Gender Studies – (M.A.)

Contents

The programme is structured in the same way as most SOAS MA degrees: students take three taught courses and complete a dissertation.

All students take the compulsory course Gender Theory and the Study of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Further options include a wide range of gender and gender-related courses from a comprehensive list offered by the Faculties of Languages and CulturesArts and Humanities. Students will write a 10,000 word dissertation based on either the compulsory course or one of the component courses. and

They will have access to a wealth of study resources available in the SOAS Library and in nearby institutions such as the British Library, University College London Library and Senate House Library.

The MA in Gender Studies will be administered by the Faculty of Languages and Cultures. Like the MA Area Studies programmes, it will not have a specific departmental home, reflecting its academic structure as an interdisciplinary degree.

The SOAS MA in Gender Studies will appeal to 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 in relation to regional specialisation, especially, but not exclusively, 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 into their own areas of expertise; and
• those having previously trained in particular disciplines, such as Anthropology, Cultural and Media Studies, Religious Studies, Comparative Literature, History, Politics, etc.

By selection of courses to suit the academic needs of each student, this programme can provide:

• Specialised research training MA in Gender Studies, perhaps including a relevant language. This pathway is suitable for students contemplating advanced postgraduate research in Gender Studies with regard to regional specialisation.
• A broad MA programme for students with some background in Women's Studies, Gender Studies, and Area Studies etc. who wish to enhance their knowledge of gender in relation to cross-cultural issues, with or without language study.
• A special interest MA, which enables students to study in depth gender issues in relation to a particular regional or disciplinary specialisation.

Courses

Not all courses listed below may be available every year. For courses being offered please visit the Centre for Gender Studies website or contact the Faculty office. Some courses may be taught in other departments of the School.

Core Course

• Gender Theory and the Study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Optional Courses

Students must choose the equivalent of two full courses from the list below; only one language course may be taken (see Faculty of Languages and Cultures).

• Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Cinema (not available 2010-11)
• Sex and Gender in the 20th Century: Contemporary Japan in Context (half-unit) (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Gender and Development (half unit)
• Civil Society, Social Movements and the Development Process (half unit)
• Gender in the Middle East (half unit)
• Gendering Migration and Diasporas (half unit)
• Issues in the Anthropology of Gender (half-unit term 2)
• Gender, Post-colonialism and the Study of Religions
• Gender and Music (half-unit) (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Gender & Christianity (half-unit) (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Issues in Psychoanalysis and Anthropology (half-unit term 1)
• Issues in the Anthropology of Food A (half-unit term 1)
• Issues in the Anthropology of Food B (half-unit term 2)
• Approaches to the Other in Science Fiction and Horror Films (half-unit term 2)
• Cinema, Nation and the Transcultural
• Japanese Transnational Cinema: From Kurosawa to Asia Extreme and Studio Ghibli (half-unit term 1)
• Japanese Post-War Film Genres and the Avant-garde (half-unit term 2)
• Cinemas of the African Diaspora (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Travelling Africa: Writing the Cape to Cairo
• Indian Cinema: its history and social context (half-unit term 1)
• Indian Cinema: key issues (half-unit term 2)
• South Asian Cinema and the Diaspora (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Postcolonialism and Otherness in South East Asia on Screen (half unit)
• Post-Crisis Thai Cinema (1997–2007) (half unit term 2)
• Theory and Techniques of Comparative Literature
• Social and Political Dimensions of Modern Arabic Literature
• Literatures of South Asia
• War, Revolution, Independence in South East Asian Fiction (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Survey of Korean Literature
• Modern Japanese Literature (half unit term 2)
• Japanese Traditional Drama (half unit term 1)
• Modern Trends in Islam
• Readings in Derrida on Religion (half-unit) (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Readings in French Feminism and Religion (half unit) (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Judaism and Gender (half-unit) (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Goddesses and constructions of gender in Hinduism (half unit) (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Orthodoxy and Gender in Indian Traditions (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Theory and Method in the Study of Religion
• Death and Religion (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Myth and Mythmaking (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Law and Social Movements (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Law and Society in South Asia
• Law and Society in the Middle East and North Africa
• Law, Human Rights and Peace Building: The Israeli-Palestinian Case
• Feminist Legal Theory (NOT AVAILABLE 2010-11)
• Migration, Gender and the Law in South East Asia and Beyond
• Comparative Politics of the Middle East
• Cultural understandings of health
• Culture and Society of China
• Culture and Society of Japan
• Culture and Society of South Asia
• Culture and Society of South East Asia
• Culture and Society of the Near and Middle East
• Culture and Society of West Africa
• Culture and Society of East Africa
• The End of Empire in the Middle East & the Balkans
• Film and Society in the Middle East
• Postcolonial Theory and Practice
• Language courses (subject to availability)
• One language acquisition course taught at SOAS

Gender-related optional Courses Offered at UCL

(a maximum of one full course unit can be taken; not all courses listed below will be available each year). The course unit offered this year at UCL is Gender Policy and Planning (half-unit).

• Gender in Archaeology (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Feminist issues in Israeli Women’s Writing (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Narrating the Nation: Selected Topics in Contemporary Israeli Literature (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Gender and Representation in Twentieth-Century Scandinavian Literature and Film (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Women in Jewish Tradition (not available 2010-11)
• Family Politics in Israeli Literature (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Gender Archaeology (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Gender Policy and Planning (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Cultures of AIDS in France: History, Policy and Representation (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Anthropology and Ecology of Development: Population and Nutrition (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Autobiography: Writing (and) the Self in French Literature (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• The Poetic Identity and its Representations (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Gender in Modernity (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Gender and Language (half unit) (not available 2010-11)
• Latin American Cinematic Tradition (not available 2010-11)
• Anthropology of the Balkans (not available 2010-11)
• Holocaust Writings (not available 2010-11)
• Public and Private Modernity (half unit) (not available 2010-11)

Funding details

There are some scholarships and bursaries available for postgraduate students. These are very competitive and early application is advised.

Loans

Another way to fund your studies is through educational loans. Some high street banks offer loans for education. The other option is a career development loan. Before taking out a loan ensure that you understand what the repayments will be and that you will be able to afford them.

A Professional and Career Development Loan is a bank loan for UK students designed to help you pay for your course. Repayments start one month after you complete your course. You can borrow between £300 and £8,000. The bank will approve your loan according to your credit rating.

Eligible US students can apply for Stafford Federal Loans, Federal Plus and private loans to cover their tuition and maintenance costs.

The Registry Fees and Scholarship section can also certify student registration for other loans, such as Canadian educational loans.

Please contact:

• Registry Fees Section if you have any queries on educational loans or fees for degree courses.
• Noel Connaughton for fees information for occasional courses, certificates and diplomas.
• CEFIMS for fees information for distance learning courses.

Other Sources of Funding

Useful funding information can also be found at:

• Hotcourses Scholarship Search
• HERO funding information for research students