MA in Middle Eastern History

OVERVIEW

The MAMEH program aims to give students a detailed, intellectual and objective understanding of the political and social history of the Middle East. The program requires students to learn both Hebrew and Arabic, participate in thought-provoking seminars, complete a wide range of courses, and submit a thesis. Conducted in English, the program is offered through Tel Aviv University’s prestigious Department of Middle Eastern and African History.

CURRICULUM

The MAMEH program calls for a two-year period of study. The requirements for the degree include:

1. Seminars
2. Hebrew and Arabic Language Studies
3. Thesis

1. SEMINARS

Students participate in nine seminars within their first three semesters. Each seminar earns three credits for a total of 27 credits. Three of the seminars are required, the remaining six are electives. Students must present one paper for each seminar.

Required Seminars

Selected Problems in Islamic History:

The course addresses the rise of Islam in its seventh-century environment, its expansion and the creation of a world empire and a world civilization based on Islam, up to the end of the Middle Ages.

Ottoman History:

From the creation of the empire to its fall; the course examines topics concerned with social, economic, institutional, political, gender and diplomatic history of the empire that ruled most of the Middle East for the four centuries up to the First World War.

History of the Modern Middle East:

The course presents a detailed overview of the history of the region in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It examines the history of contact with the West during the last two centuries, processes of Westernization, the relations of religion and the state in the Middle East, and more.

Note: (Selected Problems in Islamic History, History of the Modern Middle East and Ottoman History must be taken in the first semester of the program.)

Elective Seminars

Different elective seminars are offered every year, covering a wide range of topics. In the third semester of the program, in preparation for the thesis students participate in an Independent Study course.

In any given semester, between four and eight seminars are offered. The seminars listed below include most of those offered in recent years, and are a guide to the range of seminars which are available in any cycle of two years.

• The Arabian Peninsula; History of Political Development, Social Change and Security Dilemmas
• Political Islam: Social Roots of Radical Ideology
• Historical Controversies in the Social Issues of the Modern Middle East
• Religion and State in the Contemporary Middle East
• Ideological Trends in the Modern Middle East
• The Muslim Republics in the former Soviet Union: History, Politics and Society
• Iran: Between Islam and the West
• The History of the Ottoman Empire
• The Middle East :1914 to the Present
• Issues in Middle Eastern Studies
• Syria in the Twentieth Century
• The Great Powers in the Middle East
• The Arab Minority in Israel: Political Orientation and Social Change
• State, Society and Security of the Arab Gulf States
• Russian Policy towards the Middle East
• The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: An Introduction
• Education and the Making of Modern Iran

Students receive a detailed course booklet, including complete syllabi, lecture outlines, reading lists and specific course requirements for each of the seminars, at the academic orientation session at the start of each semester in the Tel Aviv University.

2. LANGUAGE STUDIES

There is no language prerequisite required for entrance to the MAMEH program however there is a language proficiency requirement for completion of the degree. Students have the option to learn an additional Middle Eastern language if they are already proficient in either Hebrew or Arabic.

Hebrew: By the completion of the program, students must reach an advanced level of Hebrew proficiency. An Intensive Hebrew Language Program (Ulpan) is offered prior to the Fall semester, taught at all levels. Students may also take Hebrew during the academic year, until the required level of the language has been mastered.

Arabic: Students attend Arabic language courses during their first year of study. At the end of the first year an additional five-week intensive Arabic course is required.

3. THESIS

Students should expect to spend the fourth semester of the program preparing, researching, and writing a thesis to complete the M.A. degree.

Students will work closely with a thesis advisor while completing each aspect of their thesis project. Thesis advisors will generally be a member of TAU's Department of Middle Eastern and African History.

Note: Students, who wish to continue on to doctoral studies at Tel Aviv University, may apply to the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, under whose auspices this program is held.

RECOMMENDED READING

The following is a list of recommended reading for the MAMEH program:

• Abrahamian, E. Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton, 1982
• Batatu, H. The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq. Princeton, 1978
• Ben-Dor, G State and Conflict in the Middle East. Boulder, 1983
• Dann, U. King Hussein and the Challenge of Arab Radicalism: Jordan, 1955-1967. New York, 1989.
• Eickelman, Dale F. The Middle East: An Anthropological Approach. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1989
• Fromkin, David. A Peace to End All Peace. New York, 1989
• Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York, 1973
• Gellner, Ernest. Muslim Society. Cambridge, 1981
• Goitein, S.D. A Mediterranean Society. 5 vols. Chicago, 1974
• Hourani, Albert. Arabic thought in the Liberal Age, 1798-1939. Cambridge, U.K., rep. 1983
• Issawi, Charles. An Economic History of the Middle East and North Africa. New York, 1982
• Kerr, Malcolm, H. The Arab Cold War 1958-1970. New York, 1971
• Khoury, Philip S. Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920-1945. Princeton, 1987.
• Lewis, B. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. Oxford, 1968
• Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York, 1979
• Salibi, K.S. The Modern History of Lebanon. London, 1968.
• Seale, Patrick. The Struggle for Syria: A Study of Post-War Arab Politics, 1945-1958. 2nd ed. New Haven, 1987.
• Vatikiotis, P.J. The History of Egypt: From Muhammad Ali to Sadat. 2nd ed. Baltimore, 1980.
• Yapp, M.E. The Making of the Modern Near East, 1792-1923. London, 1987. -The Near East Since the First World War. London, 1991.
• Zamir, Meir. The Formation of Modern Lebanon. Ithaca, 1985.