SOAS University of London

SOAS University of London
motto	Knowledge is Power (Knowledge is Power)
founding	1916
Sponsorship	state
place	London , UK
President	Graça Machel
Students	8200
Professors	> 300
Website	www.soas.ac.uk

Interior shot of the SOAS library

The SOAS University of London or short SOAS is a British University . The abbreviation stands for School of Oriental and African Studies and refers to the historical origins in the fields of Oriental Studies and African Studies. Formally, SOAS is an independent college that belongs to the University of London . The SOAS was founded in 1916 and is now one of the top 15 universities in Great Britain (best ranking: 4th place ( The Guardian , 2005)).

In 1916 the School of Oriental Studies was founded. In 1917 she started teaching. In 1938 an independent African Department was spun off and it has had its current name ever since. It has been at its current location since 1941. In 1947, the SOAS School of Law, a law faculty, was founded, making it one of the 20 oldest law schools in England. Initially only postgraduate programs were offered, since 1975 other law courses have also been offered. The SOAS library, designed by the architect Sir Denys Lasdun , opened in 1973 and houses more than 1.2 million books. The SOAS continues to be the UK's premier university for courses on Africa , Asia and the Middle East .

There are more than 300 Bachelor and 70 Master programs on offer.

literature

• Ian Brown: The School of Oriental and African Studies. Imperial Training and the Expansion of Learning . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England 2016, ISBN 978-1-107-16442-0 .

Well-known alumni

• Mirza Tahir Ahmad (1928–2003), the 4th caliph of the Ahmadiyya
• Aaron Mike Oquaye (* 1944), Ghanaian politician and Minister of Communications
• Akbar S. Ahmed (* 1943), anthropologist, former Pakistani High Commissioner (Ambassador) to the United Kingdom
• Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (* 1931), well-known Muslim intellectual
• Aung San Suu Kyi (* 1945), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1991)
• Zeinab Badawi (* 1959), British radio reporter and news anchor
• Albert Adu Boahen (1932–2006), Ghanaian historian and politician
• Martin Bright (* 1966), journalist
• Roxanna M. Brown (1946–2008), American and Thai art historian and archaeologist
• Luísa Diogo (* 1958), Prime Minister of Mozambique
• Andrew Hall , British Ambassador to Nepal
• Fred Halliday (1946–2010), longstanding professor of international relations at the LSE
• Robert Graham Irwin (* 1946), historian, writer (Arabic literature)
• Michael Jay, Baron Jay of Ewelme (* 1946), former executive director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, former British ambassador to France
• Dom Joly (* 1968), comedian
• Jasmin Hekmati (* 1976), German television presenter
• Jemima Khan (* 1974), activist, daughter of Sir James Goldsmith and ex-wife of Imran Khan
• David Lammy (* 1972), Member of Parliament for Tottenham , Culture Department
• Bernard Lewis (1916–2018), Islamic scholar, historian and publicist ( "The neo-cons' favorite historian" ), voted the world's most influential intellectual by Time Magazine
• Mette-Marit (* 1973), Crown Princess of Norway
• Khyentse Norbu (* 1961), Bhutanese filmmaker and well-known Tibetan Buddhist
• Frank R. Palmer (1922–2019), British linguist and language theorist
• Enoch Powell (1912-1998), British politician
• David Rakoff (1964–2012), Canadian comedian
• Paul Robeson (1898–1976), musician, writer and civil rights activist
• Walter Rodney (1942–1980), Guyanese historian and political activist
• Sultan Salahuddin (1926–2001), Sultan of Selangor and King of Malaysia
• Natsume Soseki (1867–1916), Japanese writer of the Meiji period
• Ron Pundak , Chairman of the "Shimon Perez Center for Peace" [1]
• Saira Shah (* 1964), journalist and filmmaker
• Romila Thapar (* 1931), Indian historian
• Thomas Trautmann , American historian of South Asia
• Than Tun (1923-2005), Burmese historian

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.soas.ac.uk/president/
2. ↑ 5200 (face-to-face study) + 3000 (distance learning) https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/
3. ↑ https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/
4. ↑ spelling of the university, cf. About SOAS University of London , accessed May 25, 2019.
5. ↑ Andreas Eckert : Birthplace of the "History of Africa" . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of January 18, 2017, p. N4.