Middle East Studies

Middle East Studies Director: Tamar Mayer (geography)
Office: McCardell Bicentennial Hall 314 - Telephone: 802-443-5568
E-mail: mayer@middlebury.edu
Office hours: Tue/Thu 11-12 and by appointment

A crossroads of empire and civilization from earliest recorded history, the Middle East continues to fascinate and challenge those who would know it. Even the term Middle East fails to describe the region-and not simply because of the questions, "Whose middle?" and "Whose East?" For as historians and political scientists know, both the external and internal borders of the region have shifted continually.

To understand the Middle East requires recognition of its great diversity. Some aspects of that diversity are well known and tend to define the Middle East for many-Israel and the Arab states, Shi'i and Sunni, to note the most obvious. But this is much too narrow a view, reducing the region to its political and religious conflicts.

Learning the Language

In fact, one of the greatest sources of diversity derives from what holds most of the region together, the Arabic language. Though spoken throughout the Middle East, local forms of Arabic do not readily cross borders, challenging those who move within the region and to other Arabic-speaking countries beyond. Those who meet the challenge, however, are introduced to the region's rich tapestry of art, music, and literature. Much more than a headline in the news, the Middle East is a window to the world of human experience in all of its complexity.

Language study is the core of most students' study of the Middle East, with instruction in both Arabic and Modern Hebrew available at Middlebury and at schools abroad. (Most students of Arabic spend all of part of their junior year at our program in Alexandria; students of Modern Hebrew participate in junior-year programs at various universities in Israel.)

An Interdisciplinary Approach

Many departments and programs at Middlebury offer courses related to the Middle East. In addition to language instruction, faculty in the Arabic program offer courses in literature and culture in translation. The religion department has courses on all of the region's religions (past and present). Courses in the history department survey Islamic history and compare topics across and beyond the Middle East. Political issues are explored by courses in geography and political science departments. The department of history of art and architecture has courses on Islamic art. The departments of economics, philosophy, sociology/anthropology, and film and media culture also provide disciplinary approaches to the study of the Middle East.

After Middlebury

Middlebury students who have completed the Middle East track have gone on to pursue a variety of careers. The opportunities are many and varied: journalism and media, banking, non-profits in development, governmental service (State Department, military, intelligence, public diplomacy), and teaching and research through graduate studies.

—Larry Yarborough
Pardon Tillinghast Professor of Religion

Overview

Middle East Studies combines language expertise, cultural understanding, a solid disciplinary background, interdisciplinary study, and study abroad to achieve broad knowledge about the Middle East and its place in a global context. The program emphasizes the need to understand the region from a multidisciplinary perspective. As such it includes courses in anthropology, geography, history, literature and culture, political science, religion, and sociology, and requires that students take courses about the region in both the humanities and social sciences.