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Minor in Middle Eastern Studies

Curriculum

The Middle Eastern Studies minor is an interdisciplinary program that gives student the opportunity to study the Middle East in-depth by combining existing course offerings from a number of disciplines. The minor is available to students from a wide variety of majors, and is particularly valuable option for students majoring in International Studies, Political Science, Anthropology, or History. The minor consists of 18 credit hours, including three required upper-division courses in politics, cultures and history of the Middle East, and three elective courses with a focus on the Middle East. The list of available elective courses is expanding.

The minor is a part of a broader Middle Eastern Studies Program, funded by the King Fahd endowment. The program offers, on competitive basis, grants for Middle Eastern Studies students studying at UALR and for UALR faculty with interest in the Middle East. The program also supports a series of monthly lectures and events on the Middle East.

The minor requires 18 upper level hours to include:

and 9 hours of elective credit selected from courses with a Middle Eastern focus including the following courses:

  • POLS 3301 Global Terrorism
  • RELS 4380 Judaism in Contemporary Culture
  • ANTH 4325 Egyptology
  • GEOG 4300 Geography of the Middle East
  • POLS 3101 Model Arab League
  • ANTH4398 ST: Islam and Gender: How does Islam view the role of women and men? What are Islamic stances on sex and sexuality? Who wears head coverings and why? What is the status of tradition and modernity in Islam? How does dating work in Saudi Arabia? The popular media provides some answers to these questions, but reality is far more complex. This course will tackle the multiple perspectives and debates about gender across the Islamic world. We will avoid simplistic stereotypes to look at the diversity of real people’s thoughts and experiences. We explore the lives of men and women and the complicated choices they must make.

Students can transfer credits for other minor-related coursework, including study of Middle Eastern Languages abroad. Other elective courses may be substituted with prior consent of the program coordinator.

Updated 4.7.2012