MA in Middle Eastern Studies

OVERVIEW:

This program is geared towards international students interested in careers pertaining to the Middle East in the fields of journalism, diplomacy, government, policy research, and advocacy/activism. Students are provided with an invaluable opportunity to acquire an in-depth understanding of the political, social and economic dimensions of the region from within.

Located in the prestigious Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University, the program boasts some of the most renowned Middle East experts in the world today. The program includes a film and lecture series; field trips to the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahem, the L.A. Meyer Museum for Islamic Art, Petra, Jordan*; and a study tour to a neighboring country (such as Egypt*, Tunisia*, Morocco*, or Turkey*), accompanied by expert researchers in the TAU Department of Middle Eastern and African History. These experiences will enrich the students' knowledge and ability to understand and analyze the complexities of a region transitioning through a period of profound change.

* As costs of travel to neighboring countries vary from place to place, these activities will be for an additional fee. The 3-day trip to Jordan (including Petra) occurs at the end of orientation week (October) and is approximately $500 (includes personal expenses).

This program requires students to learn both Hebrew and Arabic. The program itself is conducted in English. Students may choose either the non-thesis track (3 semesters) or the thesis track (4 semesters).

For qualified students who are enrolled in the program, internship opportunities are available at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. Visit here for more information.



CURRICULUM

MAMES students are required to be in residence from late-July to late-September of the following year (approximately 14 months) in order to complete an intensive Hebrew-language course upon arrival and three semesters of course work to be completed in the fall, spring and summer. Students are also required to take three semesters of Spoken Arabic Language. The requirements for the degree include:

1.    Seminars
2.    Hebrew and Arabic Language Studies

3.    Qualifications Exam (non-thesis track students only)
4.    Thesis (thesis-track students only)

5.    Film and lecture series

1. Seminars
Students participate in seven (thesis-track) or eight (non-thesis track) seminars during their three semesters of study. Three are mandatory seminars students offered ONLY during the fall semester, the remaining seminars are electives. Students must submit one paper for each seminar.

Required Seminars

Foundations for the Advanced Study of Islam and Modern Muslim Societies:
This course addresses the rise of Islam in its seventh-century environment, its expansion, and the rise and fall of the Abbasid, Umayyad, and Ottoman Empires, who were established in accordance with a political philosophy based in Islam.

Selected Topics in the History of the Modern Middle East:
This course presents a detailed overview of the history of the region in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries up to the end of World War I. It examines the history of contact with the West during the last two centuries, processes of Westernization, and relations between religion and the state in the Middle East up through the early 20th century.

Religion and State in the Middle East:
This course explores the ongoing conflict between governments and civil societies in the Middle East on the issues and roles of secularism, religiosity and fundamentalist Islam in the context of the contemporary Middle Eastern state. This seminar focuses on the 20th century to the present day.

Note: Foundations for the Advanced Study of the History of Islam, Selected Topics in the History of the Modern Middle East, and Religion and State in the Middle East must be taken in the first semester of the program.

Elective Seminars

Different elective seminars are offered every year and cover a wide range of topics. The seminars listed below are a guide to the range of seminars which are available to the students.

·    Islamic Ideology and Militancy: Al-Qaeda and the Taliban

·    Iraq in the 20th Century: Sectarianism and the Establishment of a Unified State-

System
·    Historiography of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

·    Terrorism, Guerilla Warfare and Insurgency Ideologies in the Middle East
·    Gender, Age, Sexuality, and Health in the Middle East
·    Globalization, Media and Civil Society: the Struggle over the Islamic Message
·    From Young Turks to New Turks
·    Iran in Revolution
·    Between Unity and Division: the Origin and Evolution of the Arab State System
·    Tribes and Tribalism in the Arab World
·    Demographic Warfare and Ethnic Cleansing in the Modern Islamic World
·    Demography and Economic Development in the Middle East

·    Early Islamic History and Historiography

·    Syria in the Twentieth Century
·    From Post-Colonial to Global Challenges: North Africa at the Dawn of the 21st Century
·    War, Revolution, and Leadership in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula
·    Nuclear Proliferation and Arms Control in the Middle East and Beyond

·    Middle Eastern Studies Research and Methodologies Seminar

Students receive a detailed course booklet, including complete syllabi, lecture outlines, reading lists and specific course requirements for each of the seminars at the beginning of the fall semester.

2. Language Studies
There is no language prerequisite required for acceptance to the MAMES program. However, there is a mandatory Intensive Hebrew Language Program (Ulpan) to be completed in the summer prior to the fall semester, or in the winter session (February).

Hebrew: By the completion of the program, students will have completed the mandatory Ulpan. As well, students who elect to do so may continue their Hebrew studies in the fall and spring semesters.

Arabic: Students attend Arabic language courses during their three semesters of coursework. Students will begin to learn Spoken Arabic and will also receive the foundations of Classical Arabic language.

3. Qualifications Exam

At the beginning of the third (summer) semester, non-thesis track students must choose a professor who will oversee and administer a 30-minute qualifications exam. Students will receive a reading list from their professor of choice; from this list students must master the material assigned and prepare for an oral examination. This will be conducted in English, unless the student prefers Hebrew. It must take place before the end of the third semester. Non-thesis track students will not earn the degree without passing the qualifications exam.

4. Optional Thesis
Students who opt to write a thesis are required to take the Middle East Studies Research and Methodologies Seminar during the third (summer) semester.

Students will work closely with a thesis advisor while completing each aspect of their project. Thesis advisors will generally be a member of TAU's Department of Middle Eastern and African History. In order to complete this process, the student will need to register for fourth semester of independent study.

Note: Students, who wish to continue on to doctoral studies at Tel Aviv University must write a thesis, after which they may apply to the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, under whose auspices this program is held.

5. Film and lecture series

Throughout the program guest lectures and film screenings will be organized for MAMES students. Students are required to attend 2-3 lectures per semester, and 3 films per semester.

Quick links:

Fees and Expenses

Need-based aid

Federal Loans

External Scholarships

Housing:

On-campus housing is available to TAU International students.

However, students who are interested in renting apartments in Tel Aviv are advised to search the following websites by clicking on the links provided below:

Craigslist

Homeless (Hebrew)

Tel Aviv Rental Apartments

Recent Publications and Recommended Readings:

Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.

Azak, Umut. Islam and Secularism in Turkey: Kemalism, Religion, and the Nation State. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.

Baram, Amatzia, Achim Rohde, and Ronen Zeidel, eds. Iraq Between Occupations: Perspectives from 1920 to the Present. London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010.

Eickelman, Dale F. The Middle East: An Anthropological Approach, Second Edition.. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Apprentice Hall, 1989.

Enloe, Cynthia. Nino's War, Emma's War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.

Fromkin, David. A Peace to End All Peace. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1989.

Halliday, Fred. Britain's First Muslims: Portrait of a Community. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.

Hertog, Steffen. Princes, Brokers, and Bureaucrats: Oil and the State in Saudi Arabia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010.

Hourani, Albert. Arabic thought in the Liberal Age, 1798-1939. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, rep. 1983.

Jackson, Roy. Mawlna Mawdudi and Political Islam: Authority and the Islamic

Klein, Menachem. The Shift: Israel-Palestine from Border Struggle to Ethnic Conflict. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 2010.

Kostiner, Joseph, ed. Middle East Monarchies, the Challenge of Modernity. Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000.

Litvak, Meir and Esther Webman. From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.

Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce and Daniel Zisenwine. The Maghrib in the new century: identity, religion and politics. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2007.

Rabi, Uzi, ed. International Intervention in Local Conflicts: Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution Since the Cold War. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Press, 1979.

Shamir, Jacob and Khalil Shikaki. Palestinian and Israeli Public Opinion: The Public Imperative in the Second Intifada. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2010.

Zisser, Eyal. Commanding Syria: Bashar al-Asad and the First Years in Power. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.

Recommended Films and Documentaries:

Ajami
Bab 'Aziz – The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul
Babel
Battle for Algiers
Baran
Beaufort
Casablanca
Control Room
Güz Sancısı (Pains of Autumn)
East is East
Encounter Point
Lawrence of Arabia
Lebanon
Les Indigenes
Nefes (The Breath)
No One Knows About Persian Cats
Osama
Paradise Now
Persepolis
Precious Life
Syriana
The Desert Flower
The Free Zone
The Lemon Tree
The Stoning of Soraya M.
The Syrian Bride
Turtles Can Fly
Veiled Voices
Waltz with Bashir
Watani Watani
Wedding in the Galilee
Yaşamın Kıyısında (The Edge of Heaven)