Middle East Studies

Program Director

Michael Provence
Professor, History

Program Coordinator and Academic Advisor

Jennifer Dieli
Program Coordinator and Academic Advisor
Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts and Humanities Building, 6th Floor, Room 655

Current UC San Diego undergraduate students, please use the Virtual Advising Center (VAC) for all advising questions.

Faculty

Guillermo Algaze
Distinguished Professor, Anthropology

Eli Berman
Professor, Economics

Suzanne Brenner
Associate Professor, Anthropology

Gary Fields
Professor, Communication

Thomas Gallant
Distinguished Professor, History

Hasan Kayali
Professor, History

Babak Rahimi
Associate Professor, Literature

James Rauch
Professor, Economics

Gershon Shafir
Distinguished Professor, Sociology

Nir Shafir
Assistant Professor, History

Oumelbanine Zhiri
Professor, Literature

Middle East Studies Minor

The minor consists of 5-7 upper division courses, or 4 upper division courses and a 3 course sequence of a Middle Eastern language. 3 of the upper division courses have to deal with the Middle East since the emergence of Islam, listed under "Core Courses" in the UC San Diego General Catalog. All courses used to meet requirements for a minor in Middle East Studies must be taken for a letter grade and be passed with a grade of C- or better.

Resources:

• Middle East Studies Minor Checklist (Fillable PDF)
• Middle East Studies List of Approved Courses
• How to Declare a Minor

UC San Diego Undergraduate Student Resources

• How to Declare a Minor
• How to Petition Courses

Course Offerings

Refer to the official UC San Diego General Catalog for a complete list of approved courses that will count toward a minor in Middle East Studies.

Course offerings are constantly changing. Please refer to the Schedule of Classes for the most up-to-date listing.

(*) Indicates course may be petitioned for credit. Instructions on How to Petition Courses.

Fall 2022

• HINE 116. The Middle East in the Age of European Empires
• HINE 144. Topics in Middle Eastern History
• JWSP 1. Beginning Hebrew
• JWSP 104. Practicum in Advanced Hebrew
• *ECON 168. Economics of Modern Israel
• *ANAR 143. Biblical Archaeology: Fact or Fiction  
• ANTH 209. Archaeology’s Role in Building National Narrative: Israel as a Case Study
• *LTCO 201. Theories and Methods of Literary Analysis: Trans-Indigenous Perspectives on Arabic Literature

Winter 2023

• JWSP 2. Intermediate Hebrew
• HINE 109. History of the Middle East (1200–1800): The Ottoman Empire
• HINE 119. US Mid-East Policy Post-WWII
• HINE 127. History of Modern Turkey
• HINE 128. History of the Middle East: The Early Medieval Period, 500–1000
• *LTWL 124. Science Fiction: Arab Speculative Fiction
• *LTWL 110B. Folk and Fairy Tales: Palestinian Folklore & Fantasy
• SOCI 158. Islam in the Modern World
• SOCI 188I. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Spring 2023

• *HINE 100. The Hebrew Bible and History
• HINE 118. The Middle East in the Twentieth Century
• HINE 120. Middle East in the New Century
• *HINE 129. History of the Middle East: The Late Medieval Period, 1000–1500
• *LTEN 179. Topics: Arab/Muslim American Identity and Culture: Writing the Arab Americas
• *LTWL 140. Novel and History in the Third World: Introduction to the Arab Novel

Fall 2023

• *LTEN 179. Topics: Arab/Muslim American Identity and Culture
• *HINE 128. History of the Middle East: The Early Medieval Period, 500–1000
• *HINE 137. Two Peoples-Palestine/Israel
• JWSP 1. Beginning Hebrew
• JWSP 104. Practicum in Advanced Hebrew

Past Events

2018 - 2019

February 21, 2019
The Black Winter of 1860 - 61: War, Famine, and The Political Ecology of Disasters in Qajar Iran with Dr. Ranin Kazemi, Associate Professor of History at San Diego State University. 

2017 - 2018

October 26, 2017
Mafia State: The Politics of Organized Crime in Contemporary Turkey with Ryan Gingeras, Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School

December 7, 2017
The Demise of the US-Turkish Partnership? Strategic Partnership in the Erdogan and Trump Presidencies with Sinan Ciddi, Executive Director of the Institute of Turkish Studies and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University

June 5, 2018
Why Destroy Yemen?: Roots to the World's Greatest Humanitarian Catastrophe with Isa Blumi, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor in the Department for Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies at Stockholm University

2016 - 2017

February 21, 2017
From Japanese Internment to the Muslim Ban: History Forgotten and Remembered with Dr. Wael Al-Delaimy, Dr. Simeon Man, Dr. Wendy Matsuura, and Dr. Michael Provence

February 23, 2017
Imperfect Strangers: Americans, Arabs, And U.S.— Middle East Relations in the 1970s with Salim Yaqub, Professor of History at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please see below for responses to commonly asked questions. If you have further questions, please contact the Middle East Studies program through the Virtual Advising Center (VAC).

What are core courses?

Core courses deal with the Middle East since the emergence of Islam. Please refer to UC San Diego's General Course Catalog for a complete list of Middle East Studies core courses.

Can I take courses P/NP for the Middle East Studies minor?

No, courses must be taken for a letter grade.

I've taken lower division courses at my community college. Can they count toward my minor?

You will need to petition the course to see if it will apply toward the minor.

Instructions on How to Petition Courses

I found a UC San Diego course I want to use for the Middle East Studies minor. Can I take it?

You will need to petition the course to see if it will apply toward the minor.

Instructions on How to Petition Courses