Middle East Studies Minor

Middle East Studies

Through the Middle East Studies Minor students can develop an inter-connected understanding of diverse Middle Eastern cultures and societies, past and present, in regional and global contexts. We define the Middle East broadly to include the majority-Arabic-speaking states and territories from Morocco to the Persian Gulf, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia. Our inter-disciplinary approach will also help students to explore linguistic, literary, religious, and other sociocultural ties with Middle Eastern diasporas in Europe and the Americas, and with those regions in Sub-Saharan Africa where Arabic serves as language of literature and culture.

Requirements for the Middle East Studies Minor

The Middle East Studies Minor requires a total of 45 credits. No more than 24 credits may be from any one department. Outside of these 45 credits, students must also complete either Hebrew 204 or Arabic 205, or equivalent. Students interested in a possible minor in Middle East Studies are strongly encouraged to enroll in at least one of their two core courses early in their Carleton career.

45 credits completed as follows:

  • Core Courses: 12 credits from the following list, no credits from OCS programs may substitute. Once you have fulfilled the core requirement, further courses from among these five may serve as electives.
    • ARBC 185 The Creation of Classical Arabic Literature
    • CCST 100 Cross Cultural Perspectives on Israeli and Palestinian Identity
    • HIST 165 From Young Turks to Arab Revolutions: A Cultural History of the Modern Middle East
    • MELA 121 Middle East Perspectives in Israeli and Palestinian Literature and Film
    • POSC 245 Politics of the Middle East I (1918-67) (not offered in 2017-18)
    • RELG 122 Introduction to Islam
    • RELG 161 The Jewish Bible (not offered in 2017-18)
  • Supporting Courses: 30 credits from among the following two groups, with a minimum of 12 in each. Up to 12 credits from approved OCS programs may count toward this total (with MES director approval), but these must be from OCS courses with a content focus (not just language instruction). The following courses are expected to be taught at least once over the next four years. New electives will appear each year, depending on staffing, please check an updated list on our website (https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/mest/requirements/) each spring for new courses).
    Group 1, History, Social Sciences, Religion, and Archaeology (12 credit minimum)
    • HIST 131 Saints and Society in Late Antiquity (not offered in 2017-18)
    • HIST 133 Crisis, Creativity, and Transformation in Late Antiquity
    • HIST 203 Icons for All: Teaching an Exhibition
    • HIST 260 The Making of the Modern Middle East
    • HIST 280 African in the Arab World (not offered in 2017-18)
    • LING 130 Sociolinguistics of Semitic Languages
    • POSC 234 Israeli Politics
    • POSC 242 Political Economy of the Middle East
    • POSC 246 Politics of the Middle East II (1967-2011) (not offered in 2017-18)
    • POSC 282 Terrorism and Counterterrorism (not offered in 2017-18)
    • POSC 320 Authoritarianism and Democratization in the Middle East*
    • RELG 161 The Jewish Bible (not offered in 2017-18)
    • RELG 162 Jesus, the Bible, and Christian Beginnings (not offered in 2017-18)
    • RELG 215 Muslim Misfits: Islam and the Question of Orthodoxy
    • RELG 221 Judaism and Gender (not offered in 2017-18)
    • RELG 228 Martyrdom (not offered in 2017-18)
    • RELG 262 Islamic Africa
    • RELG 265 Religion and Violence: Hindus, Muslims, Jews (not offered in 2017-18)
    • RELG 268 The Perfumed Life: Islamic Sources of the Self
    • SOAN 151 Global Minnesota: An Anthropology of Our State
    • SOAN 161 Designing for Diversity: Anthropology and New Technologies (not offered in 2017-18)
    • SOAN 253 Oil, Sand, Water: Environmental Anthropology of the Middle East (not offered in 2017-18)
    • SOAN 263 Terrorism

    Group 2,     Literature, Culture, and the Arts. (12 credits minimum)
    • ARBC 144 Arabic Literature at War
    • ARBC 185 The Creation of Classical Arabic Literature
    • ARBC 206 Arabic in Cultural Context
    • ARBC 222 Music in the Middle East (not offered in 2017-18)
    • ARBC 387 The One Thousand and One Nights
    • ARTH 255 Islam in the Eyes of the West (not offered in 2017-18)
    • ARTH 256 Age of Empire: Ottomans of Turkey, Safavids of Iran and Mughals of India
    • ENGL 228 Encountering the Other: The Crusades (not offered in 2017-18)
    • FREN 350 Middle East and French Connection
  • Capstone MEST 395, Senior Colloquium, 3 credits

Religion A & I seminars not listed in the catalog that may be applied to the minor: RELG 100 Muhammad and RELG 100 Religion, Law and Religious Law.

Middle East Studies Courses

MEST 395 Middle East Studies Capstone The Middle East Studies capstone will allow students to reflect upon their experiences with Middle East studies, including on-campus and off-campus classwork, internships, and cross-cultural experiences, and to synthesize their work in the minor. The course will involve selected readings from a number of disciplinary perspectives and it will culminate in a final oral presentation on a project that brings together each student’s work in Middle East Studies at Carleton. Prerequisite: Middle East Studies minor. 3 credits; NE; Spring; Adeeb Khalid