Alphawood Foundation Chicago has renewed its support for opportunities for students from Southeast Asia studying art history at SOAS with a generous donation of £1.8 million.

Over 100 students have already benefitted from Alphawood’s transformational support over the past ten years through scholarships. This further grant will allow more students to come to SOAS and will allow us to create an online version of the Asian Art Postgraduate Diploma widening access to the course.

Previous diploma graduates have gone on to work in museums and galleries across the world and this further donation will give this wonderful opportunity to many other students who otherwise may not have been able to attend.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the UK’s largest funder of economic, social, behavioural and human data science, has awarded £1.25 million to SOAS to undertake impact activities based on SOAS’ cutting edge research on migration, displacement, minorities and marginalisation.

SOAS will use the funding to harness the power of its research in collaboration with the public and private sector to help create evidence-led policies, and to build more equitable ways of delivering change.

A major study on return of displaced people within and to South Sudan was recently completed by the SOAS-led Research and Evidence Facility. The study was commissioned by the REF and carried out by Samuel Hall – a social enterprise that helps design policy in migration and displacement. The study was funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

Dr Nassim Majidi of Samuel Hall led the research team who spoke with over 1,000 refugees in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, as well as internally displaced persons, local hosts and returnees to South Sudan about their experiences and how programmes can adapt to support their needs.

The report concluded that many displaced people are unable to permanently return to South Sudan due to poor security and inadequacy of resources and services in the areas of intended return. It suggested that returns should not take place until and unless they are voluntary, dignified and safe. The report made several recommendations to help address the crisis.

Read the full report

SOAS has appointed five new Distinguished Research Professors, who will help drive research aimed at addressing the global challenges of our time and revitalising our global partnerships.

The first five Distinguished Research Professors are Professor Ha-Joon Chang, Professor Olivette Otele, Professor Sanjay Srivastava, Professor Shirin M Rai, and Professor Dzodzi Tsikata.

Their academic expertise and research interests cover a wide range of areas. Professor Chang specialises in development, political and institutional economics, while Professor Otele is an expert in the links between history, memory and politics in relation to French and British colonialism. Professor Srivastava is an anthropologist whose focus is on South Asia and themes of urban culture, and Professor Rai undertakes interdisciplinary work in feminist political economy, gender and politics, and performance and politics. Professor Tsikata’s research covers the gendered political economy of agrarian change, labour relations and work conditions, and social policy and social development.

Read the full story about these exciting appointments here, here and here.

In March this year, we welcomed the new Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute as she took up her post. Dr Lina Khatib has joined SOAS from Chatham House, having previously been Director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre, and before that worked at Stanford University. Dr Khatib is an international authority on the policy, politics, security, and culture of the Middle East. Dr Khatib has also been appointed the MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies.

The SOAS Middle East Institute is a multi-disciplinary centre with over 100 academic members working on different aspects of the region in both teaching and research.

The MBI Foundation generously endowed the Chair over 20 years ago, and continue to support the SOAS Middle East Insitute, which was established in 2002.