CAMES Masters Program

Courses

Admissions

Financial Aid

The M.A. program at CAMES is an interdisciplinary program with the goal of helping students to acquire a sound grounding in a particular academic discipline, in the Arabic language and in the civilizations of the Middle East. The M.A. program takes two years to complete and requires a thesis.

The program focuses on current methodologies and approaches to the general field of Middle Eastern scholarship. Beyond the required core seminar and Arabic courses, students structure their own course of study in areas such as contemporary Middle Eastern History and Archaeology, Social Sciences, Middle Eastern Politics, and Arabic language and literature. The courses and the thesis requirement encourage students' critical and independent thinking and the undertaking of in-depth analytical research. CAMES is committed to the study of the Arabic language and offers courses at all levels in coordination with the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages as well as a six-week intensive course in the summer.

Courses

MEST 301 - Introduction to the Middle East (3 cr.)
A general seminar in Middle Eastern Studies designed to introduce students to the interdisciplinary study of the Middle East. Faculty from the various departments associated with CAMES such as History and Archaeology, Philosophy, Arabic, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Economics and Political Science are asked to present one or two seminars that illustrate the approaches and methodologies used in their respective fields to study the region.

MEST 310- Seminar in Early Islamic History (3 cr.)

A seminar that provides a social and intellectual introduction to approximately the first five hundred years of Arabic Islamic history, using a thematic rather than chronological approach.

MEST 311- Special Topics in Medieval  Islamic Cultural History (3 cr.)

A seminar that investigates topics within the cultural history of Islam during the medieval period using a historiographical rather than a historical approach.

MEST 315- Special Topics in Modern Middle Eastern Social and Political History (3 cr.)

The purpose of this seminar is to investigate topics within society and politics in the modern Arab Middle East.

MEST 316- Special Topics in Modern Arabic Cultural and Intellectual History (3 cr.) The purpose of this seminar is to investigate intellectual life in the Arab Middle East from the Nahda (Literary Renaissance) of the mid-Nineteenth century until the present day.

MEST 302 and MEST 305 - Graduate Tutorial (3 cr. each)

With permission from CAMES, students may take a graduate tutorial on a topic to be agreed upon with the professor.

MEST 321/322 - Arabic as a Foreign Language I and II (3 cr. each)
A thorough course in basic literary Arabic, with emphasis on the vocabulary of modern literature, the press and current affairs. Grammar and structure taught enable the students to read, understand and translate, from and into Arabic, within a tightly controlled syntactical milieu.

MEST 323/324 - Arabic as a Foreign Language III and IV (3 cr. each).

A continuation of the approach begun in MEST 321 and 322.

MEST 325/326 - Arabic as a Foreign Language V and VI (3 cr. each).

The main goal for this level is to reach a superior level of proficiency. Reading texts contain options, hypotheses and intellectual discussions, in addition to selections from classical Arabic literature. Grammar consists of largely details, such as full conjugation of "irregular" verb classes and fine points of complex sentence structure. Instruction is totally in Arabic. Prerequisite MEST 323/324 or equivalent.

MEST 340/240- Introduction to Lebanese Arabic (3 cr.)

This course is for non-native speakers of Arabic only. The course builds proficiency in Lebanese Arabic through the introduction of the grammatical features of the Lebanese dialect and the practice of interactive functional skills, including listening comprehension, conversation tasks, and vocabulary building. Prerequisite consent of the instructor.

MEST 341 Intermediate Lebanese Arabic (3 cr.)

This course is for foreign speakers of Arabic only. Intermediate Lebanese Arabic is a continuation of Introduction to Lebanese Arabic. The course emphasizes the further development of conversational skills in Lebanese Arabic, and will therefore target primarily speaking and listening skills. This course concentrates on increasing students'  vocabulary and command of syntax enabling students to reach a higher level of fluency.

MEST 342 Advanced Lebanese Arabic

This course is designed to meet the needs and expectations of non-native young adults and adults who are seeking to develop a comfortable level of proficiency in a variety of complicated communicative tasks and social situations. It focuses on spoken rather than written Arabic, and will therefore target primarily the oral/aural skills; speaking and listening.

MEST 399 - M.A. Thesis

Other courses

In addition to the CAMES courses above, students choose the remainder of their courses from any of the following departments: History and Archaeology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arabic and Near Eastern Languages, Political Studies and Public Administration, and Economics. You may check the online catalogue for courses in these departments.

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Admissions
Applicants with backgrounds from most fields of study are eligible to apply for admission into the CAMES M.A. program, usually provided they have had some exposure to Middle Eastern Studies. A complete application includes the application form, two letters of recommendation, copies of all post-secondary transcripts, GRE and TOEFL scores, and the application fee. Native English speakers and graduates of universities in which the language of instruction is English may be exempt from TOEFL. For more details, please contact the Admissions Office. Applications will not be evaluated until the Admissions Office receives all supporting material. You may check the AUB Admissions Office web page and download an application. Students should have a GPA of at least 80 or 3.0 and good recommendations to be considered for admission into the CAMES MA program. Since spaces in the program are limited, the admissions process to CAMES is quite competitive.