MA Transnational Queer Feminist Politics (Middle East pathway)
London, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,320 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas student fees | home student fees: GBP 12,220 per year
Introduction
The MA Transnational Queer Feminist Politics (Middle East Pathway) at SOAS is a unique programme, its principal aim being to re-focus issues prioritised in western Gender Studies and Queer Studies on the complex specificities of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.
The programme offers the specialised study of gender and sexuality in the cultures of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, together with rigorous training in, and questioning of, contemporary gender and queer theory. In terms of gender theory, it offers a solid foundation with sufficient breadth and depth to facilitate a range of specialist pathways. In terms of specialisation, it draws on the expertise of internationally recognised scholars of Asian, African and Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS.
This pathway will apply the theoretical and methodological frameworks described above to the study of the Middle East. Core modules examine how gender and sexuality are lived and negotiated in the Middle East, with a particular emphasis on how people in or from the region grapple with how to live a non- or anti-normative life. Importantly, it approaches the Middle East as a transnational rather than bounded space – one to which and from which discourses, people and commodities move – and thinks through what this might mean for the study of gender and sexuality in the region.
In terms of gender and queer theory, it offers a solid foundation with sufficient breadth and depth to facilitate a range of specialist pathways. In terms of specialisation, it draws on the expertise of internationally recognised scholars of Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS.
Gender Studies is widely regarded by a range of employers as an excellent training, equipping holders of the degree with a range of relevant employable skills. The Transnational Queer Feminist Politics with special reference to the Middle East at SOAS aims to cater for students with a variety of backgrounds and objectives:
- Those coming from Women’s Studies or Gender Studies who wish to engage more deeply with gender theory about regional specialisation and to connect this with the societies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East
- Those coming from Asian, African or Middle Eastern Studies who wish to incorporate the study of gender and sexuality into their areas of expertise
- Those having previously trained in particular disciplines, such as Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, History, Politics, Religious Studies, Sociology, Refugee/Diaspora Studies.
Why study MA Transnational Queer Feminist Politics (Middle East) at SOAS?
- Specialised research training in Gender Studies, in addition to focused study of sexuality as well as gender and sexual diversity. This pathway is suitable for students considering advanced postgraduate research in Gender Studies with a regional specialisation
- A broad MA programme for students with some background in Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, Area Studies etc. who wish to enhance their knowledge of gender about cross-cultural issues raised by appreciation of the relationship between gender and sexuality in various legal and political contexts
- A special interest MA, which enables students to study gender issues in depth about a particular regional or disciplinary specialisation alongside the acquisition of knowledge of emergent and contemporary study of sexuality in cross-cultural contexts.
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Admissions
Curriculum
The MA Transnational Queer Feminist Politics ME pathway consists of one calendar year (full-time), or two or three years (part-time, daytime only).
Students must take 180 credits comprised of 120 taught credits (including core and option modules) and a 60-credit dissertation.
Core
- Dissertation in Gender Studies (Compulsory)
- Gender Theory and the Study of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East
- Dissertation Methods for Gender Studies
Guided options - List A
15 credits from List A
- Queer Politics in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East
- Transnationalism Queer, Trans, and Disability Studies
Guided options - List C
Up to 75 credits from List B/C or Open options
- 750B Ethnographic Locations: East Asia
- 750A Ethnographic Locations: Sub-Saharan Africa
- Gender, Protest, and Revolution in the Middle East
- Law and Natural Resources
- International Human Rights Clinic
Guided options - List B
Up to 75 credits from List B/C or Open options
- Queering Migrations and Diasporas
- Gender and the Law of War
- Law, Religion, and the State in South Asia
- International Human Rights Clinic
- Human Rights and Islamic Law
- International Commercial Arbitration
- Law and Development in Africa
- Intellectual Property Law (PG)
- International Laws on the Use of Force
- Foundations of International Law
- The Law of Armed Conflict
- Colonialism, Empire, and International Law
- Water Justice: Rights, Access, and Movements
- Comparative Constitutional Law
- Law and Society in Southeast Asia
- Law and Postcolonial Theory
- International Criminal Law
- Gender, Law, and Society in the Middle East and North Africa
- Gender, Sexuality, and Law: Selected Topics
- Gender, Sexuality, and Law: Theories and Methodologies
- International Investment Law
- Law, Rights & Social Change
- Law, Environment, and Social Justice
- International Migration Law
- International Refugee Law
- Law, Environment, and the Global Commons: Ice, Sea, Space, and Beyond
- International Environmental Law
- Law and the Biodiversity Crisis
- The Prohibition of Torture in International Law
- Water and Development: Commodification, Ecology, and Globalisation
- Multinational Enterprises and the Law I
- Multinational Enterprises and the Law II
- Business and Human Rights in the Global Economy
- Comparative Company Law
- Israel, Palestine, and International Law
- Palestine, Resistance, and the Law
- Alternative Dispute Resolution I
- Law and the Climate Crisis
- Law and Society in the Middle East and North Africa
- Qualitative Research Methods
- Mediated Culture in the Middle East: Politics and Communications
- Transnational Communities and Diasporic Media: Networking, Connectivity, Identity
- International Political Communication
- Podcasting
- Theoretical and Contemporary Issues in Global Media and Digital Communication
- Topics in Global Media and Digital Communication
- Prejudice, Conspiracy, and Misinformation: Understanding the Debate around '(Post)-Truth'
- Genders and Sexualities in Southeast Asian Film
Teaching and Learning
Modules are taught by a combination of methods, principally lectures, tutorial classes, seminars and supervised individual study projects.
Each taught module has its own approved methods of assessment, designed to address the particular learning outcomes of that course. Assessment methods may include essays, weekly reaction papers, unseen, seen or take-home examinations, research projects, individual or group presentations, translations, learning journals, and oral examinations, as appropriate.
Students are also required to attend regular seminars organised by the Centre for Gender Studies, details of which are included in the handbook and further details of which are advertised on the Centre’s website and notice board.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Graduates leave SOAS with an enhanced knowledge of gender and sexuality across cultures, as well as a wide range of transferable skills. Gender Studies is highly regarded by employers across many sectors, as increasingly, policymakers, businesses and governing structures understand the need to engage with gender and sexuality.
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- ActionAid
- Amnesty International
- Association for Women’s Rights in Development
- Commission for Gender Equality
- Euromet Feminist Initiative
- International Organization for Migration
- International Rescue Committee
- Raising Films
- The Children’s Society
- The Guardian