Law and Africa and Black Diaspora including year abroad

Law and Africa and Black Diaspora studies is an intellectually distinctive combination that brings two academic fields into productive dialogue. Law provides rigorous training in legal reasoning, doctrine, and the analysis of how rules govern social life and constrain power. Africa and Black Diaspora studies draws on history, literature, cultural studies, and political thought to examine the experiences, contributions, and intellectual traditions of African peoples and their diasporas globally, including the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and apartheid, and the contemporary political and cultural lives of African and Afro-descended communities across the world.

Together the two disciplines address questions of justice, rights, history, and power that are among the most important of our time.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, this four-year programme benefits from one of the world's leading institutions for the study of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. SOAS's particular expertise in African history, politics, literature, and law gives this combination exceptional depth, and the programme includes a foundation year, which provides additional academic preparation before the main degree begins, widening access to this demanding and important course of study. The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study in another country, potentially in Africa or another context relevant to the Black Diaspora, deepening your engagement with the communities and traditions you have been studying.

Graduates work in human rights organisations, international law, development agencies, journalism, advocacy, education, cultural organisations, and academic research. The combination of legal training and deep knowledge of African and diasporic cultures and histories is rare and valuable in professional contexts concerned with international justice, postcolonial governance, and the rights of African and Afro-descended communities globally. Postgraduate study in law, African studies, or related fields is a natural next step.