MA Muslim Minorities in a Global Context

Program Overview

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This online MA program in Muslim Minorities in a Global Context explores the challenges faced by Muslim minority communities and their host societies, debates surrounding the place of religious minorities in secular societies, and the impact of recent events in Afghanistan on Muslim countries and the wider world. It offers a flexible combination of module choices including law, history, international relations, and diplomacy, and provides students with the skills necessary to work in a wide range of professions that require an understanding of inter-cultural relations and policy-making.

Program Outline

Students will study one core modules and a range of elective modules on offer each session. There are also four research mini modules:

1 x core modules (30 credits each)

3 x elective modules (30 credits each)

4 x research mini modules

1 x dissertation (60 credits)

Core modules

Muslim Minorities in a Global Context

Dissertation

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Elective modules

Contemporary India, State, Society and Politics

Global Public Policy

Global Citizenship and Advocacy

International Security

Introduction to Islam

Islamic Law in a Global Context

Muslim Minorities and the State: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Political Islam in South Asia

Religions and Development

Strategic Studies

The Art of Negotiation

For more information on programme content, watch our

webinar with Dr Sarah Stewart

(Programme Convenor) and Dr Simon Perfect (Programme Tutor).

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Muslim Minorities in a Global Context

This module gives students an insight into the diversity of Muslim minority communities at a time when political shifts in Muslim majority countries – such as Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and across the ME region – have put Muslim minorities into the spotlight and impacted upon their relationship with their host countries. The module traces the emergence and development of Muslim minorities in both Western and non-Western contexts, and examines how Muslims have forged new identities as they have negotiated their places within their host societies.

The objective of the module is to enable students to understand the interconnecting variables with respect to class, gender and regional location, as well as religious interpretation and practice, which have resulted in issues arising uniquely within different Muslim minority communities. They will consider the ways in which Muslim minorities impact national policies in non-Muslim states and engage with terms such as ‘integration’, ‘assimilation’, ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘islamophobia’ within different contexts. The course includes an historical overview of Muslim migrations, aspects of civil society, the interaction of Muslim laws and the state laws of various jurisdictions, and the role of the media in shaping Muslims’ relationship with their host environment.

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Dissertation

The dissertation module is an opportunity for students to develop their interests in a particular area. It follows the taught modules and may be based on a topic within the programme that students have enjoyed or drawn from a personal interest or experience. The dissertation is fully supported by the distance learning team and a suite of resources specifically designed for the module. The dissertation is divided into two sections; the pre-proposal stage, where students are provided with appropriate research skills, and the post-proposal stage, where students will be working with a full-time Academic member of staff. The module will provide students with the ability to plan and write a dissertation, after displaying evidence of independent research skills and critically reflection. The dissertation is designed to engage students in a sustained piece of individual, academic research on a chosen topic within the field of Muslim Minorities.

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Contemporary India, State, Society and Politics

You will become conversant with a number of current themes which are shaping contemporary India and use a range of conceptual tools to evaluate the political shifts that have taken place in the electoral ascent of Hindu nationalism alongside emerging civil society movements. By engaging with contemporary literature and debate you will develop a deeper and broader understanding of how state, society and politics are evolving in contemporary India.

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Global Public Policy

Gain an understanding of public policy making in a context of intensifying globalisation and transnational political contestation. You will undertake rigorous and critical analysis of policy and the complex processes by which it is formulated, adopted and implemented.

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Global Diplomacy: Global Citizenship and Advocacy

Develop an understanding of how to influence policy at an international level and how to affect policy changes to meet the aims of non-governmental and international organisations. You will look at how to achieve change at a global level, networking across national boundaries and on global issues.

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International Security

Focusing on developments since the end of the Cold War, you will be given the analytical tools to think critically and independently about the nature of contemporary international security. You will consider a range of contemporary security issues including terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq War and the future of the Middle East, and the prospects for peace and security in the 21st century.

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Introduction to Islam

The Introduction to Islam module is an introductory survey course, intended for those students with little or no previous knowledge of the subject matter. Central to the module is the notion of "interpretation” of the authoritative textual foundation of the Islamic worldview (the Qur'an and the Hadith) and the Islamic historical narrative. ‘Historical Preconditions’ exposes students to the historical context of the foundational period, ‘Authoritative Sources and Different Ways of Dealing with them’ introduces students to three different ways of approaching Qur'an and Hadith that have defined distinct fields of Islamic enquiry.

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Islamic Law in a Global Context

This module enables students to make comparisons, through case law, between countries with Muslim minority communities and those in which the majority population are Muslim. It will allow students to examine critically what is meant by ‘Islamic’ as opposed to ‘Muslim law’, the process of law-making, authority and agency in Islam. The course looks at a variety of selected legal issues involving property disputes, marriage and divorce, Islamic criminal justice, Islamic finance, Islamic philanthropy and women's rights.

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Muslim Minorities and the State: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

This module explores the development of government policies in non-Muslim countries towards Muslim minority communities, from the colonial era to the present day. It focuses on eight countries: Britain, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, and Singapore, using these as case studies to explore the issues raised in both western and non-western contexts. Upon completion of this module, students will have acquired the methodological expertise to apply themselves to the study of other Muslim minorities in different geographic locations living under different jurisdictions.

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Political Islam in South Asia

You will gain an understanding of the ways in which Islamism circulates in contemporary South Asia in a range of different contexts across the region. The historical roots of political Islam in South Asia will be explored in relation to colonialism and the emergence of politicised religion while its contemporary legacy will be charted out in terms of recent regional and global developments.

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Religions and Development

Religions continue to play a vital role in the societies of many developing countries, which has multiple implications for development efforts. This has been increasingly recognised by many development agencies who now seek to collaborate with religious actors. In development studies this has led to the emergence of a number of research projects and publications. This module explores this field from the angles of theory and practice. It provides a historical overview and insight into the most salient issues in religions and development, as well as applying these historical and systematic perspectives to concrete case studies from Africa and Asia.

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Strategic Studies

The area of strategic studies is increasingly relevant in light of conflicts in the past decade in Ukraine, Georgia, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan. You will address a range of strategic influences such as power and force, asymmetric/irregular warfare, and the role of security providers such as TO. The relationship between strategy and policy will be explored through a series of case studies including US involvement in Vietnam and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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The Art of Negotiation

You will learn about the key concepts of diplomacy and the institutional development of diplomatic relations. You will also be introduced to the strategy and tactics of negotiation and its place in international relations between states.

Important notice

The information on the website reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. The modules are indicative options of the content students can expect and are/have been previously taught as part of these programmes. However, this information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

A key component of the student experience will be peer to peer learning, with students enrolled in discussion forums.

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Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

This programme is taught 100% online through our VLE. In the VLE you will have access to learning materials and course resources anytime so you can fit your studies around your existing commitments. For each module, students will be provided with access, through both the SOAS Library and the University of London’s Online Library, to all necessary materials from a range of appropriate sources.

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Study timetable

In addition to a dedicated Associate Tutor, a Study timetable is provided for each module and for the overall programme to help you to organise your time.

The programme is broken down into two study sessions per year. Each subject module lasts 16 weeks, followed by a research mini module lasting 8 weeks.

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Sample study timetable

Activity	Duration
Substantive module	16 weeks
Reading weeks	2 weeks
Research mini module	8 weeks
Reading weeks	2 weeks

Online and distance learning key dates

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Assessment

Each module is assessed by five written online assessments (‘etivities’*) comprising of 30%, the remaining 70% is formed of a 5,000 word essay.The etivities provide formative and summative feedback to students as a means of monitoring their progress and encouraging areas in which they can improve.

* An 'e-tivity' is a framework for online, active and interactive learning following a format that states clearly to the students its 'Purpose'; the 'Task' at hand; the contribution or 'Response' type; and the 'Outcome' (Salmon, G. (2002) E-tivities: The Key to Active Online Learning, New York and London: Routledge Falmer.)

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Research training and dissertation

Research training is a key feature of this programme, the dissertation module is presented in four development parts, which will follow each of your module sessions. Research modules one and three are formative modules only, and are not assessed.

The dissertation is assessed by the submission of a written dissertation of no more than 15,000 words, excluding the bibliography and appendices, which will account for 85% of the mark awarded for the module (research module four). The remaining 15% of the module mark will be based on the mark obtained for a 1,500 word research proposal (research module two).

The research proposal is compulsory for students going on to do a PGDip or MA; MA students must submit a dissertation at the end of research module four.

Students from SOAS’s Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD) develop an in-depth understanding of international affairs, contemporary diplomatic practice and policy-makers. Graduates leave with a portfolio of transferable skills such as critical analysis, problem solving, negotiation and communication, all of which are valued by employers across a number of sectors.

Recent CISD graduates have been hired by:

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Ernst & Young

European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights

Government of India

International Rescue Committee

Medical Aid for Palestinians

NHS

The Commonwealth

UK National Commission for UNESCO

UNHCR

United Nations

World Food Programme

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