Asian and Middle Eastern Studies MSt

MSt Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

The MSt Asian & Middle Eastern Studies is aimed at graduate students who need additional training before applying for doctoral studies, where it may not be covered by one of our other Master's degrees. It provides tailor-made courses for training graduate students at the beginning of their research in different areas of Asian and Middle Eastern studies and only specified teaching staff accept students.

Introduction

The MSt in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is designed for students who hold a first degree in the same field as that of their proposed research, or one closely related. As an example, most students who wish to study Arabic for this MSt will have either a BA in Arabic or one in which Arabic has been a majority of the course. The decision on whether a candidate's first degree qualifies for the course is taken by the Faculty Board.

The course content is in each case designed to advance your progress towards a research degree after the completion of the MSt, and the topic of the MSt dissertation will normally be chosen in preparation for a subsequent DPhil. You should therefore also demonstrate clear potential for DPhil level work in your application.

The precise content of the course is devised by your supervisor in consultation with yourself in order to provide the most useful training for you and once your course of study is agreed on, it is not normally possible to make any changes. You may therefore be required by the supervisor, under the direction of the Faculty Board, to attend lecture courses, seminars, language classes and tutorials, and also to write more extended pieces of written work.

The course may be taught in a variety of ways, depending on your needs. If you wish to learn a language these are normally taught in classes. If you wish to concentrate on historical issues, these may be taught primarily in regular tutorials for which you are expected to write essays.

Assessment

Evaluation of the course takes place throughout the year, through a combination of essays, examination papers and a dissertation.

Supervisors accepting students

You must contact a prospective supervisor before you apply to secure their agreement in principle to supervise you whilst pursuing the course. Please note that only the teaching staff listed here are able to accept students for this degree.

The best way to proceed is to approach the faculty member whose research interests most closely match your own to ask if they might be interested in supervising your project. It’s a good idea to attach your CV and research proposal. They may direct you to apply to one of our other courses if they think it appropriate.

Potential supervisors will not be able to give any firm assurances about your application at this stage, since it will depend on the details of your application and others received in the admissions cycle.

Resources for study

Libraries and museums

You will have access to the Nizami Ganjavi Library in the Faculty building. In addition to this, there are a number of other specialist library collections in Oxford that focus on Asian and Middle Eastern studies, such as:

The Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library includes the principal library for Egyptology and ancient Near Eastern Studies. The Khalili Research Centre is the University of Oxford's centre for research and teaching in the art and material culture of the Islamic societies of the Middle East and of non-Muslim members and neighbours.

Faculty resources

Students have access to the University's centrally provided electronic resources, the Faculty's IT Officer, and other bibliographic, archive or material sources as appropriate to the topic. There is a computing room for the use of graduate students in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, as well as a common room where tea and coffee are available and staff and students can meet.

Oxford colleges

Oxford’s colleges provide support, facilities and membership of a friendly and stimulating academic community. All colleges provide library and IT facilities, welfare support, and sports and social events. Although your academic studies will be directed by the faculty, colleges can be a valuable source of support. Please check the application guide for information about colleges.

How to apply

Improving access to graduate study

The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is taking part in initiatives to improve the selection procedure for graduate applications, to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly.

Socio-economic data (where it has been provided in the application form) will be used as part of an initiative to contextualise applications at the different stages of the selection process.

Apply

Make an application, check the course entry requirements and what supporting documents you need to submit

Application Guide

The University's Application Guide covers all aspects of completing the graduate application form and uploading your supporting documents

How-to-guides

Students and staff provide tips and advice on preparing your application for postgraduate study, such as how to write a personal statement

FAQs

Is this course for me?

When considering this course you should first see if one of our other Master's degrees covers your interests. Our Master's courses cover a wide range of subjects and languages, with the opportunity to take optional papers where they are available. You should then consider if you intend to go on to doctoral research after this course, if you aren't planning to do this then one of our other courses might be a better fit.

Can I submit one 4,000 word piece of written work instead of two 2,000 word pieces?

Not for our courses. We ask for two pieces which will show a range of ability rather than two highly similar pieces and you may find it useful to check the criteria your written work will be assessed for when choosing your samples. Your samples can be extracts from longer pieces of work and if this is the case, please indicate this on a cover page, or at the beginning of each piece of work.

Where can I find out about funding available for applicants?

Your best guide to funding opportunities will always be the University's admissions webpages. We recommend that you use the Fees, funding and scholarship search which is a useful tool for finding any funding that you may be eligible to apply for.

If you submit your application by the January deadline you will automatically be considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships. There’s no separate scholarship application process or extra supporting documentation required for funding. Based on the information supplied in your graduate application, you will be automatically considered for scholarships where you meet the eligibility criteria with most scholarships using academic merit and/or potential as the basis on which award decisions are made.

However, please note, in addition to submitting an application form for your chosen course, the scholarships listed on the following page also require an additional application to be considered for them.