University of Maryland College Park
Degrees and Programs in Middle East Studies
Middle East Studies Options for Undergraduates
Department or Program
Inter-Departmental
Minor in Middle East Studies
(For advising, please contact Erik Christiansen at mideaststudies@gmail.com)
Arabic Language and Literature Program (ARAB), in School of Languages
Major and Minor planned
Communication Department (COMM)
Courses
Government and Politics Department (GVPT)
Courses
Hebrew Language and Literature (HEBR), in School of Languages
Minor pending
History Department (HIST)
Concentration in Middle East History
Concentration in Jewish History
Departmental and University honors programs
Jewish Studies Program (JWST)
Major and Minor in Jewish Studies
JWST and University honors programs
Persian Studies (PERS), in School of Languages
Major and Minor in Persian Studies planned
Philosophy Department (PHIL) and Art History Department (ARTH) periodically offer
courses with Middle Eastern and/or Islamic content
UMCP
Fall 2008 Courses in Middle Eastern Studies
ARAB104 Elementary Modern Standard Arabic I-II; (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Not open to fluent/native speakers of Arabic. An intensive course focusing on developing functional proficiency in the standard Arabic language, both written and formal spoken. Begins with script and phonology, and develops into a limited range of situation-based texts and topics that build vocabulary, grammar, general communicative competence and cultural awareness.
ARAB106 Elementary Egyptian Colloquial Arabic I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Not open to fluent/native speakers of Arabic. Basic knowledge of Arabic script required. Introduction to the widely spread spoken variety of Egyptian Arabic, covering the basic range of communicative and cultural situations where Modern Standard Arabic is not used. {Can be taken concurrently with an MSA course}. Emphasis is on developing the learners' listening and speaking skills in Egyptian Arabic, since colloquial Arabic dialects are mainly used in speech.
ARAB204 Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic I; (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: ARAB105. Covers topics related to contemporary Arabic society, literature and culture in standard written and formal spoken Arabic. Acquisition of more complex grammatical structures, expanding vocabulary, and reading, to develop a better understanding of the formal aspects of using MSA.
ARAB206 Elementary Egyptian Colloquial Arabic III; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: ARAB107 or permission of department. Develops listening and speaking skills in Egyptian Arabic. Covers family, school, shopping, and social interaction. Some reading in Arabic.
ARAB304 Advanced Modern Standard Arabic I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: ARAB205 or permission of department. Not open to students who have completed ARAB301. Formerly ARAB301. Advanced grammar, reading, writing, speaking in Arabic; study of contemporary Arabic society, politics, and culture.
COMM468 Seminar in Mediated Communication: Arab Media; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
FOLA138V (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language I: Armenian I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA139V (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language II: Elementary Armenian II; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA 138V or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA148V (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language III: Elementary Armenian III; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA139V or 158V or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program.
FOLA149V (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language IV: Intermediate Armenian; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Directed Study of a Foreige Language IV. Prerequisite: FOLA148V or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA158V (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language (Intensive) I: Elementary Armenian I (Intensive); (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA159V (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language (Intensive) II: Intermediate Armenian II; (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA158V, FOLA139V or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA138R (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language I: Turkish I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA139R (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language II: Elementary Turkish II; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA 138R or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA148R (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language III: Turkish III; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA 139R or FOLA 158R or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA149R (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language IV: Intermediate Turkish; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA148R or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA158R (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language (Intensive) I: Elementary Turkish I (Intensive); (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA159R (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language (Intensive) II: Intermediate Turkish; (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA158R or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA158X (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language (Intensive) I: Elementary Urdu (Intensive); (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Students may register for FOLA 158X or 158P, not both. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
FOLA159X (PermReq) Directed Study of a Foreign Language (Intensive) II: Intermediate Urdu; (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: FOLA 158X or 158P or 139P or consent of program director. Please refer to the note describing the Self-Instructional Program (located above FOLA 138A).
GVPT409V Seminar in International Relations and World Politics: Sectarianism in the Middle East; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
For GVPT majors only. All other majors will be placed on the holdfile.
HEBR111 Elementary Hebrew I; (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Modern Israeli Hebrew. Emphasis on conversation. Study of linguistic structure and development of audio-lingual, writing and reading ability. For beginners. This course meets six hours per week for 6 credits.
HEBR211 Intermediate Hebrew I; (6 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: HEBR112 or equivalent. Study of linguistic structure, further development of audio-lingual, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Reading of texts and newspapers designed to give some knowledge of Hebrew life, thought and culture. Individual testing required for placement first week of class.
HEBR313 Conversation and Composition I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: HEBR212 or equivalent. A practical language course recommended for all students continuing with Hebrew. Review of grammar and composition. Selected readings. Oral and written exercises.
HEBR381 Introduction to Hebrew Cultural Studies; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: HEBR314 or permission of instructor. Also offered as JWST381. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HEBR381 or JWST381. Critical study of Israeli culture with emphasis on literature, film, and art as sites of struggle over political and social meaning during times of cultural transformation. Focus on the historical development of Israeli identity and gender, in particular within the military and Zionist youth movements. Taught in Hebrew.
HIST120 Islamic Civilization; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
Introduction to society and culture in the Middle East since the advent of Islam: as a personal and communal faith; as artistic and literary highlights of intellectual and cultural life; and as the interplay between politics and religion under the major Islamic regimes.
HIST282 History of the Jewish People I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
Also offered as JWST234. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST282 or JWST234. Political, economic, social and cultural development within Jewish history from the Biblical period to the late Middle Ages. Special attention to the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and its subsequent encounter with medieval Christian and Islamic civilizations.
HIST282H History of the Jewish People I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
Also offered as JWST234. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST282 or JWST234.
HIST329C Special Topics in History: From Caliphs to Sultans: Medieval Islamic States; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
HIST376 History of Zionism and the State of Israel; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Also offered as JWST342. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: HIST376 or JWST342. Ideological and political factors leading to the establishment of a secular Jewish state in 1948; Zionist thought of Herzl, Ahad Ha-am, the socialist and religious Zionists, and the revisionists; diplomatic activities; Arab-Israel conflict; post-1948 Israeli society.
HIST491 History of the Ottoman Empire; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
Survey of the Ottoman Turkish Empire from 1300 A.D. to its collapse during World War I. Emphasis on the empire's social and political institutions and its expansion into Europe, the Arab East and North Africa.
HONR268J Honors Seminar: Religion and Progress: Islamic Science, Politics, and Economics; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG. CORE Humanities (HO) Course. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
JWST234 History of the Jewish People I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
Also offered as HIST282. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: JWST234 or HIST282. Political, economic, social, and cultural development within Jewish history from the Biblical period to the late Middle Ages. Special attention to the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and its subsequent encounter with medieval Christian and Islamic civilizations.
JWST234H History of the Jewish People I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
Also offered as HIST282. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: JWST234 or HIST282.
JWST342 History of Zionism and the State of Israel; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Also offered as HIST376. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: JWST342 or HIST376. Ideological and political factors leading to the establishment of a secular Jewish state in 1948; Zionist thought of Herzl, Ahad Haam, the socialist and religious Zionists, and the revisionists; diplomatic activities; Arab-Israel conflict; post-1948 Israeli society.
JWST459A Readings in Medieval Hebrew; (3-4 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: HEBR313 or permission of instructor. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Not open to students who have completed JWST466. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: JWST459_ or JWST466. Formerly JWST466.
PERS101 Elementary Persian I; (4 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Not open to native/fluent speakers of Persian. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: PERS101 or FOLA138K. Formerly FOLA138K. Introduction to the alphabet, pronunciation patterns, greetings, basic structures, and other fundamentals, with emphasis on oral and aural skills.
PERS201 Intermediate Persian I; (4 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Not open to native/fluent speakers of Persian. Prerequisite: PERS102 or equivalent. Development of speaking, reading, writing, listening and cultural knowledge through wide variety of activities.
PERS251 Modern Iran; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
General sociopolitical introduction to modern Iran from establishment of the Qajar dynasty in the late 18th century to the present day. Taught in English.
PERS301 Advanced Persian I; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD.
Prerequisite: PERS202 or permission of department. Not open to fluent or native speakers. Development of speaking, reading, writing, listening and cultural knowledge through wide variety of activities, especially reading.
PERS371 Introduction to Persian Literature in Translation; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
Introduction to classical and modern canons of Persian literature in historical, esthetic, and social context. Taught in English.
PERS399 Directed Study in Persian; (1-3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. Individual Instruction course: contact department or instructor to obtain section number.