School of Oriental and African Studies

London

Is it true that SOAS is the only university that still has a Marxist Economics dept.?

This claim comes from Paul Collier's book The Bottom Billion. Is there any truth in this claim? I was tempted to apply there for Economics and Geography, but after reading this I was a bit put off. Plus in the SOAS prospectus it said that this course was actually physically taught at Kings College London, and I thought that was a bit strange too. Why would they teach a course at another university? :confused:

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Reply 1

Tarutaru

Because SOAS is so crap that it needs to rely on "The University of London" or the names of other colleges to attract students.

In contrast, you will never hear LSE and UCL and Imperial stduents say they are students of "the university of london".

School of Oriental and African Studies

London

Reply 2

theths

Ha, I read that.
It's still really good according to lots of people, just very biased/focused on its particular specialities
so it depends on what your point of view is i guess

i'm guessing that economics comes second to its linguistics and culture courses, which is why they don't spare it the faculty space

(ignore the haterz)

Reply 3

therealOG

Original post by Tarutaru

Woaah, you seem to have got your hate on. Did you have a bad experience there? Or are you talking out of your butt? Plus SOAS is good at what it specialises on, and it's rated highly for research.

Reply 4

faber niger

It doesn't have a Marxist Economics department (unless it's top secret and hidden from its website), however, I should imagine that most economics departments would have at least one academic who specialises in this area, given its significance to world affairs and intellectual/economic history.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 5

mummyperson

Original post by Tarutaru

All medical students get a University of London degree regardless so what you say simply isn't accurate.
Why do you have such a downer on SOAS as a matter of interest? Judging by your other posts you don't even go there.
My father lectured there many years ago which is why I shall defend it- I have many happy memories sitting on its steps as a child and listening to discussions on the folk dances of remote tribes or the relevance of Sanskrit grammar to modern society or the importance of the economy of Asia. Fascinating place. Lovely buildings. Not such a terrible drinking culture as UCL. I would recommend it. Excellent world class Law and History depts.

Reply 6

Diaz89

I know people who study Economics and the answer you would normally get is err...... no

This whole Marxist/Leftist thing is a bit overstated, maybe it was true in the past, not any-more though.

Reply 7

Tarutaru

Original post by therealOG

Woaah, you seem to have got your hate on. Did you have a bad experience there? Or are you talking out of your butt? Plus SOAS is good at what it specialises on, and it's rated highly for research.

According to what evidence you believe SOAS is rated highly for research O_o

The strange department does not even have any research results for RAE 2008. And if you look at the department's website, it is citing the 2001 RAE results.

Reply 8

Enoch.

Only Geography is taught at another site.

Reply 9

Enoch.

Original post by Tarutaru

I though you had already learned your lesson, shall I copy and paste what it was said to you on the other thread so that you can learn?

Reply 10

Tarutaru

Oh, my god... I don't want to waste my times on SOAS idiots any more.

Reply 11

Enoch.

Original post by Tarutaru

Oh, my god... I don't want to waste my times on SOAS idiots any more.

I'm not even at SOAS you d****head, and quote me next time when trying to insult me will ya? :wink:

Reply 12

(ij)

Looking at the department website and going through the professors' publications, I just learned that there really are journals called "Review of Radical Political Economy", "Marxism", Historical Materialism", "Feminist Economics", and so on. Just an indication...

Reply 13

therealOG

Original post by (ij)

You spelt "appreciate" wrong in you signature :tongue:

Reply 14

Kitty Pimms

It's considered a leftist university so I imagine it would attract more lefty or radical academics. I doubt it would be a 'Marxist Department', though, if only because I've yet to come across any department anywhere where all the staff sing from the same hymn sheet. It would be boring if they did.

Reply 15

JoeJBB

Original post by therealOG

Easy bit first - Geography is taught at KCL (SOAS doesn't teach geog), but the Economics is at SOAS. So basically, you'd be doing half at KCL, half at SOAS.

Marxist Economics department; I don't really know what that means :s-smilie:

A department doesn't have it's own identity in that sense. While it's true that lots of academics in the Economics department are Marxists or quite far left, plenty aren't. Furthermore, I don't see why that would put you off. Almost every academic has some beliefs of their own. With the teaching, however, you'll learn about loads of economic theories.

Original post by Tarutaru

Oh, my god... I don't want to waste my times on SOAS idiots any more.

Good. Go away.

Reply 16

JoeJBB

Original post by (ij)

The editor of Historical Materialism is a Spanish guy who is probably one of the best tutors ever :cool:

He's in the politics department, but mainly based at SSEES.

Reply 17

(ij)

Original post by therealOG

You spelt "appreciate" wrong in you signature :tongue:

To be honest, I realized that long time ago, but as of now I just could not find where to change it. :frown:

Anyway, reps to you!

Reply 18

therealOG

Original post by (ij)

To be honest, I realized that long time ago, but as of now I just could not find where to change it. :frown:

Anyway, reps to you!

Click on "Settings" on the bar in the top right hand corner. Then click on the "Settings" drop down menu in the top middle of the screen, and click "Edit Signature".

Reply 19

safevault

Original post by therealOG

I've also applied for this course - where did you hear that it was all taught at kings? I was under the impression that the Economics was taught at SOAS and the Geography at Kings?