Programs
Program in Middle East Studies
Department of Classics, Arabic Language Section
Undergraduate Concentration in Mediterranean/Middle East Area Studies

Degrees Offered
BA with concentration in Mediterranean/Middle East Studies through the Department of Classics; BA, MA, PhD possible in Islamic and Middle Eastern related topics through some departments

Middle East Languages
Arabic (elementary, intermediate)
Syriac (elementary, intermediate)
Aramaic (elementary, intermediate)
Biblical Hebrew (elementary, intermediate, advanced)
Egyptian hieroglyphs (elementary)

Courses
Anthropology
Contemporary Middle East

Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic
Highlights of Classical
Arabic Literature
Canon and Literature of Islam
Modern Arabic Literature
Middle Eastern Women Speak
Cross, Crescent, and Kublai Khan
Literature of the Palestinian Diaspora

Art History
Byzantine Art

Egyptology
Introduction to Egyptology
Hieroglyphs and History

Romance Languages & Literatures
Francophone Literature of the Maghreb

Government and International Studies
Cross-Cultural Encounters
Israeli Politics

History
Muslim Spain
Mediterranean World 400-1400
Islam and the West to the Present
Survey of Middle East History 3000 BC-Present
Medieval Studies Early Christianity
The World of Thomas Aquinas
Middle Ages II: Barbarian and Carolingian Europe (600-900)
Ancient and Medieval Medicine
Medieval Exegesis Seminar

Philosophy
Aquinas against the Averroists

Theology
Islam
Islam and the Muslim-Christian Encounter
Christianity and World Religions
Hebrew Scriptures
Christian Scriptures
The Holocaust
Comparative Near Eastern Cultures
Culture, Myth and Theology in the Ancient Near East
Philo of Alexandria and Christian Origins

Faculty
Asma Afsaruddin (Arabic language and literature; Islamic studies)
Joseph Amar (Arabic language and literature; Syriac)
Scott Appleby (history; religious fundamentalism)
Charles Barber (Byzantine art)
Olivia Remie Constable (history; Muslim Spain)
Fred Dallmayr (government and international studies)
Alan Dowty (government and international studies)
Patrick Gaffney (anthropology)
Lou Jordan (Librarian; Medieval Institute)
Gyula Klima (philosophy)
David Ladouceur (Egyptology and Classics)
Hindy Najman (Rabbinics)
Hugh Page (theology)
Michael Signer (Jewish studies)
Gregory Sterling (theology)

Scholarships/Graduate Support
Regular university financial aid is available. Special summer scholarships for undergraduates are available for the study of a Middle Eastern language (Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac). Graduate support is available through individual departments in various comparative fields and specializations. The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies provides fellowships to foreign students, including from the Middle East, for study in various cross-cultural studies programs.

Special Features
For the concentration in Mediterranean and Middle East Area Studies, undergraduates are required to fulfill a sequence of 12 credits (a minimum of four courses) which ensure an interdisciplinary understanding of the region. The university administers a semester long study abroad program at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem and the American University of Cairo. The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Center for Continuing Education occasionally sponsor speakers and colloquia on Middle Eastern issues. Recently, a Middle Eastern Faculty Cluster was formed to oversee the concentration in Middle East Studies and sponsor lectures, symposia, and special workshops pertaining to the Middle East and the study of Islam. The Cluster is a prelude to the establishment of a full-fledged Center for Middle Eastern Studies in the future.