culture
Written by Leila Campagna, BA International Relations. Trends, consciously or not, have consistently based themselves on what is inaccessible to the lower classes. For instance, in the Victorian period it was fashionable, and a sign of high status, for women to be pallid and plump; this represented their ability to
culture
Written by Sylvie Topps, LLB Law. What happens if, during the first weekend of October, you take the tube right to the end of the Victoria line and walk for ten minutes through an industrial estate? Well, if you’re lucky enough, like me, to end up at Decolonise Fest,
Columns
I am delighted to welcome you into our little world that is Issue 37! After an arduous month of brainstorming, I present to you an edition I am immensely proud of, despite it being the first of the academic year (I know, quite presumptuous!). The ambitious team that we are,
International News
Written by Salsabeel Yasir, International News Editor, BA International Relations and History. October marks 81 years since the UN Charter came into force. The UN presents itself as the central institution for maintaining international peace and security. However, its ability to enforce that purpose has depended on five states with
Sports and Societies
Written by Omar Samer, BA Politics and International Relations. Andy Burnham has signalled plans to reverse the ban on drinking alcohol in football stands. Introduced in 1985 to combat inter-fan violence and hooliganism, the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol) Act prohibits drinking in sight of the pitch in England
Sport and Societies
Written by Yunus Samer, BA Politics and International Relations. For decades, women's football has been overlooked, but this is about to change. The London City Lionesses are the first fully independent women's football club and are currently stealing the spotlight through record signings, breathtaking performances, and
Sport and Societies
Written by Kaityln Prince, Photographer, BA International Relations and Politics. SOAS students are known for their expertise in arts, humanities, social sciences, languages, and societies, covering everything from Chinese character culture to Marxism. They're not exactly known for their sports. SOAS lacks the facilities and sporting budgets of
Your Independent Student Newspaper
Written by Uma Bahl, BA Anthropology and History. Supermarkets are stocked with pumpkins, costume plans are being discussed between friends, and all of a sudden the walk back from campus is getting dark by teatime. That can mean only one thing: Halloween has arrived. Luckily, horror fans are eating well
Written by Zara Murawska, BA Politics and World Philosophies. In a city where a coffee sets you back £5, and student loans are spent far too quickly, finding free ways to experience London's culture can feel impossible. It's not just rising costs that have made these
Written by Siddhant Pawar, Sport & Societies Editor, BSc Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Sydney Sweeney returned to the headlines on September 9 with the first national advertisement campaign for Novig, a sports-prediction market and trading application. After an already tumultuous campaign for American Eagle echoing eugenics with its ‘genes’
Written by Anon Yu Henriksen, Senior Staff Writer, BA International Relations and Korean. At ‘留白 - Beyond Emptiness’ at the SOAS Gallery, Hong Kong artist and architect Raymond Fung exhibits ink paintings alongside architectural designs to draw connections between his two fields. "[…] white spaces are not dead blanks, but meaningful
Written by Hyunseok Henry Ryu, Staff Writer, LLM Master of Law. Food is one of the constants in our lives, influencing culture through its very creation. The National Museum of Korea’s current exhibition, ‘The Korean Table: Food, Nature and Life,’ perfectly encapsulates the deeper meaning of food. The exhibition
Written by Silvia Battaglia, MA Anthropology of the Environment and Sustainability. Perhaps there is nothing more satisfying than finally seeing an artist face the consequences of their incomprehensible actions. For megastar Ed Sheeran, who is facing international backlash after dropping Macklemore from his tour over the rapper’s support for
Written by Iman Hassan, BA Politics and International Relations. Parishae Adnan closed the Flying Solo section at New York Fashion Week with her collection, Second Skin, which reconstructed old menswear and deadstock for the female body. What stayed with me was the idea of taking something inherited and reshaping it
Written by Yusra Choudhry, MA Cultural Studies. This summer I turned 30, and between the cake and candles, I took stock of what had shaped my twenties. Many of the lessons came not just from experience, but also from the films, books, and screens that had kept me company along
Written by Kojo Kamara, MA Medical Anthropology and Mental Health. I came to SOAS carrying several versions of myself. Actor, writer, musician. British, with Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean heritage. I had spent years telling stories, playing characters, and working in an industry where uncertainty is part of the job description.
Written by Kiran Thomas, BA History and Gabriel Mullins, BA History. The recent closure of the Dover Castle, a venerated KCL bar, forms part of a trend - student bars at Central London’s universities are declining. They are losing money, enjoying less business, and often receiving less support from the
Written by Taliah Quow, Digital Editor, BA Linguistics and Japanese. A rural, Western Massachusetts COVID-conscious lesbian bar eased its mask restrictions for one night a week. The online responses went far beyond criticism: the bar received accusations of contributing to eugenics. As outlandish as the policy change may seem,
Written by Chinda Thoumakesone, MSc Global Development with Placement Year. I think back to a night in 2022, walking home from a Philosophy society meeting during my undergraduate degree. The session had been about whether the university curriculum should consist almost entirely of white, heterosexual, male philosophers. It was presented