Middle East Program
The 2008-09 membership of this committee had not been determined at the time Courses of Instruction went to press; below is the Committee’s most recent roster. If complete membership information for 2008-09 becomes available, it will be added to the on-line course catalog.
Faculty of the Committee on Middle Eastern Studies
Steven C. Caton, Professor of Contemporary Arab Studies (Chair)
Leila N. Ahmed, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity (Divinity School)
Ali S. Asani, Professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Cultures
Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs
Marwa S. Elshakry, Assistant Professor of the History of Science
Mary-Jo Del Vecchio Good, Professor of Social Medicine (Medical School)
William E. Granara, Professor of the Practice of Arabic on the Gordon Gray Endowment
Engseng Ho
Miri Kubovy, Professor of the Practice of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (on leave 2008-09)
E. Roger Owen, A. J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History (on leave fall term)
David J. Roxburgh, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Professor of Islamic Art History
A. Hashim Sarkis, Aga Khan Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism in Muslim Societies (Design School)
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 (AM): The program for this degree requires two years of study, leading to an AM. 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 PhD: The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has approved joint programs with other faculty departments for the degree of PhD in Middle Eastern studies and in the fields of anthropology, history, or history of art and architecture. A candidate for a joint PhD degree is usually expected to have completed an AM program in Middle Eastern studies or another relevant field, at Harvard or elsewhere, prior to admission as a doctoral candidate. Joint or concurrent degrees with other departments and faculties are 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 PhD 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 PhD 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: The Center for Middle Eastern Studies publishes a list of Middle Eastern-related courses on its website. 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.