The Middle East Studies Minor requires a total of 45 credits, taken from the following groups:

• Foundations Courses: 12 credits

• Supporting Courses: 30 credits

• Capstone seminar: 3 credits

* The Middle East Studies minor does not have a language requirement. However, students who are considering graduate studies or a career in the field are strongly encouraged to pursue one of the Middle Eastern languages offered at Carleton, Arabic or Hebrew. 

* No more than 24 credits may be from any one department.

45 credits completed as follows:

Foundations Courses

12 credits from the following list. Once you have fulfilled the core requirement, further courses from among these five may serve as electives. No credits from OCS programs may substitute.

  • ARBC 144: Arabic Literature at War · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARBC 185: The Creation of Classical Arabic Literature · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARTH 155: Islamic Art and Architecture · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 165: A Cultural History of the Modern Middle East · not offered in 2024-25
  • MEST 148: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
  • POSC 242: Middle East Politics
  • RELG 120: Introduction to Judaism
  • RELG 122: Introduction to Islam
  • RELG 162: Jesus, the Bible, and Christian Beginnings · not offered in 2024-25
  • Other 100-level classes (with director’s approval).

Supporting Courses

30 credits from among the following two groups, with a minimum of 12 in each. Up to 12 credits from approved OCS programs may count toward this total (with MES director approval), but these must be from OCS courses with a content focus (not language instruction).

Group 1, History, Social Sciences, Religion (12 credit minimum)

  • AFST 130: Global Islam and Blackness · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARCN 395: Archaeology: Science, Ethics, Nationalism and Cultural Property · not offered in 2024-25
  • CLAS 122: The Archaeology of Mediterranean Prehistory: From the Beginning to the Classical Age · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 131: Saints and Society in Late Antiquity · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 233: The Byzantine World and Its Neighbors, 750-ca. 1453
  • HIST 260: The Making of the Modern Middle East · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 265: Central Asia in the Modern Age · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 267: Muslims and Modernity · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 284: History, Culture, and Commerce Africa and Arabia Program: Heritage in Africa and Arabia · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 285: History, Culture, and Commerce Africa and Arabia Program: Critical Historical Research · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 360: Muslims and Modernity · not offered in 2024-25
  • POSC 235: The Endless War on Terror
  • POSC 282: Terrorism and Counterterrorism · not offered in 2024-25
  • POSC 324: Rebels and Risk Takers: Women and War In the Middle East
  • RELG 162: Jesus, the Bible, and Christian Beginnings · not offered in 2024-25
  • RELG 221: Judaism and Gender
  • RELG 235: Religion and Identity in the Medieval Middle East · not offered in 2024-25
  • RELG 265: Religion and Violence: Hindus, Muslims, Jews
  • RELG 266: Modern Islamic Thought · not offered in 2024-25
  • RELG 285: Islam in America: Race, Religion and Politics · not offered in 2024-25
  • RELG 322: Apocalypse How? · not offered in 2024-25
  • SOAN 151: Global Minnesota: An Anthropology of Our State · not offered in 2024-25
  • SOAN 201: Colonialism, Oil, And The War On Terror: The Global Middle East · not offered in 2024-25

Group 2, Literature, Culture, and the Arts (12 credits minimum)

  • ARBC 144: Arabic Literature at War · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARBC 185: The Creation of Classical Arabic Literature · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARBC 206: Arabic in Cultural Context
  • ARBC 222: Music in the Middle East
  • ARBC 223: Arab Music Workshop
  • ARBC 245: Modern Arab Environments · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARBC 310: Advanced Media Arabic
  • ARBC 315: Readings in Premodern Arabic Anthologies · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARBC 387: The One Thousand and One Nights · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARTH 155: Islamic Art and Architecture · not offered in 2024-25
  • CAMS 236: Israeli Society in Israeli Cinema
  • FREN 350: Middle East and French Connection
  • FREN 360: The Algerian War of Liberation and Its Representations · not offered in 2024-25
  • MELA 230: Jewish Collective Memory
  • MUSC 304: Party Politics: Popular Music in the Middle East
  • SPAN 318: Islamic Spain · not offered in 2024-25

Capstone

  • MEST 395, Senior Colloquium, 3 credits