An opportunity to expand your outlook: how to choose your postgraduate studies
Choosing the right postgraduate course is about so much more than just accelerating you along your career path – it’s an opportunity to expand your outlook, enrich your mind and make your contribution to building a better, and fairer, world. And there are few places where this is more clear than at Soas University of London.
What makes Soas remarkable is the sheer breadth of courses available to students – which speaks to the university’s expertise in interdisciplinary studies, and an outlook that aims to break down traditional academic silos, and take a more holistic view of the world.
That’s why the university is proud of the broad range of postgraduate studies it offers, from development, economics and law, to media, languages and culture and anthropology. Among the widely varying options is an MSc in violence, conflict and development and an LLM in environmental law and sustainable development.
“Most other universities will give students such a western-focused approach, whereas with us, the lens through which they understand their subject is based on Africa, Asia and the Middle East,” says Daniel Lewis, the university’s student recruitment manager. “It gives a really unique perspective and is something that our students cherish.”
This broader view is important if the leaders of tomorrow are going to be equipped to tackle the biggest global issues, such as the climate crisis, a resurgent nationalism and political polarisation.
“It’s so important, given the society we live in today, that we’re aware of some of these bigger global challenges,” says Lewis.
Building careers
However, the Soas approach is not just about serving the wider world. The university is also a great place for students to discover and nurture their interests – and build the career they want to have.
Daisy Golding is a recent Soas graduate who is now considering further study at the university. But her path towards studying at Soas for her first degree was not entirely straightforward: she spent a year at another university before dropping out in 2018, after deciding that it wasn’t right for her, before taking some time out to travel to Hong Kong and mainland China – and this ignited a new passion.
“If I’m honest, it started with the food,” she laughs. “It was just so unbelievably good.” She describes how she quickly found herself binge watching YouTube videos about Chinese food and Chinese culture. Meeting Chinese people and hearing the language spoken fuelled her hunger to know more. After six months working as a chef, she realised: “Oh my god, I want to go back to uni.”
And for her, there could have been no better place to learn than Soas. “I feel like it has a very relaxed vibe,” says Golding. “The people were friendly and fascinated in such a specific part of the world. Soas felt as if it would be the right fit for me because I was developing this interest in East Asia, and I heard from so many people that if you’re going to study that region, then Soas is the place to do it.”
One of the things that enriched Golding’s experience was the flexibility offered by Soas’s programme. Though her focus was Chinese culture, she was able to explore academia more widely, taking modules that interested her from across the entire school, opening her eyes to new career choices.
“I got more interested in Chinese politics, and I wrote my dissertation on how China teaches nationalism, and now I want to dive deeper into something related to that,” she says.
She was even able to go further afield – taking in a module in Japanese – to really broaden her horizons. And though Golding is still exploring possible career paths, and is even tempted to do a postgraduate course at Soas, what’s clear is that the university has unlocked a number of possible futures for her.
“I think postgraduate education really allows students to completely flip their career path around,” says Lewis.
As Golding’s story shows, Soas is often the catalyst that helps students discover who they really are, and what they want to contribute to the world.
“There are a number of students who come to us thinking that they want to study one thing, and want to go on to work in a career in one area … But then while they’re studying, that goal really changes and informs a new direction they want to take their career,” says Lewis.
And now as she figures out what’s next, Golding is building on the career foundation that she built at Soas.
“There were so many opportunities that were offered throughout my time there,” says Golding, “Soas gave me, first of all, a language – Mandarin. I’m basically fluent, and this is a skill that I’m hopefully never going to lose if I keep it up.”
A world of possibility
There is one final element that makes Soas pretty much unique – its deep connections to the wider world. This global outlook is not just about studying other regions from afar, but about active, mutual engagement with institutions across the globe.
“Soas is the only place in the UK with such a unique opportunity to study subjects that relate to Africa, Asia and the Middle East,” says Lewis. And this opportunity is magnified through the university’s innovative joint master’s programmes, which enable students to experience different educational environments and perspectives firsthand.
For instance, students at Soas can pursue a PhD in applied development economics in collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa or an LLM/MA in environmental justice in South Asia with the National Law University Delhi in India. For these partnerships, Soas has a new fee structure with domestic and international students paying the same amount. Such partnerships are not merely academic exchanges – they represent a deeper, more collaborative approach to education that enriches both students and faculty, fostering a truly global perspective.
Earlier this year, Soas vice-chancellor Adam Habib underscored this commitment by launching an MSc in urban global sociology in partnership with Shiv Nadar University, India. This is just one example of how Soas continually seeks to broaden educational horizons and offer its students unparalleled opportunities for growth.
Choosing a course at Soas, then, is not just about preparing for a career; it’s about joining a global community of thinkers, activists and leaders. It’s about embracing a curriculum that is as rich in diversity as it is in depth, and about discovering how you can contribute to making the world a better, fairer place. For those who are ready to explore the world in all its complexity, Soas is the perfect place to start.
Find out how postgraduate studies at Soas University of London could expand your mindset and your horizons
