Asian and Middle Eastern Studies may be broadly defined as the application of one or more disciplines of the Humanities or Social Sciences to an area that includes Asia and Northern Africa. Historically, the College has been linked most strongly to South Asia: Max Müller was the earliest Professorial Fellow of All Souls, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Vice-President and later President of India, was the first to hold the Spalding Chair. Besides, T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote his Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the College. At present, the involvement of the College in the scholarly study of Asia and Africa is richer and more diverse than ever, with Fellows working in disciplines including history, philology, religious studies, anthropology, development studies, literature, political science, and musicology.

Current Fellows:

• Professor Diwakar Acharya
• Professor Thomas Hegghammer 
• Professor Ruth Harris
• Olana Peters
• Professor Alpa Shah
• Lucas Tse
• Dr Anne Wolf

Emeritus Fellows:

• Professor David Gellner
• Professor Alexis Sanderson
• Professor Stephen Smith