Concentration Requirements

Core Courses

All MAAS students are required to complete MAAS-501, Introduction to the Study of the Arab World, offered each fall semester. MAAS-501 does not count toward the concentration block.  Students writing a thesis must enroll in a three-credit thesis colloquium, which counts toward their concentration.

Concentration Course Requirements

Culture and Society

• MAAS-518, Culture and Society of the Arab World

Development

• MAAS-640, Development in the Arab World: Theories, Issues, and Institutions
• MAAS-564, Economics of the Middle East

History

• HIST-760, Arab Historiography
• One seminar in Middle East history

This concentration also requires that students demonstrate good chronological and geographical coverage of the Arab world.

Politics

• INAF-725, Comparative Politics of the Middle East
• INAF-619, Arab and Middle East International Politics
• MAAS-564, Economics of the Middle East (course does not count toward the concentration block)

This concentration also requires that students demonstrate good geographic coverage of the Arab world.

Women and Gender

• MAAS-532 Women and Gender in the Arab World (offered every two years);

Supporting Block

Courses in the supporting block should be chosen to round out a student's Arab studies education. Supporting block courses should reinforce knowledge gained in the main interest area, fill in gaps in the student's overall knowledge of the Arab world, and contribute to the ultimate professional goals of the individual. The student has considerable latitude in fashioning this portion of their course of study, which should enhance their preparation and goals and form a coherent academic whole. With careful course choices, MAAS students may pursue SFS certificates in International Business Diplomacy or Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies within their concentration or supporting blocks.