Major in Middle East and North African Studies
Middle East and North African Studies (MENA) trains students to develop critical and analytical thinking on the Middle East and the Maghreb through an interdisciplinary, transnational approach. The MENA major draws on a number of departments and programs across Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts to offer a wide array of courses introducing students to the rich history, layered politics, diverse cultures, linguistic, and religious traditions of a complex region. This background enables students to transcend simplistic generalizations and stereotypes about the region and its people while promoting students’ global literacy in an increasingly interconnected world. The MENA major prepares students to pursue careers in government, policy, trade, research, and a variety of other fields.
Arabic Studies Minor at Tulane
Standard Arabic has an estimated 206 million speakers, while colloquial Arabic is spoken by a total of over 400 million, which makes it the fifth most widely spoken language in the world. Arabic classes at Tulane highlight the richness of Arabic culture and literature, as well as its practical applications in the global political economy.
Featured Middle East and North African Studies Courses
POLC-3340 Middle East Comparative Politics
Professor Andrew Leber aleber@tulane.edu
Middle East Comparative Politics offers a broad introduction to political dynamics in the Middle East and North Africa (also known as South-West Asia & North Africa, and a number of other names) as well as a range of political-science concepts and theories. Over the course of the semester, we examine the role of religious identities and state failure in driving civil wars, varieties of the region's authoritarian regimes and how they respond to major protests, and the role of elections and ideologies in helping kings and dictators retain power. This course also provides an opportunity for students to learn about data sources and research skills related to studying the politics of the region.
HISM-2200 The Pre-Modern Islamic World
Professor Idun Strand S Hauge ihauge@tulane.edu
The American media today gives their audience the impression of a stagnant Middle East marred by violence, sectarianism, extremism and narrow-mindedness. Hollywood productions portray Arab men as irrational terrorists and Arab women as perpetual victims. But do these depictions of the region and its peoples hold up to academic scrutiny? Challenging such Orientalist rhetoric, this class will explore the rich pre-modern history of the region and the agency, views and experiences of the peoples of the Middle East. We will hear from diverse voices, explore topics ranging from novel scientific discoveries to the political power of concubines, and approach the region with empathy, seeking to understand its complex and consequential history.
This course covers the birth of Islam in 7th-century Arabia until the mid-18th century Ottoman Empire. It focuses on the most consequential empires within the Islamic World and their political history. Additionally, we will explore the social, cultural and gender history of the region. Students will interact with voices and sources from our period of study and will be encouraged to approach sources with empathy and curiosity in order to explore views and opinions from the past. The class is structured chronologically, typically covering an empire per week. As any other history class, lectures, discussions, group work and assignments will challenge you to think about the past not in terms of binaries (tradition vs. modernity; truth vs. lie; power vs. powerlessness; men vs. women; conservative vs. progressive) or as a linear, inevitable road to “progress,” but rather as complex, sometimes contradictory, and often surprising to our 21st-century eyes and sensibilities.
ARBC-3170 Media Arabic
Professor Khedidja Boudaba kboudaba@tulane.edu
This course has a twofold objective: enable students to explore topics on Modern Arab journalism and introduce them to media Arabic and the core vocabulary and structures typical of news stories. Students will learn to recognize various modes of coverage, distinguish fact from opinion, detect bias, and read news critically in Arabic. The course includes meaningful student-content interactions and student-student and students -instructor interactions.
Course materials:
- Arabic coursebook for reading Arabic news
- The Top 1,300 Words for Understanding Media Arabic
- Selected chapters from Noha Mellor’s Modern Arab Journalism.
Links to the Arabic program at Tulane University:
Tulane New Wave
Higher Education Tribune
Tulane Hullabaloo
Degrees and Requirements
Find Middle East and North African Studies classes by semester, view all Middle East and North African Studies courses in the Tulane University Catalog, and review degree requirements for Tulane’s undergraduate programs.
Middle East and North African Studies Courses
Middle East and North African Studies Degree Requirements at Tulane
Tulane Middle East and North African Studies offers an undergraduate major and a minor in Arabic Studies. Review the overview and requirements for each program in the links below.
Find Classical Studies Classes by Semester
Use the Tulane Class Schedule Search Page to find Classical Studies classes offered in current and past semesters.
For more information, please contact:
Fayçal Falaky, ffalaky@tulane.edu