Middle East Program
Faculty of the Committee on Middle Eastern Studies
Cemal Kafadar, Vehbi Koc Professor of Turkish Studies (Chair)
Eva Bellin, Associate Professor of Government
Steven C. Caton, Professor of Contemporary Arab Studies
Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good, Professor of Social Medicine (Medical School)
William A. Graham, Jr., Professor of the History of Religion and Islamic Studies
William E. Granara, Professor of the Practice of Arabic
Michael Herzfeld, Professor of Anthropology (on leave 1999-00)
Roy Mottahedeh, Gurney Professor of History (on leave fall term)
Dani Rodrik, Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy (Kennedy School)
F. Engin Sezer, Associate Professor of Turkish
Wheeler M. Thackston, Jr., Professor of the Practice of Persian and other Near Eastern Languages (on leave spring term)
Frank E. Vogel, Assistant Professor of Law (Law School)
Irene J. Winter, William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts (on leave 1999-00)
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies was established for the purpose of integrating and reinforcing instruction and research in the languages, literatures, history, economics, and cultures of North Africa, the Middle East, and Islamic Central and South Asia, with the emphasis on the modern period. The Committee on Middle Eastern Studies is the degree committee that administers programs offered through the Center. To achieve its goals, the Center cooperates with departments within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and with other faculties that have Middle Eastern interests, other regional studies centers, and various libraries and museums that hold collections related to Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. The Center’s aim is to offer a comprehensive program to provide integrated training for those planning careers in education, government service, or private industry, and to support research on the area.
The following degree programs are offered through the Center: Regional Studies Program—Middle East (A.M.): The program for this degree requires two years of study, leading to an A.M. It seeks to give the student both a broad background and a special competence in selected fields of Middle Eastern studies. Each student’s needs and interests, as well as previous experience and qualifications, are taken into account in planning his or her course of study. This program is comparable to other regional studies programs, such as those for Russia and East Asia.
Joint Programs for the Ph.D.: The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has approved joint programs with other faculty departments for the degree of Ph.D. in Middle Eastern studies and in the fields of anthropology, fine arts, or history. (A joint program in economics exists, but students are not being accepted at the present time for this program. Students interested in the economic history of the Middle East should apply to the program in History and Middle Eastern Studies.) A Ph.D. in political science with a Middle Eastern specialization is offered through the Department of Government, and applications for this program should be made to that department. A candidate for a joint Ph.D. degree is usually expected to have completed an A.M. program in Middle Eastern studies or another relevant field, at Harvard or elsewhere, prior to admission as a doctoral candidate. Concurrent degrees are also offered in Islamic law and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, which combine degree work in the Harvard Law School and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Joint or concurrent degrees with other departments and faculties are also possible on an ad hoc basis.
Languages: Competency in one or more of the languages of the Middle East is critical to advanced studies in this field. The master’s program requires all students to attain a reading and speaking competence, at least at the intermediate level, in one of the major modern Middle Eastern languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish. Students who already have an adequate knowledge of one such language, and native speakers, will be required to study a second language. The Ph.D. programs vary in their language requirements. In most cases, students must attain a thorough knowledge of a modern Middle Eastern language (see above), as well as a reading knowledge of one of the European languages: German, French, Italian, or Russian. In the History and Middle Eastern Studies Program, a written exam will be required in the language of the candidate’s primary research, covering both primary and secondary sources in that language. As in the master’s program, native speakers of Middle Eastern languages will be required to attain competence in a second Middle Eastern language. (For specific details on language requirements and language proficiency examinations, see the degree supplement Degree Programs in Middle Eastern Studies. Please note that the departments involved in the joint Ph.D programs, as well as the Committee on Middle Eastern Studies, at times revise their language requirement policies. Students are expected to keep in touch with their advisors and relevant language instructors at all times so they may be informed of possible changes to those requirements.)
Courses: Middle Eastern-related courses are offered in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations—courses in Akkadian, Ancient Near East, Arabic, Aramaic, Armenian, Armenian Studies, Early Iranian Civilizations, Ethiopic, Hebrew (Classical and Modern), Hebrew Literature and History, Iranian, Islamic Civilizations, Near Eastern Civilizations, Persian, Postbiblical Jewish Studies, Semitic Philology, Sumerian, and Turkish; and the Department of History—courses in Byzantine, Islamic, Judaic, and modern Middle Eastern history. Other appropriate courses are offered in the departments of Anthropology, Classics, Comparative Literature, the Core Curriculum, Fine Arts, Government, Linguistics, Music, Psychology, Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Sociology, and the Study of Religion. Middle Eastern-related courses are also taught in the graduate schools of Business, Design, Divinity, Law, and Government.
For more information about these programs, please refer to the degree supplement, Degree Programs in Middle Eastern Studies.