Middle East Pluralities

The study of the Middle East has become a lens through which one can begin to understand the world at large. Over the last 35 years, international events like the Arab Spring and Iran’s Green Movement, have incited increased inquiry into this region’s history, religion, politics, international relations, sociology, geography, economics, culture, and literature. Issues like the economic might and political muscle of the Gulf States, the implications of the rise of political and radical Islam in the world, and growing Islamophobia in the West require scholarly investigation. Within this major, you will use the social sciences and the humanities to observe and engage with the broad Middle East, as a region composed of countries with important distinctions and similarities, which has had a significant impact across the globe.  

The educational goals for this major are as follows:

• You will develop competency with the historical, political, religious, economic, geographic, and cultural landscape of the Middle East.
• You will acquire the skills necessary to investigate, analyze, and deconstruct the role and impact of Middle East political, economic, and cultural developments on the globe.
• You will become effective communicator of Middle Eastern modern history, causes, issues, and cultures to the world.
• You will gain a working level of fluency in Arabic.

In each of your courses, you will be introduced to the actors and factors that make up the countries in the Middle East, as well as the interaction of each country with one another and with the international community. Instead of merely picking courses from any discipline that might slightly relate to the Middle East, we want to help you create a multidisciplinary foundation for your understanding of the region that includes language acquisition, since we believe that understanding the Middle East requires knowledge of a language of the region. 

With every single one of our majors, you’ll find a carefully curated medley of core courses and electives, which will provide you with the tools you need to establish an unshakeable foundation in the principles and concepts fundamental to your growth within your disciplines of choice. Many majors also enable you to specialize further within the broader area of study.

BROWSE ALL MAJORS AND REQUIREMENTS

The Middle East Pluralities core courses, which you must take as part of the major requirements, will provide you with the tools you’ll need to ground your present and future studies. Your introduction to the fundamentals of Middle East Pluralities will help pave the way for your successful completion of other Middle East Pluralities courses.