mation.
History, politics and language are the centerpiece of every culture, religion and region. History brings to the foreground the past, allowing one to explore the intricacies of changes and continuity from antiquity to contemporary times. Politics builds into these intricacies; pulling from the actors and tying in themes of governments and laws guiding individuals. Language facilitates interaction between these two, bringing in the human aspect of understanding and communication. These three concepts are intrinsic in beginning to understand the interplay among governments, communities, and individuals.
I propose an interdisciplinary Bachelors of Arts in Middle East and North Africa Studies. My courses will draw from political science classes that will allow me to critically examine systems of governance and politics within the region and beyond, history courses which will set the scene and illustrate the themes of the region and interactions, and Arabic which will enable me to go beyond classroom learning and prepare me for my future research and interaction in the region through conversation and liturgical understanding.
Political science is the study of government, policy, and the ideologies of invididuals and actors. Political science uses qualitative and quantitative perspectives to examine relationships between communities and states. From the smallest communities to the largest government, it is the study of how people govern themselves. In the town hall, the parliament, or the United Nations one question stays the same; how can one balance individual aspirations and community needs, freedom and equality, authority and justice, participation and power. Next semester, the course, Minority Politics in the Middle East (PLSC 389Q), will help me explore the economic, social, and political status of various ethnic and religious minorities throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Discussing relationship amongst regimes, political processes, nation-states and monarchies, will broaden my understanding of groups, such as Alawites, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, and Jews and their role in diverging societies.
History is a method of deconstructing and analyzing the entirety of the human condition as it has unfolded across time. Without history, nothing makes sense, from the meaning of songs to the names of empires, to institutions, states, and societies. History oscillates between the social sciences and humanities. As scholars of other social sciences, historians established methods of investigation and proof, but history differs in that it encompasses, potentially, every area of human culture from the beginning of civilization. Paralleling the humanities, practitioners established modes of storytelling, but can be constrained by evidence lacking from the past. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example, is a prominent competing discourse in modern history. Despite only covering a geographic area the size of New Jersey, the dispute between the rival nationalisms which claim the sole right to control this territory has remained at the forefront of international attention for more than half a century. Taking a course covering this conflict’s history (HIST 385J) next semester, I look forward to gaining the tools and resources to analyze the origins, consequences, and future of this controversy and its role in the modern Middle East.
Arabic is the language used on a daily basis by more than two hundred million people in the Arab World, from Morocco in the west to Bahrain in the east all the way to Somalia in the south.While local dialects vary from country to country and even within nations, I will focus on Modern Standard Arabic, the language of the media, of government decrees and of academic settings. Specifically, I will enhance my writing, speaking, listening and reading skills for active participation in informal and formal exchanges on a variety of topics. The purpose of joining language proficiency and disciplinary specialization is to provide me with the communicative skills and intellectual background necessary for a meaningful engagement with the Arab world and a critical appreciation of its cultural and intellectual traditions.
To focus these academic subjects into the region of the Middle East and North Africa will enable me to create a wide lens through which I can further build my understanding of the political, economic, and social issues in the area. It will provide strong foreign language speaking and writing skills, an ability to recognize and use interdisciplinary approaches within the field, to study migrational patterns or inter-faith relationships overtime, advance critical thinking and evaluation skills, progress my understanding of politically sensitive issues, such as nationalism, political Islam and state feminism, as well as advance my written and oral communication. In short, this major will allow me to develop the skills necessary to critically engage, research and learn with unique perspectives.