Specialist art short courses

Introduction

These courses, run by the Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art are open to all and aimed at students from a wide variety of backgrounds seeking to broaden their knowledge of specialised areas of Asian art. Short courses are ideal for those who do not have the opportunity to attend our full-time programme. They also serve as a taster to our longer, more immersive modules. The courses enable us to specialise in specific areas which are not covered in depth within the Postgraduate Diploma modules.

In person specialist art courses explore a single topic over an intensive four-day programme, including lectures by leading experts. Where appropriate we also include practising artists, musicians and object-study sessions.

Online specialist art courses offer eight weekly lectures by leading experts from academia, museums and the art market. Lectures are followed by in-depth discussions moderated by the course convenor.

In 2022/23 we are thrilled to offer a combination of weekly, online short courses as well as four-day, in-person courses, including:

Schedule

Course Dates Course Title

7 – 10 November 2022

Textile Arts of Asia

14 October – 9 December 2022

Masters of Modern Chinese Painting (online)

In association with Asia Week New York

27 January – 17 March 2023

Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa (online)

13 - 16 February 2023

Islamic Ceramics: Collection Histories

In association with the Oriental Ceramic Society

19 May - 7 July 2023 Devī - Gender & South Asia’s Fierce Goddesses (online)

30 May - 2 June 2023

A Life of Luxury: Persia, Mesopotamia, and Central Asia from Cyrus to Alexander

Coinciding with an upcoming British Museum exhibition

6 - 9 November 2023

Shahnameh: the Persian Epic of Kings

Before registering for any of our Specialist Art Short Courses, please be sure to read our terms and conditions below.

Registration terms and conditions

Scholarships

Due to a generous donation by a member of our alumni, we are also able to offer a small number of scholarship places on each specialist art short course this year.

These scholarships cover the full registration fee* and are intended for those in early in the early stages of their academic or professional development as well as mature and life-long learners.

Each course has its own application deadline. You can apply for as many of the courses as you wish, but each requires a separate application.

For more information please refer to our Specialist art short course scholarships (PDF) information pack.

To apply, please complete and return our PDF application form to: AsianArt@soas.ac.uk

*Please note that scholarships cover registration fees only. For in-person short courses, the associated costs of being present in London for four days, including travel to and from lectures and visits, will have to be covered by yourself.

Full-time modules

You may also be interested in our full-time modules, as part of the Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art:

03 October - 21 December 2022 Arts of India (runs annually)
09 January – 02 April 2023 Arts of China (runs annually)
24 April – 16 July 2023 Arts of Japan & Korea (biennially)
24 April – 16 July 2023 Arts of the Buddhist World (biennially)
24 April – 16 July 2023 Asia's Art Histories - online (annually)
April – July 2024 Arts of the Islamic World (biennially)
April – July 2024 Arts of Southeast Asia (biennially)