MA Modern India
MA Modern India focuses on contemporary patterns of economic, political and social change in India. Core modules introduce students to the study of contemporary India in its historical context. The programme is organised around six core themes - Political Economy, Strategy and Security Studies, History, Society and Culture, Science and Environment Policy, Reporting India (Journalism and Non-Fiction Writing) and Urban Studies.*
The programme equips students to use the Indian experience to question assumptions within established disciplinary fields. Through a combination of core and optional modules the MA offers an approach to Indian studies which is distinct from conventional ‘area’ or ‘regional studies’ by connecting the study of India to both more general theoretical concerns and a more practical perspective. It explores India’s specificities – whether concerning India’s democratic politics, its security issues and dilemmas of secularism, its urban and public health problems, its varieties of cultural production and consumption, its economic growth and attempts to reduce poverty, its legal framework and social change, the role of its media and consequences of its science and technology policy choices – by connecting theory and practice at a concrete level.
MA students participate in the vibrant life of King's India Institute - including regular seminars, lectures and debates that bring together a range of academics and leaders from various fields such as Government, Business, Media and Cultural Industries. Through their degree, students develop intellectual and practical abilities to contribute to contemporary India's human development and international influence, and to the worldwide understanding of India's changing global role.
The India Institute is located in the heart of London, a city with unrivalled opportunities for the study of modern India, and one of the largest centres of Indian cultural and intellectual life outside Asia. At King's, students will be able to take advantage of the college's close relationships with universities, government and business in India – for instance, an exchange scheme with Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
* All themes may not be offered in any one year.
Programme structure
The programme is built around two core courses, which aim to develop students' awareness of, on the one hand, the working of political power and the changing social and economic order in India, and, on the other, the deep historical forces that shaped the Indian subcontinent both before and after independence and partition in 1947:
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Modern India I. Political Power and Social Order in Historical Perspective
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Modern India II. State, Society, and Economy since 1947
Students are encouraged to take optional modules within one of the six thematic strands that make up the programme. Students have the choice to take an internship module and language training in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi or other languages offered by the Modern Language Centre. They also have access to a range of external modules offered by departments across the Schools of Arts & Humanities and Social Science & Public Policy.
Further details of the programme structure are available on the Modules page and in the King's Graduate Prospectus.
Further information
If you have specific enquiries relating to the programme, please contact Dr Louise Tillin or Dr Kriti Kapila Admissions Tutors for the programme.
The programme is now open for applications, and a link to the online application form can be found in the Graduate Prospectus.