The UA Little Rock Middle Eastern Studies Program offers a series of courses on the Middle East and is centered on an academic minor in Middle Eastern Studies.
The Middle Eastern Studies minor is an interdisciplinary program that allows students to study the Middle East in-depth by combining existing course offerings from several disciplines. The minor is available to students from a wide variety of majors and is a 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 part of a broader Middle Eastern Studies Program, funded by the King Fahd endowment. The program offers, on a competitive basis, grants for Middle Eastern Studies students studying at UA Little Rock and for UA Little Rock faculty with an 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 including:
- POLS 4375 – Politics of the Middle East
- POLS 5375 – Politics of the Middle East
- ANTH 3319 – Cultures of the Middle East
- HIST 3336 – Islam and the Modern Middle East or HIST 4390 – Special Topics in History
The minor also requires 9 hours of elective credit selected from courses with a Middle Eastern focus, including the following courses:
- POLS 3301 – Seminar in Political Science
- RELS 3370 – Judaism
- RELS 3336 – Islam
- ANTH 4325 – Egyptology
- GEOG 4200 – Special Topics
- POLS 3101 – Seminar in Political Science
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.
If you want to declare a Middle Eastern Studies minor, you must do so in your home (major) department. However, it is highly recommended that you contact one of the Middle Eastern Studies faculty members to discuss the minor and the other exciting opportunities available through the our program.
*Please note that these classes are not offered every single semester, so contact the Middle Eastern Studies faculty to find out about upcoming course schedules.