POSTGRADUATE PROSPECTUS

120MA ANCIENT NEAR EASTERNLANGUAGESDURATIONOne calendar year (full-time)Two or three years (part-time, daytime only)START OF PROGRAMMESeptember intake onlyENTRY REQUIREMENTSMinimum upper second class honours degree(or equivalent) plus knowledge of AkkadianPROGRAMME CONVENORProfessor Andrew GeorgeTHREE OPTIONAL COURSES FROM THE LIST BELOW- Mesopotamian Languages and Literature A.The Third Millennium- Mesopotamian Languages and Literature B.The Second Millennium- Mesopotamian Languages and Literature C.The First Millennium- Sumerian Language- Hittite LanguageIn place of one of the options listed above, it maybe possible to take one course in Mesopotamianarchaeology or history from those taught atUniversity College London.NEAR AND MIDDLE EASTSEE ALSO:MA Arabic Literature,MA Near and Middle Eastern Studies,MA Islamic Studies,MA Islamic Societies and Cultures,MA Israeli Studies,MA Turkish Studies,MA English-Arabic Linguistics and TranslationThe MA in Ancient Near Eastern Languagesoffers an intensive programme of text-readingand language-learning for those who alreadyhave a good knowledge of the Akkadian language– usually at least two year’s experience.The degree is intended to widen the student’sexperience in the vast legacy of writtendocumentation in Akkadian and other languagesfrom ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia.The programme is tailor-made to serve as anintermediate year between SOAS’s three-year BAin Ancient Near Eastern Studies (or an equivalentqualification) and postgraduate Assyriologicalresearch at the level of MPhil and PhD. It can,of course, be taken for its own sake.STRUCTUREStudents take three optional courses and write a10,000-word dissertation on an approved topic.MA ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGESNot all courses listed below may be available everyyear. For courses being offered in 2008/09, pleasevisit the relevant departmental website or contactthe Faculty office.MA ARABIC LITERATUREDURATIONOne calendar year (full-time)Two or three years (part-time, daytime only)START OF PROGRAMMESeptember intake onlyENTRY REQUIREMENTSFirst or upper second-class honours degree oroverseas equivalent in Arabic or another relevantsubject with good knowledge of ArabicPROGRAMME CONVENORDr Wen-chin OuyangSEE ALSO:MA Islamic Studies,MA Near and Middle Eastern Studies,MA Islamic Societies and Cultures,MA Turkish Studies,MA English-Arabic Linguistics and TranslationThe MA Arabic Literature is an advancedMasters programme that provides an insight intothe Arab world through the in-depth study ofArabic Literature accessible to a wider body ofpostgraduate students and to provide them withtraining in the study of literature. The degreecombines the approaches of comparative literaturewith close reading of classical and modern Arabictexts. Topics explored include literary theory,translation techniques, sociology of literature,social and political dimensions of modernArabic literature, medieval popular literature,and different genres and themes of classical andmodern Arabic literature.