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Middle Eastern Studies

Courses in Middle Eastern Studies

The Judaic and Near Eastern Studies department requires two introductory courses for the major. Middle Eastern Studies majors must complete History 130 and 131, or the approved equivalents as noted below. Students are encouraged to take these introductory courses at UMass, but they can be fulfilled with equivalent,courses offered through the Five College Consortium, (for an updated list, see your email) upon the academic advisor’s permission. Similarly, upper-level requirements can be fulfilled by taking a wide range of courses in the department, the Five Colleges and, with advance permission, approved study abroad programs.

Courses at Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges listed here, as well as others with majority Middle Eastern content, can count towards upper-level course requirements. When one of the required introductory courses is not offered in a given year at UMass, an equivalent course offered elsewhere in the Five College consortium may be substituted with advisor approval.

Institution

Course #

Course Description

Professor

Intro-Level MES History Courses (pre-modern)

UMass

HISTORY 130

Middle East History I

Anne Broadbridge

Intro-Level MES History Courses (contemporary)

UMass

HISTORY 131

Middle East History II

 

UMass

MIDEAST/SPP 151

Water, Oil, and Blood: The Middle East in Global Policy

David Mednicoff

Other 100-level MES Courses
UMass MIDEAST 105 Islam in the Middle East, 600-1800 CE: Religion? Civilization? Culture? or What? Malissa Taylor
UMass MIDEAST/JUDAIC 189 Culture and Immigration in Israel Olga Gershenson

Courses in MES Language

UMass

ARAB 101

Elementary Four-Skilled Arabic I

Nahla Khalil

UMass

ARAB 102

Elementary Four-Skilled Arabic II

Nahla Khalil

UMass

ARAB 126

Elementary Arabic I

Tayeb El-Hibri

UMass

ARAB 146

Elementary Arabic II

Tayeb El-Hibri

UMass

ARAB 201

Intermediate Four-Skilled Arabic I

Nahla Khalil

UMass

ARAB 226

Intermediate Arabic I

Tayeb El-Hibri

UMass

ARAB 202

Intermediate Four-Skilled Arabic II

Nahla Khalil

UMass

ARAB 246

Intermediate Arabic II

Tayeb El-Hibri

UMass ARAB 301

Four-Skilled Third-Year Arabic I

Nahla Khalil
UMass ARAB 302

Four-Skilled Third-Year Arabic II

Nahla Khalil
UMass ARAB 326

Advanced Arabic I

Tayeb El-Hibri
UMass ARAB 346 Advanced Arabic II

Tayeb El-Hibri

UMass

HEBREW 230

Intermediate Modern Hebrew I

Ofir Zussman

UMass

HEBREW 240

Intermediate Modern Hebrew II

Ofir Zussman

Amherst College

ARAB @ AMH 201

Second Year Arabic I

Mohamed Hassan, Olla Al-Shalchi

Amherst College

ARAB @ AMH 202

Second Year Arabic II

Mohamed Hassan, Olla Al-Shalchi

Mount Holyoke College

ASIA @ MNT 232

Second Year Arabic I

 

Mount Holyoke College

ASIA @ MNT 233

Second Year Arabic II

 

Smith College

ARAB @ SMI 200

Intermediate Arabic I

Brahim Oulbeid

Smith College

ARAB @ SMI 201

Intermediate Arabic II

Brahim Oulbeid

Smith College

JUD @ SMI 201

Readings in Modern Hebrew Language

 

Junior Year Writing

UMass MIDEAST 389 Topics in Middle Eastern Studies

Malissa Taylor

UMass HISTORY 450 Junior Year Writing: Islamic Movements in History

Anne Broadbridge

Integrative Experience

UMass HISTORY 394AI Age of the Crusades 

Anne Broadbridge

UMass

HISTORY 394TI

Mongol & Turkish Empires

Anne Broadbridge

UMass POLISCI 383 Energy Policy

Regine Spector

Satisfies 24 upper-level credit courses (approved 200-level or 300+ level) 

UMass

ANTHRO 350

Israel & Palestine

Michael Sugerman

UMass

ANTHRO 353

ST: Archaeology of Egypt & Nubia

Michael Sugerman

UMass

ANTHRO 498F

Archaeology, Survey, and Conservation

Michael Sugerman

UMass

ARTH 347

Islamic Art & Architecture I

 

UMass

ARTH 348

Islamic Art & Architecture II

 

UMass

COMPLIT 261H

Modern Arabic Literature

Nahla Khalil

UMass HISTORY 203 The Ancient Near East & Egypt

Timothy Hart

UMass

HISTORY 343H

Modern Middle East

 

UMass HISTORY 394AI Age of the Crusades (I.E. course)

Anne Broadbridge

UMass

HISTORY 394TI

Mongol & Turkish Empires (I.E. course)

Anne Broadbridge

UMass HISTORY 320 From Muhammad to the Caliphate: The Rise of Islam in the Late Antique Context 

Hadi Jorati

UMass HISTORY 415 *Islamic Movements in History

Anne Broadbridge

UMass

HISTORY 491MMH Mass Migrations in the Modern Middle East  
UMass LEGAL 393LG Law & Global Migration

 

UMass MIDEAST 220 The Middle East and the World: 1400-1800 Malissa Taylor
UMass MIDEAST 233 Sex, Bodies, & Gender in the Middle East Malissa Taylor
UMass MIDEAST 245 Environmental History of the Middle East Malissa Taylor
UMass MIDEAST 310 Classical Arabic Literature in Translation Hadi Jorati
UMass MIDEAST 313 Mythology of Ancient Persia Hadi Jorati
UMass MIDEAST/HISTORY 321 History of Shi'i Islam Hadi Jorati 
UMass MIDEAST/JUDAIC 326 Sustainability in Comparative Religious Perspective Aviva Ben-Ur
UMass MIDEAST/JUDAIC 327 Jewish Food in Historical Perspective  Aviva Ben-Ur
UMass MIDEAST/JUDAIC 328 Mediterranean Mosaic: Ancient Civilizations, Then and Now Aviva Ben-Ur
UMass MIDEAST/JUDAIC 344 Film & Society in Israel Olga Gershenson
UMass MIDEAST/JUDAIC 351 Crossing Borders in Israel & Palestine Rachel Green
UMass MIDEAST/JUDAIC 357 Israeli Television, Global Reach Olga Gershenson
UMass MIDEAST 361 Sufism: Islamic Mystical Tradition Malissa Taylor
UMass MIDEAST 362 Religion & Politics of the Early Modern Middle East Malissa Taylor

UMass

MIDEAST/JUDAIC 377

Israel & Palestine through Film and Pop-Culture

Olga Gershenson

UMass MIDEAST 390B Borderlands of Islam Malissa Taylor
UMass MIDEAST 391A Islamic Society & Culture in the Middle Ages Tayeb El-Hibri

UMass

MIDEAST 392P Islamic Political Thought: From Revelation to Revolution Andrew March
UMass MIDEAST 392T Medieval Arabic Travel Literature

Tayeb El-Hibri

UMass MIDEAST 420 Philosophy in the Islamic Civilization

Hadi Jorati

UMass MIDEAST 321 History of Shi'i Islam

Hadi Jorati

UMass MIDEAST 491C Classical Arabic Seminar: Arabic Historiography

Hadi Jorati

UMass MIDEAST 497B Israeli & Palestinian Cinema

Olga Gershenson

UMass POLISCI 255

United States Foreign Policy

 
UMass POLISCI 275

Global Political Thought 

 
UMass POLISCI 383 Energy Policy (I.E. course)

Regine Spector

UMass POLISCI 394AI Modern Islamic Political Thought  (I.E. course)

Andrew March 

Amherst College

ANTH @ AMH 31

Anthropology of Middle East

 

Amherst College

ARAB @ AMH 301

Third Year Arabic I

Mohamed Hassan

Amherst College

ARAB @ AMH 302

Third Year Arabic II

Mohamed Hassan, Olla Al-Shalchi

Amherst College

ARAB @ AMH 401

Fourth  Year Arabic: Media Arabic

Mohamed Hassan

Amherst College

ARAB @ AMH 402

Fourth  Year Arabic: Topics in Arabic Language & Culture

Mohamed Hassan

Amherst College

ASIA @ AMH 320

The Arts of Exchange: Cross-Cultural Interaction in the Islamic World, 1400-1800

Yael Rice

Amherst College

ASIA @ AMH 320

Religion/Empires/Secular State

Trent Maxey, Monica Ringer

Amherst College

ASIA @ AMH 355

Early Islam: Construction of an Historical Tradition

Monica Ringer

Amherst College

ASIA @ AMH 356

The Islamic Mystical Tradition

Tariq Jaffer

Amherst College

ASIA @ AMH 363

Women in the Middle East

Monica Ringer

Amherst College

HIST @ AMH 294

The History of Israel

Adi Gordon

Amherst College

HIST @ AMH 319

Religion/Empires/Secular State

Trent Maxey, Monica Ringer

Amherst College

HIST @ AMH 393

Early Islam: Construction of an Historical Tradition

Monica Ringer

Amherst College

HIST @ AMH 397

Women in the Middle East

Monica Ringer

Amherst College

HIST @ AMH 492

Inside Iran

 

Amherst College

RELG @ AMH 263

Ancient Israel

Susan Niditch

Amherst College

RELG @ AMH 284

Knowledge Triumphant in Classical Islam

Tariq Jaffer

Amherst College

RELG @ AMH 385

Islamic Mystic Tradition

Tariq Jaffer

Amherst College

SWAG @ AMH 362

Women in the Middle East

Monica Ringer

Hampshire College

CIS @ HAMP 271

Global War on Terror

Falguni Sheth

Hampshire College

CSI @ HAMP 230

Middle Eastern Economics

Omar Dahi

Mount Holyoke College

ASIA @ MNT 332

Third Year Arabic I

Heba Arafah

Mount Holyoke College

ASIA @ MNT 271

Arts of Islam: Book, Mosque, Palace

M. Davis

Mount Holyoke College

ARTH @ MNT 271

Arts of Islam: Book, Mosque, Palace

M. Davis

Mount Holyoke College

HIST @ MNT 273

The Inheritance of Iran: The Iranian World from Antiquity to the Middle Ages

M. Renda

Mount Holyoke College

INTL @ MNT 211

Middle East Politics

Hasan Kosebalaban

Mount Holyoke College

INTL @ MNT 222

U.S., Israel and the Arabs

Hasan Kosebalaban

Mount Holyoke College

INTL @ MNT 224

The United States and Iran

Sohail Hashmi

Mount Holyoke College

INTL @ MNT 322

International Politics of the Middle East

Sohail Hashmi

Mount Holyoke College

INTL @ MNT 337

Just War and Jihad: Comparative Ethos of War & Peace

Sohail Hashmi

Mount Holyoke College

INTL @ MNT 341

Political Islam

Sohail Hashmi

Mount Holyoke College

INTL @ MNT 342

Comparative Politics of North Africa

Sohail Hashmi

Mount Holyoke College

JWSH @ MNT 249

Encounters between Judaism and Other Religious Traditions: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism

L. Fine

Mount Holyoke College

JWSH @ MNT 270

Jewish Religious Art & Material Culture: From Ancient Israel to Contemporary

L. Fine

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 201

Introduction to the Qur'an

A. Steinfels

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 202

Introduction to Islam

The Department

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 205

Issues in Islamic History: Classical Islamic Civilization

A. Steinfels

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 207

Women & Gender in Islam

The Department

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 236

Early Christianity in Iraq and Iran

M. Penn

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 239

Love & Family  in Contemporary  Iranian Cinema

Victoria Gardner

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 249

Encounters between Judaism and Other Religious Traditions: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism

L. Fine

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 270

Jewish Religious Art & Material Culture: From Ancient Israel to Contemporary

L. Fine

Mount Holyoke College

RELG @ MNT 311

Sufism: The Mystic Path in Islam

A. Steinfels

Mount Holyoke College

WOMN @ MNT 210

Women & Gender in Islam

The Department

Smith College

ARAB @ SMI 300

Advanced Arabic I

John Weinert

Smith College

ARAB @ SMI 301

Advanced Arabic II

John Weinert

Smith College

ARAB @ SMI 401

Media Arabic

Mohammed Mack

Smith College

ARTH @ SMI 228

Islamic Art and Architecture

TBD

Smith College

FRN @ SMI 230

French Islam

Mohammed Mack

Smith College

FRN @ SMI 262

After Algeria: Revolution, Republic, and Race in Modern France

Jonathan Gosnell

Smith College

GOV @ SMI 224

Colloquium: Islam and Development

Bozena Welborne

Smith College

GOV @ SMI 248

The Arab-Israeli Dispute

Donna Robinson Divine

Smith College

GOV @ SMI 341

The Middle East in World Affairs

Bozena Welborne

Smith College

GOV @ SMI 347

North Africa in the International System

Greg White

Smith College

HST @ SMI 208

The Making of the Modern  Middle East

Greg White

Smith College

HIST @ SMI 209 C

COLQ: Aspects Middle East History

 

Smith College

HIST @ SMI 227

Topics: Crusade and Jihad: Religious Violence in the Islamo-Christian Tradition

Joshua Birk

Smith College

JWSH @ SMI 235

Perspectives on Israeli People

Justin Cammy

Smith College

JWSH @ SMI 236

Documentary Film, Contemporary Israel

Miriam Talmon-Bohm

Smith College

JWSH @ SMI 237

Forbidden Love: Cinema, Desire, Israel

Miriam Talmon-Bohm

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 213

Prophecy in Ancient Israel

Joel Kaminsky

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 221

Jewish Spirituality: Philosophers and Mystics

Lois Dubin

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 245

Islamic Tradition

Suleiman Mourad

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 246

Islaimc Thought & Modernity

Suleiman Mourad

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 248

COLQ: Topics in Modern Islam

Suleiman Mourad

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 345

Islamic Thought: Topic: The Making of Mohammed

Suleiman Mourad

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 345

Islamic Thought: Topic: The Qur'an

Suleiman Mourad

Smith College

RELG @ SMI 310

Seminar: Hebrew Bible: Topics: Sibling Rivalry: Israel & the Other in the Hebrew Bible

Joel Kaminsky

Smith College

SPAN @ SMI 235

Topics: Jewish Women of the Muslim Mediterranean

Ibtissam Bouachrine

Smith College

SPAN @ SMI 250

Sex and the Medieval City

Ibtissam Bouachrine

Smith College

SPAN @ SMI 332

SEM: The Middle Ages Today - Topics: Queer Andalusia & North Africa

Ibtissam Bouachrine

Islamic Movements in History will only fulfill the Junior Year Writing requirement when it is offered as HISTORY 450. HISTORY 415 is NOT a Junior Year Writing course and will not fulfill the JYW requirement.