Welcome to the Faculty of Oriental Studies
Welcome to the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford. Among subjects in the humanities, Oriental Studies is unique in introducing students to civilisations that are radically different from the Western ones that form the basis of the curriculum in most British schools and colleges. The courses present both the major traditions of the regions studied and, in most cases, their modern developments. All courses include language, literature, history and culture, and there are a wide range of options in such fields as art and archaeology, history, literature, philosophy, religion and modern social studies.The following are the principal areas of study:
Islamic World, Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Eastern Christianity, Egyptology and Ancient Near East, South and Inner Asia and East Asian Studies.
In additon to the above subject areas, a major benefaction from the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai has fully endowed a new Chair of Buddhist Studies at Oxford. For more information please see the Buddhist Studies section of this website.
Oriental Studies has a long history in Oxford. The Bodleian and other libraries have acquired magnificent collections. The Oriental Institute, Institute for Chinese Studies, Bodleian Japanese and Indian Institute Libraries offer loan collections in their respective fields. Adjacent to the Oriental Institute is the Ashmolean Museum, which houses superb collections. The Sackler Library includes the principal library for Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies.
Most courses offer the opportunity to spend time in the region being studied. The Arabic course includes a year in the Middle East, the Persian and Turkish courses a year in Iran or Turkey respectively, the Hebrew course an optional year in Israel, and the Chinese course includes four months on a course of language study in East Asia. Students of Japanese spend the third term of their first year in Japan and may also spend an optional further year there between years 3 and 4 of the course, taking advantage of work placements and opportunities for further study at Japanese universities.
Further information about individual subjects can be found on this website within the relevant subject areas, accessed via the navigation bar above the banner picture at the top of each page.
Call for Expressions of Interest: Jill Hart Fund for Indo-Iranian Philology for applying to the Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship scheme
The Faculties of Oriental Studies and of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics propose to use some of the income from the Jill Hart Fund to provide the matching funding for an application in the subject of Indo-Iranian Philology. They now invite expressions of interest from potential applicants in the relevant field who wish to be considered for the faculty’s support in applying to the Leverhulme scheme.
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Oxford at Princeton
2009-10
Three members of the Faculty of Oriental Studies have been elected members of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton for the 2009-2010 academic year. They are John Baines, Judith Pfeiffer, and Christopher Minkowski.
Of the forty-four members elected to the School this year, only eight are academics from the United Kingdom. Of those, only the three members of the Oriental Studies Faculty are from Oxford.
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