The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, and a member institution of the federal

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

area of central London. SOAS is one of the world's leading institutions for the study of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Its library is one of the five national research libraries in England. SOAS also houses the SOAS Gallery, which hosts a programme of changing contemporary and historical exhibitions from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East with the aim of presenting and promoting cultures from these regions. The annual income of the institution for 2023–24 was £113.8 million of which £9.6 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £76.6 million. SOAS is divided into three colleges: the College of Development, Economics and Finance; the College of Humanities; and the College of Law, Anthropology and Politics, which includes the SOAS School of Law. The university offers around 350

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

combinations, more than 100 one-year master's degrees, and PhD programmes in nearly every department. The university has educated several heads of states, government ministers,

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

s, central bankers, Supreme Court

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s, a

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

Laureate, and many other notable leaders around the world. SOAS is a member of the

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is a charitable organization that was established in 1913, and has over 400 member institutions in over 40 countries across the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth.Finsbury Circus, London, the then premises of the London Institution. The school received its

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

on 5 June 1916 and admitted its first students on 18 January 1917. The school was formally inaugurated a month later on 23 February 1917 by

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

. Among those in attendance were Earl Curzon of Kedleston, formerly Viceroy of India, and other cabinet officials. London Institution at the Finsbury Circus

London Institution at the Finsbury Circus

The School of Oriental Studies was founded by the British state as an instrument to strengthen Britain's political, commercial, and military presence in Asia and Africa. It would do so by providing instruction to colonial administrators ( Colonial Service and Imperial Civil Service), commercial managers, and military officers, as well as to missionaries, doctors, and teachers, in the language of the part of Asia or Africa to which each was being posted, together with an authoritative introduction to the customs, religions, laws, and history of the people whom they were to govern or among whom they would be working. The school's founding mission was to advance British scholarship, science, and commerce in Africa and Asia, and to provide London University with a rival to the Oriental schools of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Petrograd, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The school immediately became integral to training British administrators, colonial officials, and spies for overseas postings across the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Africa was added to the school's name in 1938.

Second World War

For a period in the mid-1930s, prior to moving to its current location at Thornhaugh Street,

, the school was located at Vandon House, Vandon Street, London SW1, with the library located at Clarence House. Its move to new premises in Bloomsbury was held up by delays in construction and the half-completed building took a hit during the Blitz in September 1940. With the onset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, many University of London colleges were evacuated from London in 1939 and billeted on universities in the rest of the country. The School was, on the Government's advice, transferred to Christ's College, Cambridge. In 1940, when it became apparent that a return to London was possible, the school returned to the city and was housed for some months in eleven rooms at Broadway Court, 8 Broadway, London SW1. In 1942, the War Office joined with the school to create a scheme for State Scholarships to be offered to select grammar and public-school boys with linguistic ability to train as military translators and interpreters in Chinese, Japanese, Persian, and Turkish. Lodged at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

in south London, the students became affectionately known as ''the Dulwich boys''. One of these students was Charles Dunn, who became a prominent Japanologist on the faculty of the SOAS and a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun. Others included Sir Peter Parker and Ronald Dore. Subsequently, the School ran a series of courses in Japanese, both for translators and for interpreters.

1945–present

In recognition of SOAS's role during the war, the 1946 Scarborough Commission (officially the "Commission of Enquiry into the Facilities for Oriental, Slavonic, East European and African Studies") report recommended a major expansion in provision for the study of Asia and the school benefited greatly from the subsequent largesse. The SOAS School of Law was established in 1947 with Seymour Gonne Vesey-FitzGerald as its first head. Growth however was curtailed by following years of economic austerity, and upon Sir Cyril Philips assuming the directorship in 1956, the school was in a vulnerable state. Over his 20-year stewardship, Phillips transformed the school, raising funds and broadening the school's remit. A college of the University of London, the School's fields include Law,

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

, and Languages with special reference to Asia and Africa. The SOAS Library, located in the Philips Building, is the UK's national resource for materials relating to Asia and Africa and is the largest of its kind in the world. The school has grown considerably over the past 30 years, from fewer than 1,000 students in the 1970s to more than 6,000 students today, nearly half of them postgraduates. SOAS is partnered with the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in

which is often considered the French equivalent of SOAS. In 2011, the Privy Council approved changes to the school's charter allowing it to award degrees in its own name, following the trend set by fellow colleges the London School of Economics,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. All new students registered from September 2013 will qualify for a SOAS, University of London, award. In 2012, a new visual identity for SOAS was launched to be used in print, digital media and around the campus. The SOAS tree symbol, first implemented in 1989, was redrawn and recoloured in gold, with the new symbol incorporating the leaves of ten trees, including the English Oak representing England; the Bodhi, Coral Bark Maple, Teak representing Asia; the Mountain Acacia, African Pear, Lasiodiscus representing Africa; and the Date Palm, Pomegranate and Ghaf representing the Middle East.

Student politics

Israel and Palestine

SOAS has a student body of which many are committed anti-Zionists.The SOAS Student’s Union was the first Student Union to carry out a referendum, in 2005, to support the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement for goods stocked in the Student Union, and in 2015, the SOAS Student Union held a referendum in which its members voted to adopt the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions directions more generally in the university. In 2022, students occupied the management section of the university for nine days, citing the university's investments in Israel amongst other reasons, which led to the university spending £200,000 in their eviction. After Israel's war in Gaza. university management suspended seven students protesting the university's investments in Israel and partnership with Haifa university, a university in Israel with three military colleges and a military base on campus. These students stated that the suspensions were arbitrary and a "targeted act of political repression", whereas the university replied that the students were a "threat to the SOAS community". In the same period, a lecturer reported that security had removed a poster with the Palestinian flag from her door. SOAS responded that the display of the Palestinian flag violated "safeguarding". SOAS has an active Jewish Society which is explicitly anti-Zionist. In 2024, and in the context of university protest camps established around the world relating to Israel's war in Gaza, SOAS director Adam Habib hosted a high-level meeting about antisemitism on campus, extending an invite to various Jewish academics on campus, but excluding any representation from the Jewish Society. On April 19th, 2024, SOAS posted a job advert for a new Jewish Chaplain whose key responsibilities include supporting “the implementation of a Jewish Society within the Student Union,” therefore implicating that the existing Jewish Society would be replaced by a society organised from the top down. In December 2020 ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that SOAS refunded a student £15,000 in fees after he chose to abandon his studies as a result of the "toxic antisemitic environment" he felt had been allowed to develop on campus. Examples of matters he considered anti-Semitic are, according to the Guardian report previously cited, that being pro-Israel was described as "Zionist", the student body's public support of the BDS movement, and that his proposal to write a thesis on perceived anti-Israel bias at the UN led to a response that, in his words, "he was covering up Israeli war crimes and was a white supremacist Nazi". He additionally stated that he had seen "anti-Semitic graffiti" on campus, but did not specify what this was, leaving it unclear as to whether or not he considered statements for example in support of the BDS movement as anti-Semitic. Leading Jewish figures at the university have disagreed with his assessment, with stating that they felt "much more comfortable being outwardly Jewish, visibly Jewish, or having people know that I'm Jewish around SOAS students than I am in pretty much any other context in this country.” Moreover, an opposition to Zionism has been upheld in the UK courts which SOAS falls under the jurisdiction of as "worthy of respect in a democratic society", and is not legally considered in itself an act of anti-Semitism.

Campus

The campus is located in the

area of central London, close to Russell Square. It includes College Buildings (the Philips Building and the Old Building), Brunei Gallery building, 53 Gordon Square (which houses the Doctoral School) and, since 2016, the Paul Webley Wing (the North Block of Senate House). The SOAS library designed by Sir Denys Lasdun in 1973 is located in the Philips Building. The nearest Underground station is Russell Square. The school houses the Brunei Gallery, built from an endowment from the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, the leader of a country whose human rights abuses are ongoing, 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 Brunei Gallery hosts a programme of changing contemporary and historical exhibitions from Asia, Africa and the Middle East with the aim to present and promote cultures from these regions. The Japanese-style roof garden on top of the Brunei Gallery was built during the Japan 2001 celebrations and was opened by the sponsor, Haruhisa Handa, an Honorary Fellow of the School, on 13 November 2001. The school hosted the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, one of the foremost collections of Chinese ceramics in Europe. The collection has been loaned to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, where it is now on permanent display in Room 95. The SOAS Centenary Masterplan conceived 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 would deliver approximately 30% additional space, approximately 1,000 sq metres.

Governance and administration

Presidents

Directors/Vice-Chancellors

Since its foundation, the school has had ten directors. The inaugural director was the celebrated linguist Edward Denison Ross. Under the stewardship of Cyril Philips, the school saw considerable growth and modernisation. Under Colin Bundy in the 2000s, the school became one of the top ranked universities both domestically and internationally. In January 2021 Adam Habib became director of SOAS in place of Valerie Amos, who had taken up the position of Master at University College, Oxford. In 2024, the position of director was renamed vice-chancellor.

Board of Trustees

The SOAS Board of Trustees sets policy, mission, and purpose for the university. The Trustees are also responsible for overseeing the management of resources and upholding SOAS's role. The board consists of a chair, two vice-chairs, an honorary treasurer, 10 lay members, the Vice-Chancellor, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Knowledge Exchange, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Finance and Operations and Clerk to the Board, a Professional Services Member, college deans, and student representatives.

Academic organisation

Colleges and departments

SOAS, University of London is divided into three colleges. These are further divided into academic departments. SOAS has many Centres and Institutes, each of which is affiliated to a particular faculty.

College of Humanities

The College of Humanities houses the School of Art, the School of History, Religions and Philosophies, and the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. It offers courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with an emphasis on Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. A gift from the Alphawood Foundation in 2013 created the Hiram W. Woodward Chair in Southeast Asian art, the David Snellgrove Senior Lectureship in Tibetan and Buddhist art, and a Senior Lectureship in Curating and Museology of Asian Art, as well as a number of scholarships for students, making the Department of Art & Archaeology a key institution at a global level in the study of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. The university is also a member of the Screen Studies Group, London.

Department of Linguistics

The SOAS Department of Linguistics was the first ever linguistics department in the United Kingdom, founded in 1932 as a centre for research and study in Oriental and African languages. J. R. Firth, known internationally for his work in phonology and semantics, was a Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor of General Linguistics at the school between 1938 and 1956.

College of Development, Economics and Finance

The College of Development, Economics and Finance houses the departments of Development Studies, Economics, and Finance and Management.

College of Law, Anthropology and Politics

The College of Law, Anthropology and Politics houses the School of Law, the departments of Anthropology and Politics and International Studies, and the centres for Gender Studies, Media Studies, the London Asia-Pacific Centre for Social Science, the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, the Centre of Taiwan Studies and a number of department-specific centres. It offers courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, many with an emphasis on Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

SOAS School of Law

One of the largest individual departments, the SOAS School of Law is one of Britain's leading law schools and the sole law school in the world focusing on the study of Asian, African and Middle Eastern legal systems. The School of Law has more than 400 students. It offers programmes at the LL.B., LL.M. and MPhil/ PhD levels. International students have been a majority at all levels for many years. The SOAS School of Law has an unrivaled concentration of expertise in the laws of Asian and African countries,

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, transnational

commercial law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of Legal person, persons and organizations ...

, environmental law, and

comparative law Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law and legal systems of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal systems (or "families") in existence around the world, includ ...

. The SOAS School of Law was ranked 15th out of all 98 British law schools by ''

'' League Table in 2016. Although many modules at SOAS embody a substantial element of English

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

, all modules are taught (as much as possible) in a comparative or international manner with an emphasis on the way in which law functions in society. Thus, law studies at SOAS are broad and comparative in their orientation. All students study a significant amount of non-English law, starting in the first year of the LL.B. course, where "Legal Systems of Asia and Africa" is compulsory. Specialised modules in the laws and legal systems of particular countries and regions are also encouraged, and faculty experts conduct modules in these subjects every year.

Institutes and regional centres

SOAS has a number of region-specific institutions, drawing on expertise across the various colleges: *SOAS China Institute *SOAS Middle East Institute *SOAS South Asia Institute *SOAS Centre for Taiwan Studies It also has a number of regional centres and other, non-regional institutes: *SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies *Centre of African Studies *Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus *Centre for Iranian Studies *Centre of Korean Studies *Centre for the Study of Pakistan *Centre for Palestine Studies *Centre of South East Asian Studies *Japan Research Centre

Academic profile

SOAS is a centre for the study of subjects concerned with Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It trains government officials on secondment from around the world in Asian, African and Middle Eastern languages and area studies, particularly in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Islamic Studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

– which combined with

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

formed the major bulk of classical Oriental Studies in Europe – and

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

. It also acts as a consultant to 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. The school has a student-staff ratio of 15:1, which in the Complete University Guide 2025 ranked 44th in the UK.

Library

The SOAS library is a library for Asian, African and Middle Eastern studies. It houses more than 1.2 million volumes and electronic resources for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and attracts scholars from all over the world. The library was designated by HEFCE in 2011 as one of the UK's five National Research Libraries. The library is housed in the Philips Building on the Russell Square campus and was built in 1973. It was designed by architect Sir Denys Lasdun, who also designed some of Britain's most famous brutalist buildings such as the National Theatre and the Institute of Education. In 2010/11 the library underwent a £12 million modernisation programme, known as "the Library Transformation Project". The work refurbished the ground floor of the library and created new reception and entrance areas, new music practice rooms, group study rooms and a gallery exhibition space. SOAS being a constituent college of the University of London, its students also have access to Senate House Library, shared by other colleges such as London School of Economics and

, which is located just a short walk from the Russell Square campus. The library was used as a filming location for some scenes in the 2016 film ''

Criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

''.

Rankings

The 2022

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

placed SOAS 2nd in the world for Development Studies, 10th for Anthropology and 15th for Politics. For Arts & Humanities overall, it was placed 67th in the world by the same rankings. As an institution, it placed 508th overall in the QS World University Rankings 2025, having fallen from a high of 252nd in 2017. SOAS ranked 33rd globally for International Students and 49th for International Faculty in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. SOAS's Department of Financial and Management Studies (DeFiMS) is ranked within the top-60 for Business Studies in the 2023 Complete University Guide's League Table. The research strength of the department has been previously recognised by the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) where 81 per cent was rated as world-leading and internationally excellent, placing it 41st in the country by GPA. The results of the 2021 REF took the form of profiles spread across four grade levels. Hence, there are different ways to present them and to rank the departments. According to published tables by ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'', SOAS is ranked 4th by GPA in the UK for Anthropology (an improvement from 16th in the previous exercise in 2014) and 25th in the UK for Development Studies.

Scholarships, bursaries, and awards

A range of scholarships and awards support SOAS degree programmes, with an application process based either on academic merit or with a focus on supporting students from specific countries or connected with particular areas of study, as well as some bursaries addressing students' financial needs.

Publications

SOAS publishes

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

s such as '' The China Quarterly,' Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies, Journal of African Law,'' '' South East Asia Research'' and '' SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research.''

Student life

In , there were undergraduate students. In 2012, 41% of students were over 21 and 60% were female. According to the QS World University Rankings, SOAS hosts international students from 140 countries. SOAS is renowned for its political scene and radical socialist politics and was voted the most politically active university in the UK in the Which? University 2012. Recent campaigns include students for social change, women's liberty and justice for cleaners. The SOAS Student Union was established in 1927, and has a long history of activism: campaigning against the introduction of both student loans and later student fees; raising funds for the Algerian victims of the Algerian War of Independence against France in 1959; and successfully campaigning for the school to divest from fossil fuels. The SU bar became an established live music venue by the 1970s and was where Nirvana played their first UK gig in 1989. The SOAS Marxist Society holds frequent events and encourages student voter registration. Located in the heart of Bloomsbury, many University of London schools and institutes are close by, including Birkbeck, the Institute of Education, London Business School, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Royal Veterinary College, the School of Advanced Study, Senate House Library and

Sports

SOAS has multiple smaller sports teams competing in a variety of local and national leagues, as well as occasional international tournaments. SOAS clubs compete in inter-university fixtures in the

British Universities and Colleges Sport British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS; ) is the sports governing body, governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2008, BUCS is responsible for organising 54 inter-university sports in the United King ...

(BUCS) competition in a range of sports, including basketball, football, hockey, netball, rugby union and tennis. SOAS also participates in an annual North London Varsity tournament against London Metropolitan University.

On-campus jobs

Some programs help students to work part-time on campus alongside their full-time study. * Education Co-Creator Internship: This is a 64-hour scheme for SOAS undergraduates interested in the education sector. Students work on an innovative project in collaboration with SOAS staff to improve services at their own university. * Santander Micro-internship: This is a remote 60-hour Santander Universities initiative, targeted towards SOAS students looking to develop an entrepreneurial career. As part of this program, students are typically assigned to a start-up or NGO. * Student Ambassador: In this job, SOAS students promote their university to high school students. * Campus Brand Ambassador roles: Depending on availability, students may also take up a job to represent employers such as CMS, Clyde & Co, BDO, Vantage, Dentons,

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Fo ...

, Barbri, Linklaters, Freshfields, and BCLP on campus. SOAS is not responsible for recruiting for this role – it is the respective external employer or a recruitment agency. The School of Finance and Management has also partnered with learning platform Practera to offer a Virtual Industry Project, a two-week remote work-based learning experience to give students a taste of consulting roles.

Student housing

SOAS operates two halls of residence in central London, both owned by Sanctuary Student Housing. The primary accommodation for undergraduates is Dinwiddy House, which is located on Pentonville Road. This contains 510 single en-suite 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 Vernon Square campus. A few minutes walk from Dinwiddy House and also on the Pentonville Road is Paul Robeson House, the second hall of residence. This was opened in 1998, and is named after the African-American musician Paul Robeson who studied at SOAS in the 1930s. This accommodation is occupied by postgraduate students, and those attending the international SOAS Summer schools. SOAS students are eligible to apply for places in the University of London intercollegiate halls of residence. The majority of these are based in Bloomsbury such as Canterbury Hall, Commonwealth Hall, College Hall, Connaught Hall, Hughes Parry Hall, International Hall and International Students House, while further afield are Nutford House in Marble Arch and Lillian Penson Hall in Paddington. A number of SOAS postgraduate students also apply for student accommodation at Goodenough College. Wood Green Hall is another accommodation in North London that reserves places for SOAS students annually.

Notable people

Notable alumni

Francesca Albanese - Human Rights Lawyer File:Achim Steiner-IMG 0837.jpg, Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UNDP File:Inger Andersen (environmentalist, 2010, cropped).jpg, Inger Andersen, executive director of the

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

File:Martin Griffiths.jpg, Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Francesca Albanese - Human Rights Lawyer File:Mette-Marit av Norge.jpg, Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway File:Aung San Suu Kyi 2016.jpg,

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

, 1st State Counsellor of Myanmar File:Paul Robeson by Karsh, 1941.jpg, Paul Robeson, American singer File:Official portrait of Rt Hon David Lammy MP crop 5.jpg, David Lammy, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom File:Zeinab Badawi crop UNISDR.jpg, Zeinab Badawi, TV presenter File:John Atta Mills.jpg, John Atta Mills, former President of Ghana File:Bülent Ecevit-Davos 2000.jpg,

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

, former Prime Minister of Turkey File:Luisa Dias Diogo - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009 crop.jpg, Luisa Dias Diogo, former Prime Minister of Mozambique File:Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.jpg, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, Bhutanese lama and filmmaker File:Grafica pc 3.jpg, Guillaume Long, former Foreign Minister of Ecuador File:Bisher Al-Khasawneh (cropped).jpg, Bisher Al-Khasawneh, Prime Minister of Jordan Around the world, several national leaders and political figures are alumni:

, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and First and incumbent State Counsellor of Myanmar, Zairil Khir Johari, Member of the Malaysian Parliament * In government, alumni include Dharma Vira, who served as 8th Cabinet Secretary of India, Johnnie Carson, former US Ambassador to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda, Hassan Taqizadeh, Iranian Ambassador to the UK, Sir Shridath Ramphal, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Sir Leslie Fielding, British diplomat and former European Commission Ambassador to Tokyo, Sir David Warren, former UK Ambassador to Japan, Quinton Quayle, UK Ambassador to Thailand and Lao, Sir Robin McLaren, UK Ambassador to China and the Philippines, Sir Michael Weir, UK Ambassador to Egypt, Jemima Khan, UK Ambassador to

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, Hugh Carless, UK Ambassador to Venezuela, * Prominent journalists and broadcasters such as, Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper in London, Zeinab Badawi, presenter of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'' World News Today'', Peter Barakan, longtime radio DJ and TV presenter for NHK FM and NHK World, Martin Bright, political editor of the '' Jewish Chronicle'', Jung Chang, who is best known for her family autobiography '' Wild Swans'', Hossein Derakhshan, Iranian blogger credited with starting the blogging revolution in Iran, * In business, alumni include: Fred Eychaner, American businessman and philanthropist

Notable faculty and staff

Notes

References

External links

* *Game, Joh
"The origins of SOAS as a colonial institution, training district"SOAS Student Union websiteSOAS graduates listSOAS Constitutional Documents 2022/23
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