Program
Center for Arab and Islamic Studies

Degrees Offered
BA
Certificate Concentration
interdisciplinary Minor

Middle East Languages
Modern Standard Arabic (three years, intensive)
Colloquial Egyptian Arabic (one semester)

Courses
Economics
Development Economics*
Economic Development in the Middle East*

History
Islamic History and Civilization
History of the Modern Middle East
Middle East in the World Economy, 18th-20th centuries (graduate)*
The Iranian Revolution*
The Mediterranean World: History and Culture*
Middle Eastern Cities*
Senior Seminar: Women and Family in the Middle East
Senior Seminar: Topics in Arab and Islamic Studies

Modern Languages and Literatures
Arab Culture and Civilization*
Arabic Literature in English Translation*
The Arab-Andalusian Legacy*

Philosophy
History of Islamic Philosophy

Political Science
Comparative Politics of the Arab States
International Relations of the Middle East
The Struggle for Power and Oil in the Inner Crescent*
Senior Seminar: Egypt: Dictatorship, Democracy and Development*
Peace and Justice Center Seminar: The Middle East: Overcoming Conflict*
The Islamic States in Soviet-American Relations* (graduate)
American Foreign Policy and the Middle East (graduate)
Political Identity in the Middle East (graduate)

Religious Studies
Introduction to Islam
Islamic Philosophy and Theology
Sufism in the Islamic World*

Sociology
Family and Society in the Arab World*

Women's Studies
Women in Arab Society

* courses offered according to student interest and faculty availability
the rest are taught annually or every semester

Faculty
History
Maghan Keita (Director, African Studies Center, African history, Islam in Africa)
Thomas M. Ricks (Director of International Studies Iran, Palestine, rural history)

Management
Mohammed K. El-Najdawi (Middle East business management)

Modern Languages and Literatures
Sayed M. Omran (Qur'anic grammar, interrelationship of classical, standard and colloquial Arabic)

Political Science
Kail C. Ellis (Arab politics, Lebanon)
Fred J. Khouri, Emeritus (United Nations, Palestine)
Ann M. Lesch (Israel-Palestine, Egypt, Sudan)
Hafeez Malik (South and Central Asia, geopolitics of the Gulf)

Religious Studies
Shams C. Inati (Ibn Sina, Arab philosophy)

Students
In spring 1995, ten students (five female and five male) were enrolled in the concentration and eight (three male, five female) in the minor. Many more students enroll in courses taught by Center faculty, which fulfill departmental requirements or electives.

Directors
Mine Ener,  Director

Scholarships/Graduate Support
Scholarships are available for undergraduate students who have declared the concentration in Arab and Islamic Studies and who are enrolled in or have completed the two-year Arabic language sequence. Graduate assistantships are available in history and political science

Special Features
The concentration and the minor in Arab and Islamic Studies are designed both to encourage undergraduate students to expand their awareness of international cultural and political issues and to prepare students for advanced programs in Middle East studies. Graduate students enrolled in the MA programs in history and political science can also take seminars on Middle East topics and write theses related to the region. Students participate in the co-curricular Arab Cultural Society, which coordinates the delegation for the Model Arab League and arranges activities on campus. The Center coordinates a USIA affiliation grant with Bethlehem University (1994-97).