eliot's years at Faber and Faber.

SOAS is world famous as a "leading centre for the study of a highly diverse range of subjects concerned with Asia, Africa and the Middle East."[7]

SOAS trains government officials on secondment 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 Accenture and Deloitte – when they seek to gain specialist knowledge of the matters concerning Asia, Africa and the Middle East.[8]

[edit] Library

The world-renowned SOAS library is housed in the Philips Building on the Russell Square campus and was built in 1973. It houses more than 1.5 million items and extensive electronic resources for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and attracts scholars from all over the world.[9] The library is also one of the UK's five National Research Libraries.[10] It is currently undergoing a £12 million modernisation and enlargement programme (known as 'the Library Transformation Project') that aims to increase capacity and create new student study spaces.[11] It will transform the School as it approaches its centenary in 2016 and provide a modern environment for its staff, students and users from around the world.

The Library was designed by the celebrated architect Denys Lasdun who also designed some of Britain's most famous brutalist buildings such as the National Theatre and the Institute of Education.

[edit] 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.[12] J. R. Firth, 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.

[edit] Rankings

Although it is debatable whether University League Tables can accurately compare the quality of small specialised research institutions such as SOAS to general universities with tens of thousands of students and departments in nearly every academic discipline, or even to other specialised institutes with completely different kinds of focuses,[13] in 2005, SOAS placed 4th among United Kingdom universities in a Guardian poll.[14] 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.[citation needed]

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. SOAS currently features in the world's top 50 Universities for Arts & Humanities, according to the QS World University Rankings.[15]

UK University Rankings
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Times Good University Guide 23 27th[16] 33rd[17] 24th[18] 18th[19] 18th[20] 15th 19th[21] 22nd 27th[22] 23rd= 14th 14th 6th
Guardian University Guide 13th[23] 11th[24] 12th 8th[25] 11th[26] 6th 6th[27] 4th[28] 4th[28] 4th[29]
Sunday Times University Guide 32nd[16] 33rd[30] 24th[31] 21st[31] 21st[32] 18th[33] 29th[33] 14th[33] 38th[33] 25th[33] 13th[33] 11th[33]
Daily Telegraph 24th[34] 10th= 12th[35]
FT 17th[36] 13th[35] 6th[37] 13th[38] 6th[39]
Independent / Complete 18th[40] 15th[41] 15th[42] 9th[42] 24th[42] 15th[42]

[edit] Management

Since its foundation, the School has had eight directors. The inaugural director was the celebrated linguist Sir Edward Denison Ross. Under the stewardship of Sir Cyril Philips, the School saw considerable growth and modernisation, thus consolidating its status as a leading university.[43]. Under Colin Bundy in the 2000's, despite its still modest size, the School saw its reputation sore, becoming one of the top ranked universities both domestically and internationally.[44] The current Director is Paul Webley.

Appointed Director
1916 Sir Edward Denison Ross
1937 Sir Ralph Lilley Turner
1956 Sir Cyril Philips
1976 Sir Jeremy Cowan
1989 Sir Michael McWilliam
1996 Sir Tim Lankester
2001 Colin Bundy
2006 Paul Webley

[edit] Student housing

Paul Robeson House yard.

SOAS operates two halls of residence in central London, both owned by Shaftesbury Student Housing.[45]

The primary accommodation for undergraduates is Dinwiddy House which is located on the Pentonville Road. This contains 510 single en-suit rooms arranged in small cluster flats of around six rooms each. The halls are located within minutes of King's Cross St. Pancras tube station and the School's campus at Vernon Square.[46].

A few minutes walk from Dinwiddy House and also on the Pentonville Road is Paul Robeson House, the second halls of residence. This was opened in 1998, and is named after the African American musician Paul Robeson who studied at the SOAS.[47] This accommodation is occupied by postgraduate students, and those attending the international SOAS Summer schools.[48]

SOAS students are also eligible to apply for places in the University of London intercollegiate halls of residence. The halls are:

  • Canterbury Hall, Commonwealth Hall, College Hall, Connaught Hall, Hughes Parry Hall and International Hall in Bloomsbury;
  • Lillian Penson Hall in Paddington;
  • Nutford House in Marble Arch.

[edit] Notable people

[edit] Notable alumni

Main page: :Category:Alumni of SOAS, University of London

SOAS has many notable alumni in positions of authority around the world, reflecting its status and its international remit. They include:

[edit] Royalty

Anthony Brooke, the Rajah Muda of Sarawak.
Sultan Salahuddin of Selangor.

[edit] Government and politics

Aung San Suu Kyi
John Atta Mills, who has been the President of Ghana since 2009.
Bülent Ecevit, who was Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002.

[edit] Media/writers

The Chinese-born British writer Jung Chang, who is best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans.

[edit] Academia

[edit] Music and the arts

The Chinese musician Cheng Yu playing the pipa.

[edit] Business and finance

[edit] Religion

[edit] Notable faculty and staff

See also: Category:Academics of SOAS, University of London

[edit] Faculty of Law and Social Sciences

[edit] Faculty of Arts and Humanities

[edit] Faculty of Languages and Cultures

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1][dead link]
  2. ^ a b c "Table 0a – All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06". Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. http://www.hesa.ac.uk/holisdocs/pubinfo/student/institution0506.htm. Retrieved 31 March 2007. 
  3. ^ "guardian.co.uk | Education". London: Browse.guardian.co.uk. 17 January 2008. http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=true&Subject=University+ranking&Institution=Soas&Go=Go. Retrieved 29 April 2010. 
  4. ^ "League Table of UK Universities 2009". The Complete University Guide. http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=6524. Retrieved 29 April 2010. 
  5. ^ Sadao Ōba The 'Japanese' war: London University's WWII secret teaching programme p.11
  6. ^ "About SOAS Library". Soas.ac.uk. http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/about/. Retrieved 29 April 2010. 
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  8. ^ "Interface – Previous Client". SOAS, University of London. http://www.soas.ac.uk/business/interface/clientlist/. 
  9. ^ http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/about/
  10. ^ http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/about/collectionoverview/
  11. ^ http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/ltp/library-transformation-project.html
  12. ^ http://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/
  13. ^ UK University Rankings
  14. ^ "Institution-wide". The Guardian (London). 2005. http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=true&FirstRow=0&SortOrderDirection=&SortOrderColumn=&Subject=Institution-wide&Institution=&Tariff=6. Retrieved 10 August 2006. 
  15. ^ "THE – QS World University Rankings 2009 – Arts and Humanities". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd.. 2009. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2009/subject-rankings/arts-humanities. Retrieved 14 October 2009. 
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  26. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian (London). http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=&FirstRow=29&SortOrderDirection=&SortOrderColumn=GuardianTeachingScore&Subject=University+ranking&Institution=. Retrieved 23 May 2010. 
  27. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian (London). http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education/2006?SearchBySubject=&FirstRow=20&SortOrderDirection=&SortOrderColumn=GuardianTeachingScore&Subject=Institution-wide&Institution=. Retrieved 23 May 2010. 
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  29. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian 2003 (University Guide 2004) (London). http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/unitable/0,,-4668575,00.html. Retrieved 23 May 2010. 
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  31. ^ a b "The Sunday Times University League Table" (PDF). The Sunday Times (London). http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/stug2006/stug2006.pdf. Retrieved 23 May 2010. 
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  34. ^ "University league table". The Daily Telegraph (London). 30 July 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HXFCSGXMNVABTQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/07/30/ncambs430.xml. 
  35. ^ a b "The 2002 ranking – From Warwick". Warwick Uni 2002. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/academicoffice/ourservices/planning/businessinformation/academicstatistics/2002/table_81.xls. 
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  37. ^ "FT league table 2001". FT league tables 2001. http://specials.ft.com/universities2001/FT3HLLAN6LC.html. 
  38. ^ "FT league table 1999-2000". FT league tables 1999–2000. http://specials.ft.com/ln/ftsurveys/industry/pdf/top100table.pdf. 
  39. ^ "FT league table 2000". FT league tables 2000. http://specials.ft.com/ln/ftsurveys/industry/scbbbe.htm. 
  40. ^ http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings
  41. ^ http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=6570
  42. ^ a b c d "The Independent University League Table". The Independent (London). 24 April 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/the-main-league-table-2009-813839.html. Retrieved 23 May 2010. 
  43. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-sir-cyril-philips-523619.html
  44. ^ http://www.soas.ac.uk/news/newsitem4162.html
  45. ^ http://www.smsstudent.co.uk/soas.asp
  46. ^ http://www.smsstudent.co.uk/dinwiddyhouse.asp
  47. ^ "SOAS Alumni Newsletter". 17. SOAS, University of London, UK. Winter 1998. p. 15. 
  48. ^ http://www.smsstudent.co.uk/paulrobesonhouse.asp
  49. ^ Jane Perrone (18 December 2003). "Weblog heaven | Media | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2003/dec/18/weblogs. Retrieved 29 April 2010. 
  50. ^ Tweedie, Neil (1 April 2008). "Sufiah Yusof – child genius revealed as prostitute". The Guardian (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2008/04/01/ftgenius101.xml. Retrieved 8 April 2008. 
  51. ^ http://www.maturetimes.co.uk/competitions-and-fun/competitions/927-win-a-copy-of-lost-kingdoms-of-africa-on-dvd.html
  52. ^ East Asian Institute: Staff: Current Staff: Chairman
  53. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/may/27/guardianobituaries.obituaries

[edit] External links


Coordinates: 51°31′19″N 0°07′44″W / 51.52205°N 0.12900°W / 51.52205; -0.12900

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