Arabic courses can form the core of the following two majors:

Middle Eastern Studies | Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures

Middle Eastern Studies Major

Overview

The Asian and Middle Eastern Studies major is an interdisciplinary major featuring a core of language work and additional coursework in one of three regional concentrations: East Asia, the Middle East, or South Asia.  Not all concentration courses must be from within AMELC. For instance, a course on Islam in Religious Studies would count towards a concentration in the Middle East or South Asia regions. Current lists of approved concentration courses are posted on the degree program course listings pages by area: East Asia, Middle East, South Asia (See Course Offering Directory for current semester course offerings). Students are also encouraged to take AMELC and related courses outside their geographical region of concentration.

 

Major Requirements

Prerequisite:

• A letter grade of C or better in AMEL 101
• Proficiency at the 202/206 level or above in Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Persian, Sanskrit, Tibetan, or Urdu

Requirements:

• 30 credits in AMELC and related courses, including courses in selected regional concentration, with the following distribution:
  • 9 credits at 300 level or higher of AMELC and related courses:
    • students whose regional concentration is East Asia must take EAST 492
    • students whose regional concentration is the Middle East must take MEST 496
    • students whose regional concentration is South Asia must take AMEL 493 or 494
  • 21 credits in one of three regional concentrations: East Asia, Middle East, or South Asia; see course listings by area (East Asia, Middle East, South Asia) for possible courses. Also see Course Offering Directory for current listings;
• 9 of those 21 credits must be in regional concentration courses from 3 of the following 6 departments: AMELC (at the 300 level or higher), Anthropology, Art History, Politics, History, Religious Studies. (It is strongly recommended that History be one of the three)
• double majoring is encouraged, but students are reminded that 18 credits in each major must come from courses unique to that major;
• students are reminded that USEM credits do not count toward major requirements;
• a maximum of 12 study abroad and domestic transfer credits are allowed, at the discretion of the Undergraduate Committee.

Advising

Middle East - Dan Lefkowitz   dl2h@virginia.edu

 

Middle Eastern Languages & Literatures Major

Overview

Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures offers a major in Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures for students wanting to achieve proficiency in an AMELC language and a deeper understanding of its literature and culture. The core of this major is a high level of competency in the language and a more focused set of concentration courses.

Major Requirements

Prerequisite:

• 202/206 level of an AMELC language. A grade of C or higher must be earned in each semester of 201-202 or 106-206
• 2 three-credit non-language courses in AMELC or one such course in AMELC and one course in History or in Religious Studies. One of the AMELC courses must be AMEL 101. The course in History must have the mnemonic HIEA, HIME, or HISA, and the course in Religious Studies must be RELG 104, or it must have the mnemonic RELB, RELH, or RELI. Each of these two courses must be passed with a grade of C or better.
  

Requirements:

• 30 credits in AMELC and related courses, of which
  • 18 credits must be in one AMELC language, or, at the discretion of the student's advisor, 12 in one and at least 6 in a second language in the same region;
  • Tibetan may be used as a second language in the East Asian or South Asian region. Biblical Hebrew may be used as a second language in the Middle East region. The 12 credits for the first language must be beyond the 202/206 level. The 6 credits for the second language may come from 100-level courses.
• 12 credits of the 30 must be in AMELC and related courses, of which
  • 6 credits must be in regional concentration courses from 2 of the following 6 areas: AMELC (at the 300 level or higher), Anthropology, Art History, Politics, History, and Religious Studies (See course listings by area: East Asia, Middle East, South Asia for possible courses. See Course Offering Directory for current listings); and
  • 6 credits are to be determined in consultation with the student's advisor. These courses may be further AMELC language study or non-language, regional concentration courses in AMELC.
• a maximum of 15 study abroad credits and domestic transfer credits are allowed at the discretion of the Undergraduate Committee.

 

Advising

Arabic - Mohammed Sawaie-  ms@virginia.edu

 

More information can be found at the AMELC Department.

 

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