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.
Course Requirements
Students must complete at least ten courses (30 credits minimum) from an approved list of Middle East-related courses. These ten courses must be distributed as follows:
Core Courses.
Students must take the following three courses: 1
Students also must take one of the following two courses:
Language Courses 2
Students must take at least one course in Arabic beyond ARBC 2030 Intermediate Arabic (normally, ARBC 3150) or at least one course in Hebrew beyond HBRW 2030 Intermediate Hebrew I (normally, HBRW 2130 Intermediate Hebrew II).
Electives
Students must select at least five elective courses from the approved electives list. Additional electives may be added with permission of the Program Director. These must be advanced content courses, at least one of which must be at the 4000 or 6000 level.
Notes on Course Requirements.
1 HISM 2200 and HISM 2210 are offered at least once every other year. They must be taken in the first semester that they are offered after the student enters the program.
2 Students who demonstrate proficiency in Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, or Persian language in a suitable manner can substitute another Middle East-related course from the approved list for this requirement. Turkish and Persian are not offered 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.
The Arabic minor consists of 5 courses for a minimum of 15 credits, distributed as follows:
If a student wishes to complete two or more minors, no courses counting toward the student’s one minor will count toward the student’s other minor(s). Courses taken abroad that the student wishes to count toward the Arabic minor will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
*ARBC 2030 will count toward the minor provided students do not use it to fulfill the SLA language requirement. If students wish to count 2030 toward the SLA language requirement, they will need to take 5 courses beyond 2030.
Links to the Arabic program at Tulane University:
Tulane New Wave
Higher Education Tribune
Tulane Hullabaloo
For more information, please contact:
Edwige Tamalet Talbayev, etamalet@tulane.edu