SOAS and Alumni Events
SOAS hosts many events throughout the year, both in person and online. These range from music concerts and art exhibitions, to public lectures, conversations and discussions with leading academics and world figures from the worlds of politics, finance and more.
We also hold many special events for alumni and our worldwide alumni groups organise their own events and reunions.
This is a small selection of our upcoming events. For a full list, visit SOAS events and get involved.
October
1 October
SOAS Alumni reception in Toronto with Professor Adam Habib
6pm to 8pm
Fairmont Royal York, Toronto
Join Professor Habib as he reflects on the strategic vision to reimagine SOAS for the 21st century, and the continued drive to promote equitable partnerships with universities in the Global South.
This event will be an opportunity to network, connect with fellow SOAS alumni and find out more about how you can engage with SOAS locally and in London.
2 October
An address by Deputy President Paul Mashatile on South Africa's Presidency of the G20
Hosted by SOAS President Zeinab Badawi
6pm to 7.30pm
Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS Campus
SOAS University of London is honoured to welcome Deputy President Paul Mashatile, alumnus and current student, back to campus to give an address of South Africa’s Presidency of the G20. Hosted by SOAS President Zeinab Badawi and with an Introduction by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola.
9 October
Nasim-e Tarab: Classical Iranian Music
7:30pm to 9pm
Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre,
SOAS campus
Enjoy the Nasim-e Tarab Ensemble performing a suite of classical Iranian music composed and arranged by Dr Saeid Kordmafi from SOAS Department of Music.
The evening is a cross-cultural approach as part of the Maqam Beyond Borders project jointly organised by SOAS and Universita Ca Foscari in Venice, Italy.
10 October to 14 December
Strange Wonders: Jizi and pioneers of contemporary ink from China
10:30am to 5pm
SOAS Gallery, SOAS campus
Visit this exhibition of ink artworks by Chinese artist Jizi (1941-2015), which showcases a broad range of his works from across his lifetime.
The exhibition also features work by other leading figures from the China Avant-garde movement in the 1980s such as Gu Wenda and Xu Bing, along with contemporary works by UK-based artists Guo Le and Cai Yuan.
14 October
Daniela Bevilacqua – From Tapas to Modern Yoga
6pm to 7:30pm
Online webinar
Join SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies as they host Daniela Bevilacqua, author of From Tapas to Modern Yoga: Sādhus’ Understanding of Embodied Practices, in discussion with respondent, Raphaël Voix.
From Tapas to Modern Yoga analyses embodied practices of ascetics belonging to four religious orders historically associated with the practice of yoga and haṭha yoga. This focus on ascetics stems from the fact that yogic techniques probably developed in ascetic contexts, yet scholars have rarely focused their attention on non-international ascetic practitioners of yoga.
30 October
Fashioning Lesbianism: Seitō (1911-1916) and the global New Woman
5pm to 7pm
Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS campus
Join fashion historian Eleanor Medhurst for a discussion of Seitō (1911–1916), a ‘proto-feminist’ magazine, published in Tokyo by a group of five women and was contributed to by over one hundred.
Amidst increasing global interconnectivity, emerging theories of sexology and women’s rights movements, and lesbian fashion can be seen as an expression of freedom, difference, and defiance.
November
15 November
Depletion: the human costs of caring
5pm
SOAS campus
Join Professor Shirin M Rai FBA, Distinguished Research Professor of Politics and International Relations at SOAS in discussion about her book Depletion: the human costs of caring which talks about the work of caring for others and the human cost born by those performing care.
Different chapters examine the costs of commuting to work and for care, the value of unpaid work performed by women of different classes, the costs of household work performed by children, and the costs to communities when local economies are challenged by corporate interests.