Liberal Arts: Middle East Pluralities Major

The study of the Middle East has become a lens through which one can begin to understand the world at large. Over the last 35 years, international events like the Arab Spring and Iran’s Green Movement, have incited increased inquiry into this region’s history, religion, politics, international relations, sociology, geography, economics, culture, and literature. Issues like the economic might and political muscle of the Gulf States, the implications of the rise of political and radical Islam in the world, and growing Islamophobia in the West require scholarly investigation. Within this major, you will use the social sciences and the humanities to observe and engage with the broad Middle East, as a region composed of countries with important distinctions and similarities, which has had a significant impact across the globe.