East Asian Studies and History of Art

East Asian studies and history of art is an interdisciplinary combination that brings together the study of China, Japan, Korea, and other East Asian cultures with the discipline of art history, creating a programme that is particularly rich for understanding the visual arts of East Asia within their cultural, historical, and religious contexts. At the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, the BA East Asian Studies and History of Art includes a foundation year, making it accessible to a wider range of students while maintaining the intellectual rigour for which SOAS is known.

Soas's particular expertise in the study of Asia and Africa means that the East Asian studies component can engage with the languages, histories, literatures, religions, and political systems of East Asia in exceptional depth. The history of art strand develops your ability to analyse and interpret visual works, situating them within their artistic traditions, patronage systems, and social and religious functions. East Asian visual culture, including Chinese painting, Japanese printmaking, ceramic traditions, Buddhist art, and contemporary art practice from across the region, is an area of particular richness that connects the two strands of the programme directly.

You will develop skills in close visual analysis, art historical research, and the cultural and linguistic contextualisation that makes understanding non-Western art possible at an advanced level.

Graduates of East Asian studies and history of art programmes move into careers in museums and galleries with Asian collections, the art market, cultural diplomacy, publishing, journalism, education, and the growing range of businesses and organisations working with or in East Asia. The international understanding and cultural depth that SOAS graduates carry is consistently valued by employers working across the region. Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in East Asian art history, art history and curatorship, area studies, or museum studies.

The combination of language knowledge, cultural understanding, and visual analytical skills the programme develops is a strong foundation for any career that engages seriously with East Asian culture and the arts.