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 College consortium, students may 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 Middle Eastern Studies Committee, which includes faculty advisors from each participating campus. 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 can 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 toward the Certificate.

Students interested in pursuing the certificate are encouraged to consult with a certificate program advisor regularly.

Certificate Advisors:

Amherst College: Monica Ringer 
Hampshire College: Omar Dahi
Mount Holyoke College: Sohail Hashmi
Smith College: Steven Heydemann
UMass Amherst: David Mednicoff

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 as well as courses in Turkish, Persian and other languages are offered through the Five College Center for World Languages. 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.
   1. Religion and Philosophy
   2. Literature, Art, and Language Study beyond what is required to satisfy the language requirement above
   3. History and Social Sciences

Certificate Completion:

In preparation for graduation, students pursuing the certificate should meet with their campus advisor to review courses taken to complete the requirements, using the certificate completion form.

The certificate completion form must be approved by the student's home campus advisor as well as the Five College Middle Eastern Studies Committee. Five College Certificates are awarded upon graduation. 

Note that if you don't see classes from all campuses currently listed, they will appear as the campuses release their course schedules for the semester. The five campuses release their schedules on different dates. Visit this page for specific dates.

Note:  Also see the courses offered through the Five College Arabic Initiative, as well as other languages offered in the Five Colleges.

Program Chairs:

Susanna Ferguson, Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies, Smith College

Rachel Green, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Israel/Palestine Studies, UMass Amherst

Five College Staff Liaison:

Ray Rennard, Director of Academic Programs