Program Description

The Middle East and North African (MENA) Program at Binghamton University coordinates study of the Middle East, North and Sudanic Africa, and European countries that have extensive Islamic contact. The program develops and integrates research and graduate and undergraduate instruction about the MENA area. Courses related to this area are offered in history, geography, political science, anthropology, sociology, economics, music, Arabic, Ottoman and modern Turkish, Hebrew, and Persian.

Undergraduate students with majors in the humanities and social sciences may enroll in the Middle East and North African Program and, upon successful completion of the program, receive a MENA certificate. To receive the certificate, students must meet all college and departmental major requirements and complete the MENA requirements, including a total of eight MENA courses. Independent studies and honors work may be credited as MENA courses, when approved by the appropriate department and the MENA committee. The program does not supplant the normal disciplinary specialization or undergraduate major, but permits certain selections that constitute a coherent course of study about this area, within the framework of requirements for graduation. Opportunities are available for travel and study in the MENA region under SUNY sponsorship (for example, in Binghamton's Arabic studies program in Morocco).

Graduate work for certification in MENA studies, leading to the MA and Ph.D., may be taken in history, political science, anthropology, comparative literature, sociology, and classical and Near Eastern studies. The graduate program offers flexibility in programming courses for individual student interests. There are opportunities for collaboration with faculty, exchange programs with other leading Middle East and North African study centers, and individual language instruction in Arabic, Ottoman and modem Turkish, Hebrew, Sanskrit, and Persian. MENA graduate students interested in the developing nations may have access to the resources of the independent Institute for Development Anthropology upon application to its office in Binghamton.

For the most up to date, official information on the program, see the Binghamton University Bulletin.