Music and Africa and Black Diaspora

Music and the study of Africa and the Black diaspora form a combination at the School of Oriental and African Studies that is far more than the sum of its two parts. Music is one of the most important ways in which African and diasporic communities have preserved identity, expressed resistance, built community, and engaged in creative exchange across cultural and geographical boundaries. From West African musical traditions and their influence on the development of jazz, blues, gospel, and hip-hop, to contemporary African popular music and its relationship with globalisation, studying music alongside Africa and the Black diaspora opens up intellectual questions that neither discipline can fully address alone.

At SOAS in London, you will study music from a predominantly ethnomusicological perspective, examining musical traditions in their cultural, social, and historical contexts rather than treating them through the lens of the Western classical canon alone. You will develop skills in musical analysis, cultural interpretation, and fieldwork-based research, engaging with African, Caribbean, and diasporic musical forms alongside broader study of the peoples, histories, politics, and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora. The foundation year makes this programme accessible to students who need an additional year of preparation before entering the main degree, and it is studied full time over three years of the core programme.

Soas's distinctive expertise in African and Asian studies, its location in London, and its connections to global communities of scholars and practitioners create an unusually rich environment for this kind of interdisciplinary study. Graduates go on to careers in music journalism, cultural organisations, broadcasting, education, community arts, arts administration, international development, and academic research. Further study at postgraduate level in ethnomusicology, African studies, cultural studies, or diaspora studies is a natural route for those who wish to develop specialist expertise.