MA History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia
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 History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia programme is an unrivalled opportunity to study the arts of China, Korea and Japan.
You will consider a wide range of East Asian arts and material culture, from Chinese archaeology to Japanese prints, and Korean installation works to Buddhist monuments, exploring their specificity and the links between them, in historical and contemporary periods.
In many parts of East Asia, archaeological evidence is key to understanding early societies. This History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia MA programme therefore also relates excavated materials to the history of art.
Why study the History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia at SOAS?
- SOAS is ranked 15th in the UK for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- We are ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- We partner with the British Council to offer a School of Arts student an internship at the Venice Biennale
- We partner with the Chu Te-Chun Foundation to offer a paid internship at the Venice Biennale
- We offer exclusive School of Arts-led internships at the Rietberg Museum, Zurich (2 places available)
- You can apply for a SOAS Co-Creator internship in the Special Collections of the SOAS Library
- Internships, field trips, museum and storage visits, talks by curators, artists and other practitioners
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
Students must complete 180 credits in total. 120 credits must be from MA-taught modules and 60 credits are from the compulsory Dissertation.
Occasionally the availability of optional modules changes as a result of staffing and other circumstances. Students who have signed up for such modules will be notified as soon as possible and given the opportunity to choose from available alternatives.
Compulsory
- Dissertation in History of Art and Archaeology: History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia
- Art Theory and Practice in East Asia
Guided options List B
Students must take 15 credits from each List A and List B; the remaining 90 credits can be from List A, and from which 45 credits can be from open options:
- Art and Authority in Japan
- Japanese Art and Visual Culture
- Asia and Africa On Display
- The Making of Contemporary Korean Art
- Deities, Devotion and the Arts of Hinduism
- Heritage in Asia: Intangible Cultural Heritage in Theory and Practice
Guided options List A
Students must take 15 credits from each List A and List B; the remaining 90 credits can be from List A, and from which 45 credits can be from open options:
- Themes in the Visual Arts of Dynastic China (before 1800)
- Art and Visual Culture of Modern and Contemporary China
- Chinese Porcelain: Trade, Transfer and Reception
- China and the Silk Road: Art and Archaeology
Assessment
For each of the taught modules, assessment is primarily by course work and a range of assessment methods are employed. These usually consist of short essays, reports, presentations, annotated bibliographies, journal entries or a combination thereof. Some modules will also be assessed by unseen examination in the form of a slide test. For details on how modules are assessed, consult the individual module page on the SOAS website.
Additionally, for each HAA degree pathway, 60 credits (of 180) are assigned to a dissertation which consists of three assessed components: one 300-word summary of the research project (worth 5%), one 700-word annotated bibliography (worth 9%) and a dissertation of 9,000-10,000 words (worth 86%).
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Students in the School of Arts develop a critical and theoretically informed approach to global arts and culture. In addition to an intercultural awareness and practical expertise, graduates gain a wide portfolio of transferable skills which are especially sought after in the creative and cultural industries.
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- Christie’s
- Christine Park Gallery
- Crisis
- Design Museum
- Hong Kong Museum Of Art
- India Foundation For The Arts
- Japanese Gallery
- Museum of East Asian Art
- Music in Detention
- National Gallery
- Pan Arts
- People Projects Culture & Change
- Roundhouse Trust
- Somerset House Trust
- Songlines Magazine
- Sotheby's
- South Asian Art UK
- Stratford Circus Arts Centre
- Taiwan Embassy
- The Alliance for Global Education
- The British Embassy
- The National Museum Of Korea
- The Royal Collection
- Victoria and Albert Museum
Program delivery
Teaching consists of a combination of lectures and seminars. Classes are normally between two and three hours per week for each course. Teaching methods include lectures with discussion, seminars (at which students present papers) and museum visits. Students at all levels are expected to take an active part in class presentations. A particularly important element is the training of the student's visual skills.
In addition to their studies in the MA programme, students at SOAS can participate in a wide range of research seminars, lectures and conferences that regularly take place in the School and in the University of London.