School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics & African Languages, Cultures and Literatures Section

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Duration
3 or 4 years
Start of programme
September 2025
Attendance mode
Full-time
Location
Campus
Fees

Home: £9,535
International: £22,870

Entry requirements

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For joint degrees, the offer is based on the subject with the higher entry requirements.

Contextual: AAB-BBB

See undergraduate entry requirements and English language requirements for international and alternative entry requirements.

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This joint BA programme centres Africa, the African Diaspora and Black studies. Through critical engagement, it provides strong intellectual grounding that will enable you to situate and engage with Africa in the global stage by acquiring substantive knowledge of historical and topical issues that are related to the continent.

You will also get the opportunity to engage with your own understanding of contemporary themes including migration, colonialism, economic change, climate change and popular culture.

The BA Africa and Black Diaspora degree enables students to negotiate with some of the key tensions in the study of Africa and its multiple diasporas. This programme is distinguished through its interdisciplinary and trans-regional approach. It engages with the diasporic worlds and connections between regions of Africa, the Black Atlantic, Black Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean.

You will be able to combine your study of disciplines including Politics, Social Anthropology, Languages and Cultures, Economics and International Relations with Africa and Black Diaspora. You will be able to engage on meaningful projects, explore the regions of your interest through the optional summer or year abroad programmes, and graduate as a skilled and accountable global change maker.

Why study BA Africa and the Black Diaspora at SOAS?

  • You will take a course that is unique in the UK higher education space, one that is African-centric in its approach
  • We are ranked 12th in the UK for Modern Languages (QS World University Rankings 2023)
  • SOAS is ranked 1st in London in the Complete University Guide 2021 for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and 6th in the UK
  • Modern Languages and Linguistics at SOAS has been ranked 10th in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
  • We've also been ranked 4th for research environment - with 100% of our research ranked as 'internationally excellent' and 85% as 'world-leading' - and 8th for research outputs in the REF 2021

Use our combined courses tool to see a breakdown of course structure

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Year abroad

Students on the 4 year programme will take the Language Year Abroad where students spend one term at each of our partner institutions.

The programme runs from September to May of the following year and involves 20 hours of instruction per week. The prime focus throughout is on enhancing the students’ language skills and imparting an advanced level of competence in Swahili language and culture.

Summer abroad

Students on the 3-year programme have the option to spend the Swahili Summer Abroad at one of the institutions named above.

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Fees for 2025/26 entrants per academic year

ProgrammeFull-time
Home studentsOverseas students
BA, BSc, LLB£9,535£22,870
BA/BSc Language year abroad£1,385£11,430

See undergraduate fees for further details.

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Graduates of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics leave SOAS not only with linguistic and cultural expertise, but also with skills in written and oral communication, analysis and problem solving.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

  • Africa Matters
  • Amnesty International
  • Arab British Chamber of Commerce
  • BBC World Service
  • British High Commission
  • Council for British Research in the Levant
  • Department for International Development
  • Edelman
  • Embassy of Jordan
  • Ernst & Young
  • Foreign & Commonwealth Office
  • Google
  • Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
  • Middle East Eye
  • Saïd Foundation
  • TalkAbout Speech Therapy
  • The Black Curriculum
  • The Telegraph
  • United Nations Development Programme
  • UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
  • Wall Street Journal

Found out about our Careers Service

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