Gender Studies: Transnational Queer Feminist Politics with special reference to the Middle East

The programme offers the specialised study of gender and sexuality in relation to the cultures of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, together with rigorous training in, and questioning of, contemporary gender and queer theory. In terms of gender theory, it offers a solid foundation with sufficient breadth and depth to facilitate a range of specialist pathways. In terms of specialisation, it draws on the expertise of internationally recognised scholars of Asian, African and Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS.

This pathway will apply the theoretical and methodological frameworks described above to the study of the Middle East. Core modules examine how gender and sexuality are lived and negotiated in the Middle East, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which people in or from the region grapple with how to live a non- or anti-normative life. Importantly, it approaches the Middle East as a transnational rather than bounded space – one to which and from which discourses, people and commodities move – and thinks through what this might mean for the study of gender and sexuality in the region.

In terms of gender and queer theory, it offers a solid foundation with sufficient breadth and depth to facilitate a range of specialist pathways. In terms of specialisation, it draws on the expertise of internationally recognised scholars of Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS.

Gender Studies is widely regarded by a range of employers as an excellent training, equipping holders of the degree with a range of relevant employable skills. The Transnational Queer Feminist Politics with special reference to the Middle East at SOAS aims to cater for students with a variety of backgrounds and objectives:

• those coming from Women’s Studies or Gender Studies who wish to engage more deeply with gender theory in relation to regional specialisation and to connect this with the societies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East
• those coming from Asian, African or Middle Eastern Studies who wish to incorporate the study of gender and sexuality into their own areas of expertise
• those having previously trained in particular disciplines, such as Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, History, Politics, Religious Studies, Sociology, Refugee/Diaspora Studies.

Why study MA Transnational Queer Feminist Politics (Middle East) at SOAS?

• specialised research training in Gender Studies, in addition to focused study of sexuality as well as gender and sexual diversity. This pathway is suitable for students considering advanced postgraduate research in Gender Studies with a regional specialisation
• a broad MA programme for students with some background in Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, and Area Studies etc. who wish to enhance their knowledge of gender in relation to cross-cultural issues raised by appreciation of the relationship between gender and sexuality in various legal and political contexts
• a special interest MA, which enables students to study gender issues in depth in relation to a particular regional or disciplinary specialisation alongside the acquisition of knowledge of emergent and contemporary study of sexuality in cross-cultural contexts.

For more information email: genderstudies@soas.ac.uk