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Do you want to enhance your understanding of the cultural, political and economic history of Pakistan? The MA in the Study of Contemporary Pakistan provides a comprehensive and critical approach to Pakistan: its complex and vibrant culture, politics, economics, law, religious history and current trends. SOAS hosts one of the biggest concentration of research and teaching staff who specialise on Pakistan related topics. You will have an opportunity to interact and work closely with them. The Programme of Study will introduce you to the latest research topics, methods and debates in the field. It will prepare you to critically assess the diverse complexities of one of the most reported on countries in the world.
Optional language training is available for those who aspire to a research degree.
The degree is enhanced by the activities of a Research Centre dedicated to the Study of Pakistan. The Centre is part of the wider South Asian research cluster at SOAS.
The programme will consist of three course units (1 core + 2 options) and a dissertation.
The core course (Imagining Pakistan) will introduce the main topics, approaches and possible lines of enquiry for a cultural history of Pakistan from 1947 to the present.
Students will choose two courses from a list of options that includes courses on modern Muslim thinkers and Contemporary Islamism in South Asia, Law and Society in South Asia, Urdu language, and Urdu literature in Pakistan.
Students will also write a 10,000 dissertation on the Study of Contemporary Pakistan, applying and developing the knowledge acquired in the core courses to an independent topic of research.
Core Course
- Imagining Pakistan: culture, politics, gender (MA) - 15PSAC313 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Optional Courses
Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia
- Urdu Language 1 (Postgraduate) - 15PSAC300 (1 Unit) - Full Year
- Urdu Language 2 (Postgraduate) - 15PSAC301 (1 Unit) - Full Year
- Urdu Literacy (Postgraduate) - 15PSAC302 (1 Unit) - Full Year
- Directed Readings in the Literature of a Modern South Asian Language - 15PSAC016 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Department of Politics and International Studies
- Government and politics of modern South Asia - 15PPOC003 (1 Unit) - Full Year
- Queer Politics in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - 15PPOH020 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
- State and Society in Central Asia and the Caucasus - 15PPOH022 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
- Geopolitics and Security in Central Asia and the Caucasus - 15PPOH023 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Department of History
- Islam in South Asia - 15PHIC042 (1 Unit) - Full Year
- Colonialism and Nationalism in South Asia - 15PHIC071 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East
- Modern Trends in Islam - 15PNMC228 (1 Unit) - Full Year
- Israel, the Arab World and the Palestinians - 15PNMC038 (1 Unit) - Full Year
School of Law
- Law and society in South Asia (MA/LLM) - 15PLAC129 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Department of the Study of Religions
- Modern Muslim Thinkers from South Asia - 15PSRC169 (1 Unit) - Full Year
- Contemporary Islamism in South Asia: Readings in Sayyid Abu al-A'la Mawdudi - 15PSRC170 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2014/2015
Department of Development Studies
- Borders and Development - 15PDSH023 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
- Migration and Policy - 15PDSH029 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
- Political economy of violence, conflict and development - 15PDSC003 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Centre for Gender Studies
- Gendering migration & diasporas - 15PGNH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
10,000 word Dissertation
- Dissertation in the Study of Contemporary Pakistan - 15PSAC998 (1 Unit) - Full Year