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Major and Minor in Modern Middle East Studies
There has rarely been a time in which an in-depth understanding of the languages, cultures, history, and politics of the contemporary Middle East has been more important. This new interdisciplinary degree is designed to allow students to specialize in the Middle East as a region of the world and human experience by combining course work using both social scientific and humanistic approaches, underpinned by relevant language skills. Students will work with faculty committed to supporting interdisciplinary, applied, research-oriented advanced study. The major gives students opportunities to work on problems of politics, policy, history, ideology, social thought, economic development, and international relations.
The Major
The major will consist of at least twelve course units to be distributed as follows:
(1) Disciplinary distribution: A selection of three courses that must include both the Social Sciences (including history) and the Humanities – three course units.
(2) Language: Four course units in one Middle Eastern language (for example, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish), including at least two course units at the intermediate (second year) level or above.
(3) Regional coverage: Three course units. Students must take at least one of the list of foundational courses in Modern Middle Eastern Studies approved by the associated faculty (below). At least one course should be centered on a culture other than that associated with the language selected in (2). One or two of these may also be courses about the Middle East region in general.
(4) Two seminar courses requiring significant research papers.
The Honors Program
Honors in Modern Middle East Studies requires a thesis in addition to the basic requirements listed above. The honors thesis will be written over the course of the senior year under the supervision of an advisor selected from the Modern Middle East Studies standing faculty. Depending on the student's focus, this may involve the application of language skills acquired in the first three years. The thesis must receive a grade no lower than “A-” for the student to receive honors.
The Minor
At least six courses units on the Middle East, to be chosen from the published list of relevant courses, and including the following:
(1) Two courses from the Humanities
(2) Two courses from the Social Sciences
(3) Two elective courses (which may include two language courses in a single language)
Transfer Credit
For the Major Program up to four courses may be transferred from other institutions (including Study Abroad courses), subject to approval. For the Minor, two courses may be transferred. Language credits may only be transferred upon successful completion of a Penn-administered proficiency test.
Double Majors and Minors
For double majors the number of course units for the major remains at twelve. A maximum of four course units may be double-counted towards this major and another.
For double-minors the number of course units remains six. Two course units may be double-counted.
Advising
The advisor for the Major and Minor in Modern Middle East Studies is Professor Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Director of the Middle East Center and Associate Professor of History: fks@sas.upenn.edu. Affiliated faculty also play a vital role in advising students on coursework, independent studies, and the completion of an honors thesis.
Declaring a Major or a Minor
In order to declare the major or minor, fill up online this form, print it and return to the Middle East Center. For further information, please contact Jinhee Song: jinhees@sas.upenn.edu.
Courses That Qualify As Foundational Courses In Modern Middle Eastern Studies
(Check course availability on the Registrar's website. A preliminary list of all courses approved for the major and minor may be found here)
Art History
ARTH 217 – Islamic Civilization & Its Visual Culture
History
HIST 081 – The Modern Middle East Since 1800
HIST 371 – Africa and the Middle East
Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
NELC 102 – Introduction to the Middle East
Political Science
PSCI 211 – Politics in the Contemporary Middle East
PSCI 253 – International Relations of the Middle East
Religious Studies
RELS 145 – Introduction to Islamic Civilization