South Asian Studies (MA) (60EC)
The MA South Asian Studies at Leiden University is designed for students with an interest in studying South Asia from a range of perspectives including its history, literature, art, media, culture, religions, philosophy and philology.
Part of
Why study South Asian Studies in Leiden University?
This one-year master's in South Asian Studies offers you a world-class qualification that combines a comparative and global approach with specialised and in-depth expertise. You will learn about the countries or regions of South Asia from the perspective of a wide range of complementary disciplines including history, literature, art history, media and cultural studies, religious studies, philosophy and philology.
Learn more about the study programme
Customise your degree
A flexible degree format allows you to tailor your degree to reflect your interests or specific career goals. Choose from a broad range of electives, select your own area of research for your MA thesis, and focus your studies on a language and a single country, or on a specific discipline and region.
Learn a language
Knowledge of an Asian language is not required for this master’s programme, You do have the option of taking an intensive Hindi, Sanskrit or Tibetan language courses. These courses are taken instead of an elective in both the first and second semesters.
Find out more about the career prospects
Sanskrit wall poem in Leiden
Due to the selected cookie settings, we cannot show this video here.
Watch the video on the original website orThere are hundreds of writing systems in the world. Some of these are commonly known, like our Latin alphabet, the Arabic script, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chinese characters. But what do you know about the Devanagari script? Check out Dr. Tijmen Pronk's introduction to the writing system of a poem in Sanskrit. The poem is part of the famous Leiden Wall Poems.
Learn from internationally-acclaimed scholars
Expertise on Asia at Leiden University is internationally renowned and spans the whole of Asia. Small classes give you direct and regular contact with your lecturers. You will learn from some of Europe's best scholars in the field, many of whom are at the leading edge of Asia-related research.
South Asian Studies degree
South Asian Studies at Leiden University is an accredited degree programme. After successful completion of this programme, you will receive a master’s degree in Asian Studies and the title Master of Arts (MA).
-
Take a break in the University's Asian Library -
Students studying in the University Library's Asian Library, which holds one of the largest collections on Indonesia worldwide and some of foremost collections on South and Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea -
The University Library's study spaces -
Group work in the University Library -
The University Library's central hall