Global and International Studies Program,
Office of the Provost,
Humanities and Social Sciences 3042;
Telephone (805) 893-4718

Chair: R. Stephen Humphreys

Islamic and Near Eastern Studies Advisory Committee

Marguerite Bouraad-Nash, Ph.D. (Political Science)

Juan Campo, Ph.D. (Religious Studies)

Magda Campo, M.A. (Religious Studies)

John Foran, Ph.D. (Sociology)

Roger O. Friedland, Ph.D. (Sociology)

Nancy E. Gallagher, Ph.D. (History)

W. Randall Garr, Ph.D. (Religious Studies)

Richard D. Hecht, Ph.D. (Religious Studies)

Barbara A. Holdrege, Ph.D. (Religious Studies)

Nuha N. N. Khoury, Ph.D. (History of Art and Architecture)

Scott L. Marcus, Ph.D. (Music)

Dwight F. Reynolds, Ph.D. (Religious Studies)

Devora Sprecher, M.A. (Germanic, Slavic, and Semitic Studies)

Islamic and Near Eastern Studies is an interdisciplinary program in which students can explore the myriad peoples, societies, languages, and cultures of the Near East and the Islamic worlds from a variety of perspectives. The program brings under one roof studies on two overlapping but quite distinct entities: first, the Near East in the Ancient, Islamic, and modern periods; second, the religious and cultural traditions of Islam, not only within its original Near Eastern homeland, but also in other areas where these traditions have come to play a major role-South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and (more recently) Europe and North America. In studying the Near East, it is essential to realize that the cultural, religious, and intellectual works generated there by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have been so durable, and so closely intertwined with one another, that our understanding of any one of them is fatally flawed if we try to study it in isolation from the other two. Likewise, Islam was born in the Near East and evolved its core traditions there, but it has long since taken root throughout the world and must be studied in a world context.

The B.A. in Islamic and Near Eastern Studies aims to provide an educational experience satisfying in and for itself, while simultaneously developing the body of knowledge and skills necessary for graduate study or an area-based career in business, government, or international development. Obviously no undergraduate major can provide a deep expertise in the whole of this vast arena. However, students should expect to achieve a well-defined sense of the whole, as well as to acquire the basic linguistic and conceptual tools needed to approach the Near East and Islam with real understanding. To this end, the program gives students considerable flexibility in designing their course of studies, but it also demands coherence and rigor.

As a key part of their studies Islamic and Near Eastern Studies strongly recommends, though does not require, that students spend a substantial period of time abroad in the UC Education Abroad Program centers in Jerusalem or Cairo, or in other suitable programs. Members of the Advisory Committee will work actively with interested students to help them identify appropriate opportunities for study abroad.

The program does not offer the M.A. or Ph.D. However, it can help graduate students to coordinate interdisciplinary study across departmental lines, and it also provides an enrichment of UCSB's own resources through the lectures, colloquia, and seminars which it sponsors. Likewise, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies can offer limited financial assistance, on a competitive basis, to qualified graduate students. Finally, the program also collaborates with the Von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies at UC Los Angeles in areas of common concern.

Bachelor of Arts-Islamic and Near Eastern Studies

Upper-division major. Before students begin the upper-division major, they are required to meet with their faculty advisor to discuss and have approved their academic plan. With the assistance of the faculty advisor, students will develop a broad, coherent plan which supports both the integrity of the major and their own interests.

A total of 36 upper-division units are required from the following list. At least 4 units must come from section A, 4 units from section B, and 4 units from section C. The balance (24 units ) may come from sections A, B, C, D, and E. Students who plan to pursue graduate studies in Islamic or Near Eastern Studies should seriously consider taking at least three upper-division language courses (12 units) from section D.

Section A: Before 600 C.E. Religious Studies 115A, 115B, 117A-B, 129, 130, 131A, 131B.

Section B: 600 C.E. - 1700. History of Art and Architecture 153B, 165B, 175A, 175B, 175C, 176C, 177; History 119, 119Q, 145A-B, 145Q; Religious Studies 131C, 140A.

Section C: 1700 - present. History 142, 145D, 146A-B, 146P, 146PT, 146T; Political Science 149, 150A, 150B, 150M; Religious Studies 131D, 131G, 131H, 140B, 149.

Section D: Upper-division languages. Hebrew (Germanic, Slavic, and Semitic Studies) 115A-B-C, Religious Studies 142A-B-C, 148A-B-C, 186.

Section E: General. History 145P, 145Q, 146PW, 146W; Music 174B, 193F, 193G; Religious Studies 115C, 131J, 140C-D-E-F, 189A-B-C; Sociology 130, 130ME, 130SA, 131H.