M.A. Program in Middle Eastern Studies

Course Requirements

CMES offers a master’s degree with thesis and a master’s degree with report; the course requirements for each are outlined below.
 
MA with thesis (30 hours)
•    6 hours of history
•    6 hours of social science
•    6 hours of arts/humanities
•    6 hours of concentration courses
•    6 hours of thesis coursework

MA with report (33 hours)
•    6 hours of history
•    6 hours of social science
•    6 hours of arts/humanities
•    12 hours of concentration courses
•    3 hours of report coursework

Concentration courses must relate to the student’s thesis or report topic.

All courses on the program of work, i.e., all courses used to fulfill the requirements listed above, must be taken on a letter-grade basis.

Language Requirement

While enrolled in the degree program, students must complete two upper-division or graduate-level in-residence courses conducted in one Middle Eastern language (Arabic, Modern Hebrew, Persian, Turkish or Tajiki).  These courses may fulfill other degree requirements in the arts/humanities.  2nd and 3rd year language are upper-division courses.

First-year language courses are lower-division and, as such, cannot be used to meet the language requirement.  Students with little or no language background can be admitted to the program and start taking first-year lanauge in their first year, provided that they continue to second-year language in the following year to satisfy the language requirement.

Middle Eastern Studies' Summer Language Institutes provide one year's worth of language in 10 weeks.  Oftentimes, novice language learners find it useful to take 1st or 2nd year during this period instead of during the academic year.  This is especially useful for those pursuing the dual-language track.

Native speakers of a Middle Eastern language may not use their native tongue to complete this requirement.  They must complete these courses in a second Middle Eastern language.

GPA Requirement

All students must maintain a minimum 3.50 GPA in order to remain in good standing.  If a student falls between a 3.00 - 3.50 in a given semester, he/she will enter probation and have one semester to bring their grades back above a 3.50.  Failure to do so could result in dismissal from the program.  Students must possess at least a 3.50 in order to graduate from the program.