SOAS Library

Great news! 👏 SOAS has received a grant to expand access to postgraduate study for underrepresented international students, helping to make higher education more accessible and inclusive.

The scholarship has been established with funding from Philanthropic Consortium, generated through TOP CHARITY, a prestigious charity event in Poland initiated by Omenaa Mensah, founder of the Omenaa Foundation.

It will help remove financial barriers for international applicants for postgraduate study in the field of African studies, specifically an MA in African Studies or MA History of Art and Archaeology (with an African focus).

The first awardee for the scholarship will begin their studies at SOAS this autumn.

Last chance to donate!

We need your support to keep the Helen Kanitkar Anthropology Library open.

Our goal is to raise £2,500 to cover essential costs for the 2026–27 academic year and we’re running out of time. ⏳

If the Helen Kanitkar Library has been a place you valued, whether for its rich collection of anthropological texts or its vibrant community, please help ensure it can continue to support future students.

Can you make a gift today?

Donate here: soas.ac.uk/about/news/helen-kanitkar-anthropology-library-appeal

We’re proud to celebrate Harry Matovu OBE KC, SOAS Honorary Graduate (2025), recognised in The King’s Birthday Honours 2026 for services to business and the legal profession. 👏

A leading Ugandan-born litigation expert, Harry has represented sovereign states, corporations and financial institutions in complex, high-value disputes worldwide.

Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law by SOAS in 2025, he is also Founder and Chair of the Black Talent Charter, driving new pathways for Black talent across business and the professions.

Speaking to SOAS graduates in 2025, he reminded them:

“It is in these uncertain times that you need to show pride in your learning. That fight is engaged, and you must have the courage to join.”

Congratulations from the entire SOAS community on this well-deserved honour.

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Great news for SOAS in the latest QS World University Rankings! Our international faculty is ranked joint first in the UK - and we're named among the UK's top universities for graduate employment 👏

Alongside our top ranking for international faculty, international students ranked 21 in the UK. The results also showed that SOAS graduates are highly sought with Employment Outcomes, ranked at 14 in the UK.

Professor Joanna Newman MBE FRSA, Provost & Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), said: "Today's results build on our strong performance in the subject rankings, where 13 subjects were placed in the global top 100. Our overall position, our standing on graduate employment, and the transformation in our sustainability score all reflect a university that knows its purpose and is committed to excellent education and to demonstrating the real-world impact of its research."

SOAS’s work in Sustainability was also recognised with a 140-point rise, placing it 41 in the UK. There were also noted improvements across Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation and Citations per Faculty in the rankings.

✨Last chance to see the amazing exhibition at the SOAS Gallery✨

📢 Final Day Event | 20th June

Before In-/Visible Spectrums: Contemporary Video Art from the Sinosphere closes, join us for a special roundtable discussion exploring the ideas, artworks and curatorial decisions behind this landmark exhibition.

🕒 3:00–4:00pm
📍 Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS

Featuring curators, artists and scholars, this discussion will examine how contemporary video art from the Sinosphere is interpreted, exhibited and presented to audiences today. The conversation will also address wider debates around curating contemporary Sinospheric art and the challenges of staging exhibitions across different cultural contexts.

Whether you're interested in curating, exhibition-making, contemporary Chinese and Sinophone art, or simply curious about how exhibitions come together behind the scenes, this is a unique opportunity to gain new insights and ask questions.

Why not make a day of it? Visit the exhibition before or after the talk and experience In-/Visible Spectrums on its final day. The gallery is open Saturday from 10:30am–5:00pm.

Free and open to all. https://ow.ly/GbyQ50Z8NhP

Photography by Sunil Pun

📣 Alumni Call-Out: SOAS Stories from the ’70s, ’80s & ’90s

Were you at SOAS in the ’70s, ’80s or ’90s? We’d love to hear from you.

We’re gathering reflections on what student life was like: your memories of the library and the bar, how you connected with others, and the hopes and ambitions you had at the time.

📧 Get in touch at [email protected], and we’ll send you a few short questions.

If you know someone who was a student at SOAS in those years, please feel free to share this post or connect us: we’d love to include their story.

Photo: Phonetics class in progress, © SOAS University of London, 1979

Join us for the final events accompanying 'In-/Visible Spectrums: Contemporary Video Art from the Sinosphere' at SOAS Gallery.

📅18th June, 6:00pm
Screening and Panel Discussion: The Body and Classical Chinese Aesthetics

Experience a screening of artist Tong Wenmin's moving image work, followed by a discussion exploring the relationship between contemporary art, the body, nature and Daoist-inflected aesthetics. The panel features Tong Wenmin, Dr Kiki Tianqi Yu and Professor Paul Gladston, with audience Q&A.

📅 20th June, 3pm
Join us for our concluding Study Day and Panel Discussion on In-/Visible Spectrums, bringing together artists, scholars and specialists to reflect on the exhibition's themes, artworks and wider significance across the contemporary Sinosphere.

20th June is also the final day to visit this landmark exhibition of contemporary video art from mainland China, Hong Kong and the diaspora.

🎟️ Both events are free to attend and open to the public: https://ow.ly/mkQZ50Z8Ls6

📍 SOAS University of London
Image: Tong Wenmin, Crawl (2018–2019)