Editing SOAS University of London (section)

==History==

===Origins===
The School of Oriental Studies was founded in 1916 at 2 [[Finsbury Circus]], London, the then premises of the [[London Institution]]. The school received its [[royal charter]] on 5 June 1916 and admitted its first students on 18 January 1917. The school was formally inaugurated a month later on 23 February 1917 by [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]]. Among those in attendance were [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Earl Curzon of Kedleston]], formerly [[Viceroy of India]], and other cabinet officials.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/centenary/the-soas-story/early-years-1917-36/ |title=Early years (1917-36) |publisher=SOAS, University of London |access-date=27 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711200829/http://www.soas.ac.uk/centenary/the-soas-story/early-years-1917-36/ |archive-date=11 July 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:London Institution at the Finsbury Circus.jpg|thumb|left|The former premises of the [[London Institution]] in [[Finsbury Circus]] which originally housed SOAS and was demolished soon after being sold in 1936.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Collections |first1=Special |title=SOAS Picture Archive: Finsbury Circus – Special Collections, SOAS Library |url=https://blogs.soas.ac.uk/archives/2016/09/19/soas-picture-archive-finsbury-circus/ |website=Special Collections, SOAS Library |access-date=29 April 2025}}</ref>]] 
The School of Oriental Studies was founded by the British state as an instrument to strengthen Britain's political, commercial, and military presence in Asia and Africa.<ref name="SOAS Imperial Training">{{cite book| title=The School of Oriental and African Studies: Imperial Training and the Expansion of Learning|last=Brown |first=Ian |date=21 July 2016 | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]], 2016| isbn = 9781107164420}}</ref> It would do so by providing instruction to colonial administrators ([[Colonial Service]] and [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Imperial Civil Service]]),<ref name="SOAS Imperial Training"/> commercial managers, and military officers, as well as to missionaries, doctors, and teachers, in the language of the part of Asia or Africa to which each was being posted, together with an authoritative introduction to the customs, religions, laws, and history of the people whom they were to govern or among whom they would be working.<ref name="SOAS Imperial Training"/>

The school's founding mission was to advance British scholarship, science, and commerce in Africa and Asia, and to provide London University with a rival to the Oriental schools of [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Berlin]], [[Saint Petersburg State University|Petrograd]], and [[Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales|Paris]].<ref>''Nature'', 1917, Vol. 99 (2470), pp. 8–9 [Peer Reviewed Journal].</ref> The school immediately became integral to training British administrators, colonial officials, and spies for overseas postings across the [[British Empire]]. Africa was added to the school's name in 1938.

===Second World War===
For a period in the mid-1930s, prior to moving to its current location at Thornhaugh Street, [[Bloomsbury]], the school was located at Vandon House, Vandon Street, London SW1, with the library located at [[Clarence House]]. Its move to new premises in Bloomsbury was held up by delays in construction and the half-completed building took a hit during the [[The Blitz|Blitz]] in September 1940. With the onset of the [[Second World War]], many University of London colleges were evacuated from London in 1939 and billeted on universities in the rest of the country.<ref>''University of London: An Illustrated History: 1836–1986'' By N. B. p. 255.</ref> The School was, on the Government's advice, transferred to [[Christ's College, Cambridge]].<ref>Nature, 1939, Vol. 144(3659), pp. 1006–1007.</ref>

In 1940, when it became apparent that a return to London was possible, the school returned to the city and was housed for some months in eleven rooms at Broadway Court, 8 [[Broadway, London]] SW1. In 1942, the [[War Office]] joined with the school to create a scheme for State Scholarships to be offered to select grammar and public-school boys with linguistic ability to train as military translators and interpreters in Chinese, Japanese, [[Persian language|Persian]], and Turkish. Lodged at [[Dulwich College]] in south London, the students became affectionately known as ''the Dulwich boys''.<ref>Sadao Ōba, ''The "Japanese" War: London University's WWII secret teaching programme'', p. 11,</ref> One of these students was [[Charles Dunn (Japanologist)|Charles Dunn]], who became a prominent Japanologist on the faculty of the SOAS and a recipient of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Charles Dunn: Master of the rising sun|author=O'Neill, P G.|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=13 September 1995|page= 16}}</ref> Others included [[Peter Parker (British businessman)|Sir Peter Parker]] and [[Ronald P. Dore|Ronald Dore]]. Subsequently, the School ran a series of courses in Japanese, both for translators and for interpreters.<ref>Peter Kornicki, ''Eavesdropping on the Emperor: Interrogators and Codebreakers in Britain's War with Japan'' (London: Hurst & Co., 2021), chapter 3.</ref>

===1945–present===
[[File:Colonial Students in Great Britain- Students at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, England, UK, 1946 D29302.jpg|thumb|left|A student from [[Northern Rhodesia]] at SOAS in 1946]]
In recognition of SOAS's role during the war, the 1946 Scarborough Commission (officially the "Commission of Enquiry into the Facilities for Oriental, Slavonic, East European and African Studies")<ref name=aim-scarb-comm>{{cite web |title=Commission of Enquiry into the Facilities for Oriental, Slavonic, East European and African Studies |url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=6029&inst_id=19&nv1=search&nv2= |website=aim25.ac.uk |access-date=12 August 2015 |year=1945 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073725/http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=6029&inst_id=19&nv1=search&nv2= |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> report recommended a major expansion in provision for the study of Asia and the school benefited greatly from the subsequent largesse.<ref name="independent">{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-sir-cyril-philips-523619.html | location=London | work=The Independent | date=19 January 2006 | access-date=17 July 2013 | first=M. E. | last=Yapp | title=Professor Sir Cyril Philips | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318105907/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-sir-cyril-philips-523619.html | archive-date=18 March 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref> The [[SOAS School of Law]] was established in 1947 with [[Seymour Gonne Vesey-FitzGerald]] as its first head. Growth however was curtailed by following years of economic austerity, and upon Sir [[Cyril Philips]] assuming the directorship in 1956, the school was in a vulnerable state. Over his 20-year stewardship, Phillips transformed the school, raising funds and broadening the school's remit.<ref name="independent" />

A college of the University of London, the School's fields include [[Law]], [[Social Sciences]], [[Humanities]], and [[Languages]] with special reference to Asia and Africa. The SOAS Library, located in the Philips Building, is the UK's national resource for materials relating to Asia and Africa and is the largest of its kind in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/dec/17/choosingadegree.highereducation/ |title=What's it like at SOAS |first=Matthew |last=Phillips |date=17 December 2005 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=17 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920175824/http://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/dec/17/choosingadegree.highereducation |archive-date=20 September 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The school has grown considerably over the past 30 years, from fewer than 1,000 students in the 1970s to more than 6,000 students today, nearly half of them postgraduates. SOAS is partnered with the [[Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales]] (INALCO) in [[Paris]] which is often considered the French equivalent of SOAS.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/IMG/pdf_100917_EC_Brochure_115x170_pdf_SG.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=6 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520085552/http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/IMG/pdf_100917_EC_Brochure_115x170_pdf_SG.pdf |archive-date=20 May 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2011, the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] approved changes to the school's charter allowing it to award degrees in its own name, following the trend set by fellow colleges the [[London School of Economics]], [[University College London]] and [[King's College London]]. All new students registered from September 2013 will qualify for a SOAS, University of London, award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/ReviewsAndReports/Documents/School%20of%20Oriental%20and%20African%20Studies/School-of-Oriental-and-African-Studies-University-of-London-IRENI-13.pdf|title=SOAS, University of London an Institutional Review by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education|date=23 May 2016|website=Qaa.ac.uk|access-date=20 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221061515/http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/ReviewsAndReports/Documents/School%20of%20Oriental%20and%20African%20Studies/School-of-Oriental-and-African-Studies-University-of-London-IRENI-13.pdf|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2012, a new visual identity for SOAS was launched to be used in print, digital media and around the campus. The SOAS tree symbol, first implemented in 1989, was redrawn and recoloured in gold, with the new symbol incorporating the leaves of ten trees, including the [[English Oak]] representing England; the [[Ficus religiosa|Bodhi]], [[Acer palmatum|Coral Bark Maple]], [[Teak]] representing Asia; the [[Brachystegia glaucescens|Mountain Acacia]], [[Dacryodes edulis|African Pear]], [[Lasiodiscus]] representing Africa; and the [[Phoenix dactylifera|Date Palm]], [[Pomegranate]] and [[Ghaf]] representing the Middle East.<ref>[http://www.soas.ac.uk/visualidentity/generalfaqs/ SOAS Visual Identity FAQs, SOAS, University of London] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427121118/http://www.soas.ac.uk/visualidentity/generalfaqs/ |date=27 April 2013 }}. Soas.ac.uk (12 October 2012). Retrieved 17 July 2013.</ref>

=== Student politics===

==== Israel and Palestine ====
SOAS has a student body of which many are committed [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionists]].The SOAS Student’s Union was the first Student Union to carry out a referendum, in 2005, to support the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement for goods stocked in the Student Union,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Learn more on the BDS Referendum at SOAS |url=https://soasunion.org/news/article/6013/BDS-Referendum-at-SOAS/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=soasunion.org}}</ref> and in 2015, the SOAS Student Union held a referendum in which its members voted to adopt the [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions]] directions more generally in the university. In 2022, students occupied the management section of the university for nine days, citing the university's investments in Israel amongst other reasons, which led to the university spending £200,000 in their eviction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-06 |title=SOAS: The School of Occupation and Apartheid Studies |url=https://soasspirit.co.uk/soas-the-school-of-occupation-and-apartheid-studies/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=SOAS Spirit |language=en}}</ref> After Israel's war in Gaza. university management suspended seven students protesting the university's investments in Israel and partnership with Haifa university, a university in Israel with three military colleges and a military base on campus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-06 |title=SOAS: The School of Occupation and Apartheid Studies |url=https://soasspirit.co.uk/soas-the-school-of-occupation-and-apartheid-studies/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=SOAS Spirit |language=en}}</ref> These students stated that the suspensions were arbitrary and a "targeted act of political repression", whereas the university replied that the students were a "threat to the SOAS community".<ref>{{Cite web |title=London university students say they were 'targeted' over Gaza rallies |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-soas-london-students-targeted-gaza-rallies |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref> In the same period, a lecturer reported that security had removed a poster with the Palestinian flag from her door. SOAS responded that the display of the Palestinian flag violated "safeguarding".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-11 |title=Policing Protest at SOAS: A Report on Recent Security Conduct |url=https://soasspirit.co.uk/policing-protest-at-soas-a-report-on-recent-security-conduct/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=SOAS Spirit |language=en}}</ref>

SOAS has an active Jewish Society which is explicitly anti-Zionist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jewish Society |url=https://soasunion.org/organisation/6673/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=soasunion.org}}</ref> In 2024, and in the context of university protest camps established around the world relating to Israel's war in Gaza, SOAS director Adam Habib hosted a high-level meeting about antisemitism on campus, extending an invite to various Jewish academics on campus, but excluding any representation from the Jewish Society. On April 19th, 2024, SOAS posted a job advert for a new Jewish Chaplain whose key responsibilities include supporting “the implementation of a Jewish Society within the Student Union,” therefore implicating that the existing Jewish Society would be replaced by a society organised from the top down.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dazed |date=2024-04-25 |title=The Jewish students fighting for Palestine |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/62461/1/meet-the-jewish-students-fighting-for-palestine-university-antisemitism |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref>

In December 2020 ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that SOAS refunded a student £15,000 in fees after he chose to abandon his studies as a result of the "toxic antisemitic environment" he felt had been allowed to develop on campus.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-29|title=Soas repay student's £15,000 fees over 'toxic antisemitic environment'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/29/soas-repay-students-15000-fees-over-toxic-antisemitic-environment|access-date=2021-01-24|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Examples of matters he considered anti-Semitic are, according to the Guardian report previously cited, that being pro-Israel was described as "Zionist", the student body's public support of the BDS movement, and that his proposal to write a thesis on perceived anti-Israel bias at the UN led to a response that, in his words, "he was covering up Israeli war crimes and was a white supremacist Nazi". He additionally stated that he had seen "anti-Semitic graffiti" on campus, but did not specify what this was, leaving it unclear as to whether or not he considered statements for example in support of the BDS movement as anti-Semitic. Leading Jewish figures at the university have disagreed with his assessment, with stating that they felt "much more comfortable being outwardly Jewish, visibly Jewish, or having people know that I'm Jewish around SOAS students than I am in pretty much any other context in this country.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dazed |date=2024-04-25 |title=The Jewish students fighting for Palestine |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/62461/1/meet-the-jewish-students-fighting-for-palestine-university-antisemitism |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref> Moreover, an opposition to Zionism has been upheld in the UK courts which SOAS falls under the jurisdiction of as "worthy of respect in a democratic society", and is not legally considered in itself an act of anti-Semitism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-31 |title=Miller -v- University of Bristol |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/miller-v-university-of-bristol/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |language=en-US}}</ref>