Subject Benchmark Statement: Area Studies
Publication date: 11 Apr 2024
Area Studies
Subject Benchmark Statement
Subject Benchmark Statements describe the nature of study and the academic standards expected of graduates in specific subject areas. They show what graduates might reasonably be expected to know, do and understand at the end of their studies.
Below you will find the full Subject Benchmark Statement for Area Studies. Alongside it, we have also published a summary designed to provide a short and accessible overview of the main Statement for students, employers and academics.
Subject Benchmark Statement: Area Studies - the basics
Publication date: 11 Apr 2024
About this subject
Area Studies is a broad term describing a wide range of approaches to studying the societies, cultures, histories and languages of specific areas or regions on the world. As a dynamic and interdisciplinary field, it offers rich ways of exploring the world in which we live.
Area Studies degrees are distinguished by the agility, breadth and flexibility of thinking, habits of learning and intellectual inquisitiveness they instil. This means that Area Studies graduates, while seeking to tackle global challenges, are highly attuned to issues of social justice and environmental responsibility. As critical thinkers who are self-aware, empathetic and resourceful, they possess the skills and capacities to make a comprehensive contribution to societal development, operating within and across global contexts.
Professor Nick Selby - Chair of the Advisory Group
Professor of American Literature, University of East Anglia
This new Statement, produced by experts from the various fields that sit together under the umbrella-term Area Studies, provides guidance for all Area Studies courses. It seeks to encourage a creativity and innovation in the teaching of Area Studies that matches the dynamism, variety and intellectual curiosity of the field as a whole. We focused on how Area Studies are expressly about making connections: between different areas and topics, between local topics and global issues, between the histories, cultures, societies and languages that constitute an area or region. At the heart of this is the emphasis on EDI, sustainability and accessibility that runs throughout the Statement. We want to emphasise both the vitality of Area Studies subjects and the ways in which their students learn to think across borders and develop empathetic skills.
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