Modern Middle East Studies

Course offerings on the Middle East at Penn are rich and multidisciplinary. All are taught by world-renowned scholars in their field with exemplary records of teaching and publishing some of the most innovative research on the Middle East and Islam. Both undergraduates and graduate students can take courses on a wide range of subjects – from Iranian Film to Islamic Law to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Independent study, intensive language instruction, country surveys, and research-focused seminars compliment the many introductory courses offered.

A New Major and Minor at Penn « more info »

Courses Suitable for the New Major and Minor in Modern Middle East Studies (provisional)

Check the Registrar's website for course availability. Click here for next semester's courses that can be applied to the major/minor. If you have questions about a course that does not appear on the grid, contact jinhees@sas.upenn.edu.

For selected syllabi, please click here.

Anthropology

ANTH 100 ~ Topics In Anthropology and the Modern World (Iraq)

Arabic

ARAB 031-038 ~ Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced Int. and Advanced MSA
ARAB 039 ~ Colloquial Arabic
ARAB 331 ~ Advanced Spoken Standard Arabic.
ARAB 332 ~ Advanced Arabic Composition
ARAB 338 ~ Introduction to Quran and Tafsir
ARAB 435 ~ Readings in Islamics
ARAB 436 ~ Introduction to Classical Arabic Texts.

Art History

ARTH 217 ~ Introduction to the Visual Culture of the Islamic World
ARTH 417 ~ Later Islamic Art & Architecture

Hebrew

HEBR 051-054 ~ Elementary & Intermediate Modern Hebrew
HEBR 059 ~ Advanced Modern Hebrew: Reading and Composition.
HEBR 455 ~ Post-Baccalaureate Hebrew Texts .
HEBR 259 ~ Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature
HEBR 359 ~ Modern Hebrew Literature
HEBR 552 ~ Advanced Hebrew: Reading and Comprehension

History

HIST 081 ~ History of the Middle East since 1800
HIST 082 ~ Islam in Global Perspective
HIST 083 ~ Diplomacy in the Middle East
HIST 084 ~ The Middle East in the 20th Century
HIST 087 ~ The Middle East and the US
HIST 106 ~ Images of Islam & the Middle East
HIST 201 ~ What Were the Crusades?
HIST 202 ~ Zionist Debates
HIST 206 ~ Empire & Colony in the Near East / Modern Middle East Society / War in the Middle East (Majors’ Seminar in World History after 1800)
HIST 317 ~ Islam & the West
HIST 550 ~ Topics in Jewish History (Zionist Founders & Sabra Children)

Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

NELC 037 ~ The People of Modern Egypt
NELC 038 ~ Journeys in Arabic Narrative
NELC 102 ~ Introduction to the Middle East
NELC 104 ~ Jerusalem through the Ages
NELC 115 ~ Persian Mystical Thought: Rumi
NELC 118 ~ Iranian Cinema: Gender, Politics, & Religion
NELC 130 ~ Introduction to the Qur’an
NELC 132 ~ Origins of Islamic Political Thought
NELC 159 ~ Israeli Literature and Film in Translation
NELC 201 ~ Modern Mideast Literatures in Translation
NELC 212 ~ Fiction of Modern Iran
NELC 233 ~ The Arabic Literary Heritage
NELC 238 ~ Classical Islamic Law
NELC 331 ~ Iraq, Egypt & Algeria
NELC 332 ~ North Africa: History, Culture, Society
NELC 335 ~ Muslims, Christians, Jews
NELC 336 ~ Nationalism in the Middle East
NELC 434 ~ Arabic Literature & Theory
NELC 435 ~ Readings in Islamic Studies
NELC 437 ~ Islamic Intellectual Tradition
NELC 633 ~ Selected Topics in Arabic Literature
NELC 638 ~ Approaches to Islamic Law

Persian

PERS 012-16 ~ Elementary, Intermediate & Advanced Persian
PERS 017 ~ Persian Reading and Writing for Fluent Speakers
PERS 018 ~ Advanced Persian in the Media

Political Science

PSCI 131 ~ American Foreign Policy
PSCI 198 ~ Politics & Government in Israel
PSCI 211 ~  Politics in the Contemporary Middle East
PSCI 253 ~ International Politics in the Middle East
PSCI 275 ~ Muslim Political Thought
PSCI 5xx ~ Middle East Politics
PSCI 5xx ~ Politics of Contemporary Iraq

Religion

RELS 100 ~ Islamic Civilization
RELS 143 ~ Islamic Religion
RELS 1xx ~ Islam and Modernity
RELS 246 ~ Islamic Mysticism
RELS 247 ~ Islamic Ethics
RELS 2xx ~ Women and Islamic Constructions of Gender
RELS 445 ~ Sufism (seminar open to undergraduates)
RELS 545 ~ Sufi Texts / Hadith / The Qur’an (Topics in Islamic Religion)

Turkish

TURK 021-026 ~ Elementary, Intermediate & Advanced Turkish