Contemporary South Asian Studies

MSc in Contemporary India

Course Code | 003900 

Research on Contemporary India is thriving within the University, with specialists across the Social Sciences Division in the departments of International Development, Politics and International Relations, Sociology, the Faculty of Law, the Schools of Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Area Studies, the Environmental Change Institute, and the Humanities Division, in the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

The MSc in Contemporary India is designed to provide high-quality graduate research training in research methods, in the critical analysis of theory in the main social science disciplines and in interdisciplinary research addressed to India’s development achievements and persistent problems.

• Length of programme: Nine months
• Core and optional courses:
  • Core courses in Research Methods and in Themes in Contemporary India including International Relations, Politics, Political Economy, Culture, Human Development and Environment
  • There are no option courses
• Students are required to submit a 5,000-word critical theory essay and a 10,000-word dissertation
• Programme specification

The Indian Institute Library, has one of the largest collections of books on India in the country and it also houses an extensive collection of primary sources and official publications that will provide material for student dissertations.

Currently, the collection is temporarily accommodated between the Oriental Institute library and the Upper Reading Room of the Radcliffe Camera whilst the New Bodleian Library is refurbished.

In addition to the Indian Institute collection, the Bodleian Social Science Library and a number of departmental libraries - Modern History, Refugee Studies, Geography provision in the Radcliffe Science Library and Anthropology - have good and expanding holdings on India.

Students who complete the MSc degree to a sufficient standard may subsequently elect to seek admission to doctoral programmes in disciplinary departments, such as Development Studies, Politics and International Relations, Anthropology, Geography and the Environment or the Said Business School.

The MSc can serve as valuable stand-alone training for those wishing to specialise on India, either in preparation for an academic career or for work in the private sector, government, NGOs, multi-lateral and bi-lateral aid and development agencies, international organisations, international relations, publishing and the media.