MSt in Islamic Art and Architecture

About the course

The MSt in Islamic Art and Architecture is a one-year degree that aims to provide tailor-made courses in order to train you for research on the history of Islamic art and architecture (to circa 1900).

Before admission to this course, you will have demonstrated that you possess the necessary qualifications in Arabic or Persian or Ottoman Turkish to use primary sources in the original language for the study of Islamic art.

Supervision

You will have a supervisor who will guide your progress through the course and who will agree with you a programme of work and a timetable for each term of the course, including. general skills and research specific training, formal teaching and instruction, attendance at lectures and seminars, and regular meetings (normally at least twice per term) with your supervisor for detailed discussions on your progress.

Assessment

The final examination is taken at the end of the course and consists of four elements.

The first is a thesis of between 12,000 and 15,000 words in length (excluding bibliography), which should be equivalent to a substantial draft chapter or chapters of a proposed thesis for the MLitt or DPhil.

The second element is either a portfolio which introduces techniques to describe and analyse buildings and objects in a range of media (such as ceramics, epigraphy, manuscripts, metalwork, numismatics, and textiles) and which provide training with basic academic skills (such as presentation of work in a lecture or seminar, and writing museum display and book reviews) or a report or reports on practical work completed on an object or objects that will form part of a proposed thesis for the MLitt or the DPhil.

You will be expected to attend tutorials, classes, lectures and seminars regularly, and tutors will give you regular assignments of written work.

Graduate destinations

Many graduates have pursued doctoral study in Oxford and elsewhere, and/or successful careers at universities, museums, and in business-related fields worldwide. Examples of alumni’s current positions can be found on the Khalili Research Centre’s website.

As a minimum, applicants should normally 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 a course with a substantial component of either Islamic studies, Islamic history, Middle Eastern history, or anthropology of the Middle East, or language and language-related degrees in Arabic, Persian or Ottoman Turkish. For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.5 out of 4.0.