Requirements

Middle Eastern and North African Studies Minor

Students interested in Middle Eastern and North African studies should contact Robert G. Morrison, professor of religion.

Requirements for the Minor in Middle Eastern and North African Studies

By studying the languages and cultures of a region outside of Europe and North America, Middle East and North African (MENA) studies minors enhance their awareness of global diversity and learn about the importance of language to understanding other perspectives. MENA minors also improve their ability to analyze historic and current events in the region, and understand how accurate, informed conclusions require both nuance and a recognition of complexity.

The minor consists of five courses.

Required courses:

Select two courses in a single Middle Eastern language a2
ARBC 1101
Elementary Arabic I
ARBC 1102
Elementary Arabic II
ARBC 2203
Intermediate Arabic I
ARBC 2204
Intermediate Arabic II
ARBC 2305
Advanced Arabic
ARBC 2306
Advanced Arabic II
Select three courses in the cultures of the Middle East and North Africa b3
FRS 3216
North African Cinema: From Independence to the Arab Spring
GSWS 2701
Muslim Women: Contemporary Challenges and Activism
GOV 2690
Islam and Politics
HIST 2825 Cosmopolitanism and Colonialism: Swahili Civilization and East African History, ca.900--Recent Times
MENA 2350
Modern Middle Eastern and North African History
MENA 2620
Race and Settler Colonialisms, Today
PHIL 1113 Introduction to Classical Arabic Philosophy
REL 1150
Introduction to the Religions of the Middle East
REL 2208
Islam
REL 2209 Gender and Islam
REL 2210 An Introduction to Sufism and Islamic Mysticism
REL 2232
Approaches to the Qur'an
REL 2237
Judaism Under Islam
REL 3333 Islam and Science
SOC 2260
Capitalism, Modernity, and Religion in Turkey
SOC 2380 Gender in the Middle East

Arabic Minor

Requirements for the Minor in Arabic

Students interested in Arabic should contact Batool Khattab, lecturer in Arabic, or Marybeth Bergquist, academic department coordinator.

Arabic minors attain a basic level of proficiency in one of the world’s most difficult languages and also learn how important Arabic is for a deeper understanding of the history, politics, society, and culture of most Middle Eastern and North African countries. Arabic minors enhance their awareness of global diversity by learning more about how important foreign languages are to imagining and understanding other perspectives. 

The minor consists of five courses.

Required courses:

  • Four courses in Arabic instruction (two years, beginning at the level into which the student is placed)
  • A fifth course focusing on any aspect of the cultures of the Middle East or North Africa (such as a course in philosophy, religion, literature, history, or politics) at the 2000 or 3000 level.
Select four courses in Arabic instruction a4
ARBC 1101
Elementary Arabic I
ARBC 1102
Elementary Arabic II
ARBC 2203
Intermediate Arabic I
ARBC 2204
Intermediate Arabic II
ARBC 2305
Advanced Arabic
ARBC 2306
Advanced Arabic II
Select one course in the cultures of the Middle East and North Africa b1

This is an excerpt from the official Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook. View the Catalogue