Programmespecification

SOAS, University of London

The following information forms the programme specification at SOAS, University of London. It gives definitive information relating to a programme of study and is written for a public audience, particularly prospective and current students. It is also used for other purposes such as initial programme approval, and is therefore produced at the start of the programme development process. Once approved, it forms the base-line information for all statements relating to the programme and is updated as approved amendments are made.

CORE INFORMATION

Programme title / Buddhist Studies
Final award / MA
Intermediate awards / n/a
Mode of attendance / Full time, part-time
UCAS code / n/a
Professional body accreditation / n/a
Date specification created/updated / October 2013

WHY CHOOSE THIS PROGRAMME?

Why study at SOAS? / SOAS is unique as the only higher education institution in the UK specialising in the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The School also has the largest concentration of specialist faculty concerned with the study of these areas at any university in the world. SOAS is consistently ranked among the top higher education institutions in the UK and the world and it also offers a friendly, vibrant environment for students in a diverse and close-knit community.
What is special about this programme? /
  • The breadth and depth of the academic expertise of the key staff involved in the Buddhist Studies programme in the department, as well as the wide course offers, within SOAS, makesthe MA Buddhist Studiesthe most attractive postgraduate curriculum on Buddhism in the U.K.
  • It is strongly interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse, offering advanced learning in the historical, art historical, anthropological, philological and philosophical approaches to the study of Buddhism.
  • The structure of the programme is unique, and provides a study pathway that is at the same time coherent and flexible. Hence, while students taking this programme as a stepping stone for further research are strongly advised to pick up or further the study of a Buddhist language among the wide courses on offer at SOAS, we do not make this a compulsory option, thus allowing students with a personal or comparative interest in Buddhism to make the best of this programme.
  • It provides a unique opportunity to tap cutting-edge academic expertise and library facilities on Buddhism. SOAS library is the best University Library on Buddhist Asia in the U.K., while the British Library and British Museum both constitute unparalleled treasure-troves of Buddhist artefacts. Moreover, the rich lecture and conference programmes offered by the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions, the China Institute, and the Circle of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies attract first class scholars on Buddhism from all over the world, so students will be able to meet leading figures in their field.
  • The programme allows all those interested in the study of Buddhism to take part in a spirited, cosmopolitan student community, itself within the intense religious and cultural scene of London.

Who would it suit? / The MA Buddhist Studies is designed both as an end qualification and as a platform preparing students for more advanced graduate work. It will therefore suit students with different academic backgrounds and prospective personal objectives, from those interested in broadening their knowledge of Buddhism as a whole or of specific Buddhist traditions to those intending to embark on language-based research or fieldwork among Buddhist communities.
It will typically suit students falling into one of the following fourcategories:
  • students planning to pursue further research in Buddhist studies, which may involve at a subsequent stage the acquisition of a doctoral degree and a career in higher education.
  • students willing to pursue a career or professional activity, for which advanced knowledge of Buddhism as a global cultural force is essential: teaching, NGOs, interfaith dialogue, consultancy for governmental agencies or the private sector, arts, media, museums, and more.
  • students who wish to pursue the academic study of religions as a complement to their personal experience and commitments: Buddhist monks and lay followers from all traditions, believers, yoga and meditation practitioners; anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural contexts in which their tradition developed, as a complement to their spiritual path, and to obtain a degree that might help their career within Buddhist communities or institutions.
  • overseas students from traditionally Buddhist countries in Asia, willing to broaden their knowledge of Buddhism as a pan-Asian religion, and to be introduced to an academic approach that is characterised both by its critical distance and by its empathy.

Programme structure / Students are required to follow taught units to the equivalent of three full courses and to submit a dissertation of 10,000 words.
The core course, Critical Concepts in Buddhist Studies (0.5 Unit), co-taught by four staff whose expertise cover most of Buddhist Asia,will guarantee the overall coherence of the study Pathway and provide students with a broad and stimulating introduction to key notions and methods in the study of Buddhism. The remaining 2.5 Units may be taken freely by students, in dialogue with the programme convenor,within the large pool of open options available within and outside the Dept. (with a limit of 1 Unit outside the Dept.)
Assessment summary / Courses in this MA are assessed through a combination of essays, oral presentation and written exams. An overall percentage mark is awarded for each course, based on the marks awarded for individual assessment items within the course. The MA may be awarded at Distinction, Merit or Pass level in accordance with the common regulations for MA/MSc at SOAS.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

SOAS has general minimum entrance requirements for registration for an undergraduate degree and these can be viewed at (

The entrance requirements for the MA Religions of Asia and Africa are in line with those of SOAS. However, due consideration is given to the applicants’ individual profiles, and to the fact that great potential for the successful undertaking of the academic study of religions is not necessarily acknowledged or certified through the applicant’s academic qualifications. Interviews can be arranged for applicants who do not meet the minimum entrance requirements, and early contact with academic members of staff is generally encouraged.

PROGRAMME AIMS

What will this programme give the student an opportunity to achieve?

  • A sound knowledge and understanding of selectedapproaches, methods and theories in relation to one or more areas of Buddhist Asia.
  • Advanced skills in researching and writing about Buddhism from an academic perspective, also as a platform for further research at doctoral level.
  • Advanced skills in presentation or communication of knowledge and understanding of topics in religious studies.
  • Specialisation in one area from among those covered by the units listed in the programme structure.

PROGRAMME LEARNING OUTCOMES

What will the student learn?

Knowledge
  • Studentswilllearnhowtoassessdataandevidencecritically,locateandsynthesisesource materials,criticallyevaluateconflictinginterpretationsandsources,useresearchresources (librarycatalogues,journaldatabases,citationindices)andothertraditionalsources.
  • Subjectspecificskills,forinstance, textual criticism, edition, translation, and interpretationof literary, epigraphical, and ethnographic sources, as well as analysis of archaeological and art-historical artefacts.
  • Whenever appropriate, students will enhance their knowledge of one Buddhist language, or gain familiarity with one of these languages, freely chosen among a wide pool on offer.
  • Students will gain familiaritywithBuddhism initsvariousregionalandhistoricalcontexts, and with the academic field of Buddhist Studies, its rich history and the variety of academic perspectives on Buddhism.
Intellectual (thinking) skills
  • Studentsshould becomepreciseand cautiousin their assessment of evidence, and understandthroughpracticewhatdocumentscanandcannottellus.
  • Studentswilldevelopthecapacitytodiscusstheoreticalandepistemologicalissuesinan articulate,informed,andintellectualmanner.
  • Studentswilllearntobecomepreciseandcriticalintheirassessmentofscholarlyargumentsand to question interpretations,however authoritative,in order toreassessevidencefor themselves.
  • Studentswilllearntopresentcomplexargumentsclearlyandcreatively.
  • Those students who take a language option should be able to assess primary sources in foreign languages and critically evaluate interpretations proposed by different scholars.
  • Studentswillacquireboththeoreticalandregionalexpertiseinordertodevelopandapply sound academic approaches tothe studyof Buddhism.
Subject-based practical skills
Theprogrammeaimstohelpstudentswiththefollowingpracticalskills:
•Academicwriting
•IT-basedinformationretrievalandprocessing
•Presentationalskills
•Independentstudyskillsandresearchtechniques
•Reflexivelearning
Transferable skills
Theprogrammewillencouragestudentsto:
•Writeconciselyandwithclarity.
•Effectivelystructureandcommunicateideas(oralandwritten).
•Exploreandassessavarietyofsourcesforresearchpurposes.
•Worktodeadlinesandhighacademicstandards.
•Assessthevalidityandcogencyofarguments.
•Makejudgementsinvolvingcomplexfactors.
•Developself-reflexivity.
•Questionthenatureofsocialandculturalconstructs.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINING AN AWARD

How will the student’s study be structured? How will they achieve an award?

Structure, duration and requirements for gaining an award

SOAS has standard requirements relating to the structure and duration of undergraduate programmes and for the award and classification of these programmes.

Details can be found at

Programme structure diagram

Below is a structure diagram for this programme.

MA Buddhist Studies: general structure

  • Students are required to take taught courses to the equivalent of three full units (which may include one language course) from the list below, and to submit a Dissertation in Buddhist Studies of 10,000 words.
  • The dissertation topic must be linked with a taught course from the list below, and must be approved in advance by the MA Convenor. Dissertation will be chosen from the course chosen as a major.
  • Students are allowed to take one language course.
  • Students are allowed to take courses taught outside the department of the Study of Religions up to one unit, which may or may not include a language. A list of permitted options is given below.

An appointment with the programme convener during registration week will help students to design a study path that suits best their personal interest and that is coherent academically.

N.B. Not all courses listed below will be taught every year. A list of the available courses available is published yearly on the School’s website as well as in the Study of Religions Department MA Handbook.

Level / Year of study / Course code / Course title / Credit / Status / Notes
7 / 1 / TBA / Critical Concepts in Buddhist Studies / 22.5 / Core
7 / Final / 15PSRC990 / Dissertation in Buddhist Studies / 45 / Core
7 / Any / 15PSRC059 / History and Doctrines of Indian Buddhism / 45 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRC172 / Buddhist Meditation in India and Tibet / 45 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRH008 / Buddhism in Tibet / 22.5 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRH009 / The Buddhist Conquest of Central Asia / 22.5 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRH018 / East Asian Buddhist Thought / 22.5 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRH036 / East Asian Traditions of Meditation / 22.5 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRC071 / Religious practice in Japan: texts, rituals and believers / 45 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRH014 / Features of Buddhist monasticism / 22.5 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRC160 / Chinese Buddhism in the pre-modern period / 45 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRH036 / The Great Tradition of Taoism / 22.5 / Minor ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSRC024 / Jainism: history, doctrine and the contemporary world / 45 / Minor ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSRC173 / The Origins and Development of Yoga in Ancient India / 45 / Minor ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSRC168 / Oriental religions in European academia and imagination, 1815-1945 / 45 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRH038 / Chinese religious texts: a reading seminar / 22.5 / Major OR Minor
7 / Any / 15PSRC053 / Pali: intermediate level / 45 / Minor
ONLY

Courses taught in other departments:

7 / Any / 15PSAC294 / Sanskrit Language 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSAC306 / Sanskrit Language 2 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSAC309 / Prakrit language 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSAC298 / Nepali Language 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSAC298 / Nepali Language 2 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PCHC008 / Special Course in Chinese 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PCHC011 / Special Course in Chinese 2 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PCHC009 / Special Course in Chinese 3 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PCHC012 / Special Course in Chinese 4 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PCHC010 / Special Course in Chinese: Reading Classical and Literary Chinese (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PCHC018 / Intensive Elementary Tibetan (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC008 / Basic Japanese 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC009 / Basic Japanese 2 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC010 / Intermediate Japanese 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC011 / Intermediate Japanese 2 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC012 / Advance Japanese: Contemporary Topics (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC005 / Readings in Pre-Modern Japanese Literature (Masters) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSEC039 / Burmese Language 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSEC027 / Burmese Texts and Translation / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSEC040 / Thai Language 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSEC041 / Thai Language 2 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSEC042 / Thai Language 3 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSEC036 / Vietnamese Language 1 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PSEC037 / Vietnamese Language 2 (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC015 / Elementary Korean (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PJKC013 / Intermediate Korean (Postgraduate) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PEAC018 / Korean Advanced (Masters) / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PARC032 / Art and Archaeology of the Silk Road / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PARC034 / The Indian Temple / 45 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PARH049 / Art of monumental Southeast Asia / 22.5 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PARH057 / Esoteric Buddhist Art of South and Southeast Asia / 22.5 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PARH056 / Sacred Art and Architecture of Ancient Korea / 22.5 / Minor
ONLY
7 / Any / 15PMUH017 / Aspects of Music and Religion in South East Asia / 22.5 / Minor
ONLY

The availability of optional/elective courses may vary in a given academic session due to factors such as staff absence and student numbers.For an up to date list of courses running in a given academic session please refer to the degree structures as listed on the SOAS website for the degree programmes taughtby each Department.

TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

What methods will be used to achieve the learning outcomes?

Knowledge
  • Acquisition through lectures and seminars. Students are required to attend all classes, study extensively on their own and prepare non-assessed work (for presentation at course seminars) regularly.
  • Acquisition through preparation of essays and dissertations.
  • Acquisition through taking optional courses in the study of the religions of Asia or Africa.
  • ASSESSMENT: Students will be assessed by a variety of methods: long essays, seen or unseen examinations, group or individual presentations, coursework and a dissertation (the dissertation is a required method of assessment for the MA).
Intellectual (thinking) skills
  • Acquisition of all skills will be fostered directly through the programme’s core options and indirectly through both the additional options, and supervision of the students’ dissertations.
  • The development of intellectual skills will be facilitated through lectures and seminars, and students’ progress will be monitored through close assessment and supervision of coursework as well as through non-assessed seminar presentations. All courses will introduce information that will need to be assessed critically and will demonstrate how conflicting interpretations arise from the same information. By the acquisition of language skills, students will be enabled to assess primary sources in foreign languages.
  • ASSESSMENT: The emphasis on assessed written work (by essay and examination) is in order to ensure advanced level training in skilled cognitive argumentation as a core contribution to preparation for further postgraduate study at the MPhil/PhD level.
Subject-based practical skills
  • Acquisition of academic writing skills through the preparation of long essays and the dissertation.
  • Acquisition of information retrieval skills through course teaching and training sessions offered by the Library and Information Services staff.
  • Acquisition of presentational skills through seminar and tutorial presentations.
  • Acquisition of examination techniques through training sessions offered by the Learning and Teaching Unit.
  • Acquisition of independent study skills and research techniques through supervised individual research and writing (dissertation and long essays).
  • Acquisition of reflexive learning through seminar discussion and supervised coursework.
  • ASSESSMENT: Seen or unseen examinations, essays, group or individual presentations, dissertation.
Transferable skills
Acquisition of transferable skills through:
  • Lectures
  • Regular monitoring and feedback on student progress during each stage of the programme’s courses.
  • Substantial elements of independent learning, with feedback
  • Seminar discussion and individual supervision
  • ASSESSMENT: Through seen or unseen examinations, dissertation, long essays, individual or group presentations and course work.

REFERENCE POINTS

What has been the basis for the design of this programme?

1. School Learning and Teaching Strategy

2. Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategy

3. Staff research

4. QAA framework for higher education qualifications

5. Relevant subject benchmark

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ENHANCEMENT

SOAS has internal procedures to assure the quality of provision to be offered to students and to enhance the quality in the light of experience following delivery, taking into account the input of external experts and students. The procedures are set out in the School’s Quality Assurance Handbook and can be viewed at (

SOAS is also subject to periodic external review from bodies such as the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and relevant professional and statutory regulatory bodies.

The procedures described in the Quality Assurance Handbook are in place to provide a high quality student experience for those choosing to study at SOAS, and student input and evaluation of their experiences is greatly valued. Students make an input to the ongoing development of their programmes, and the environment in which they operate, in a number of ways, including:

  • formal student evaluation as part of the annual programme review;
  • student representation on School committees at various levels (through the Students’ Union) where many relevant issues are discussed;

FURTHER INFORMATION

Add in links to other relevant information, both internal and external, including:

  • SOAS Vision and Strategy Statement;
  • Undergraduate and Postgraduate Handbooks;
  • Quality Assurance Handbook;
  • UCAS website;
  • QAA website;

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