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Five College Certificate Program in Middle Eastern Studies

The Five College Certificate Program in Middle Eastern Studies is an opportunity for students to complement a disciplinary major with multidisciplinary studies and linguistic attainments. Because of the wide range of courses available through the Five Colleges, students must design a program that will meet their intellectual, academic, and prospective professional needs in conjunction with an advisor from their home institution. The Program is administered by the Five College Committee for Middle Eastern Studies, which includes the program advisors from each campus. Students intending to earn the certificate should meet with their campus advisor during their first or second years of study. In addition to exploring the range of courses offered at the Five Colleges, students are encouraged to spend time in the Middle East, learning Arabic and other languages and immersing themselves in the culture of the area. Plans for study abroad should be designed in consultation with the student's advisor. Courses from outside the Five Colleges will be counted toward the certificate requirements on the recommendation of the campus advisor and the approval of the committee. Students must receive a grade of B or better in every course counted towards the Certificate.

Requirements
1. Knowledge equivalent to at least two years of college-level study of a Middle Eastern language, such as Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, and Armenian. Classes in Arabic and Modern Hebrew are currently taught in the Five Colleges. Additional courses in Arabic and in other languages are offered through the Five College Mentored Language Program. This requirement may be fulfilled through course completion or by examination.

2. Two introductory courses providing an overview of Middle Eastern history. One course must be in the premodern period (600-1500 CE) and one course must be in the modern period (1500-present).

3. Five courses from the following categories. Students must take at least one course from each of the groups.
Group one: Religion and Philosophy
Group two: Literature, Art, and Language study beyond what is required to satisfy the language requirement above.
Group three: History and Social Sciences

Courses offered at the Five Colleges in the upcoming semester that qualify for the Certificate are listed on the attached sheet. Courses not listed, whether taken at one of the Five Colleges or elsewhere, must be approved by the committee on the recommendation of the campus advisor.

Application
Please print and fill out this application when you have completed all requirements for the certificate. Submit your completed application and unofficial transcript (including transcripts from schools abroad, if you are counting courses taken there for the certificate) to your campus advisor. You need not wait until graduation to apply for the certificate.

Advisors
Amherst College: Monica Ringer
Hampshire College: Omar Dahi
Mount Holyoke College: Sohail Hashmi
Smith College: Suleiman Mourad
University of Massachusetts Amherst: Walter Denny