Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies

The acquisition of oral/aural skills through intensive exposure to Arabic used both as the medium of communication and the object of study. It enables the student accurately to express his or her daily experiences in spoken and written Arabic, and to understand communications of a moderate level of difficulty.

An overview of literary writing by authors of Arab descent in the United States from the early 20th century until today. Through texts by Khalil Gibran, Ameen  Rihani, Diana Abu Jaber, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mohja Kahf, Hisham Mattar, Etaf Rum and others, we will explore themes such as immigration, social change,  human rights, cross-cultural encounters, the situation of Arab and Muslim Americans before and after 9/11, and more. Course will be taught in English.

This course is designed to expose students to the multifaceted nature of conflict on the inter and intra state levels, historically, and in the current post Cold War period. This objective will be achieved by exploring the sources, causes, environmental impact, and determinants of conflict, presenting the various perspectives on the genesis and the amelioration of conflict, and utilizing some case method analysis to demonstrate the life cycles of some specific conflicts and the management or resolution thereof. The cases vary each semester but have included the following: The Middle East Conflict, the Anglo-Irish Conflict, the Gulf War (and now the second war against Iraq), the war on terrorism, and the conflict in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The course also covers the spread of radical fundamentalist Islam as a source of conflict in the Post Cold War World and specifically with regard to the “War on Terror.”

A survey of the international and domestic factors that shape contemporary U.S. national security policy and strategy. The course provides a brief introduction to traditional conceptions of military strategy and the use of force, examines the extent to which domestic political factors influence national security policy-making, and explores the merits and shortfalls of future national security strategies. Topics discussed include civil-military relations, leadership and accountability, terrorism, peacemaking and peacekeeping, and resource management.