MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies

About the course

The MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies is a 21-month, taught master's course, offered jointly by the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. You will study this important region, with its rich history and its complex present-day societies, via an intensive language route or a non-language route, culminating in a substantial thesis.

The MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies is an exciting degree bringing together Oxford’s wealth of expertise on South Asia in a single programme. You will gain access to teaching and expert supervision across departments in the Social Sciences and Humanities Divisions. You will receive rigorous training in one of two tailored modules in research methods, and have the option to build in Hindi, Urdu, Classical Hindi/Hindavi, Persian or other language training.

You may choose to explore the social, economic and political achievements and challenges of the present-day states of South Asia, and the connections between the countries’ democratic and developmental successes and failures, or to range more broadly across the states and societies of the subcontinent over the past five hundred years.

Graduate destinations

The department aims to equip its graduates with a range of valuable skills which will enable them to compete successfully within a number of different careers - in the civil service and policy-making bodies in Britain, Europe and further afield, in non-governmental organisations concerned with development, in the charitable sector, in journalism, public and private sector research and consultancy, law and academia. The MPhil is a valuable preparation for students wishing to go on to doctoral research.

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the equivalent of the following UK qualifications or their equivalent: a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in any discipline. The admissions board will consider the entire application and any qualifications beyond the minimum bachelor's degree will be taken into account. These may include a master's degree or professional qualifications. For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.