The prestigious institutes of Harvard University and the University of Oxford provide a course in Modern Middle Eastern Studies. Harvard University provides a Master’s Degree, along with a PhD in Regional Studies of the Middle East whereas the University of Oxford provides MSc in Modern Middle Eastern Studies. If you are planning to pursue your studies in one of these prestigious institutes, you might want to have a look at the subject matter of this particular course.
Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University has a course on Middle Eastern Studies. The course was established back in 1954, and it covers a wide range of topics of the region. The core of the course lies in providing the students firsthand knowledge about the Middle East, and covers its histories, politics, and culture. The students who have pursued this course have successfully managed to get involved in law, journalism, academia, government and business. Harvard University uses an interdisciplinary approach to teach this subject, and combines the knowledge of humanities, social sciences, arts and natural sciences.
The Master’s Degree of Harvard University in Middle Eastern Studies consists of a two-year academic program that is pretty rigorous for the students, to pursue both their academic interests, and sharpen their professional skills. The richness and complexities of the Middle Eastern region are taught in these courses. The PhD program is provided by three CMES which include Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies, History of Art and Architecture, and Middle Eastern Studies and History. The courses are designed to understand the artistic, cultural and historical traditions of the region. For completing a PhD in this particular course, the student is required to have a high proficiency in at least one of the Middle Eastern languages, and of course, a dissertation is required which is based on original research. Admission requirement for the same includes three letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, and writing samples for the PhD application. Even though GRE is not required, one can go for it. One can also apply for scholarships in such programs by providing relevant documents. Currently, many countries in the world allow citizens to fetch such information online. For instance, in India, the JKPaySys is an online portal that provides information like salary slips, which might be required to show the financial situation for availing a scholarship.
Modern Middle Eastern Studies at University of Cambridge
The MSc Degree in Modern Middle Eastern Studies is a twelve-month program at the University of Cambridge, and it is offered jointly by the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies and Faculty of Oriental Studies. The course is designed to familiarize the students with the region and the language. The research and writing skills of the student for the course is developed through lectures, tutorials, and essay writing. Both the qualitative and quantitative methods are taught to the student for completing the course.
The course is available in two tracks, which include a language and a non-language one. The language track is for the students who have the intermediate or advanced-level ability in either Hebrew or Arabic, while the non-language track of the course is designed for the students who have fluency in one of the following languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish. The criteria for the same is checked either by being a literate native speaker or a degree in the language. A student who does not have control over the above-mentioned languages can go for the non-language track, after specifically explaining the reason behind why they think they qualify for the same. The University of Oxford runs a student portal like Amizone known as the Student Self Service, which can be used by the students of Oxford for accessing their student records.
Students who opt for the language track in the course have to study two optional papers, whereas the students opting for the non-language track will have to pursue three optional courses. The tutorial options are available in a wide number of topics like Politics of the Middle East, International Relations of the Middle East, Main Themes in Israeli Politics and Society, Modern Turkish Literature Texts and Contexts, and Space and Gender in Middle Eastern Literatures: The harem and the body. After graduating with MSc Modern Middle Eastern Studies, students can then engage themselves in the NGO sector, journalism, academia, government and business sector.