The minor in Middle East and North Africa studies requires a minimum of 24 credits, at least 12 of which must be upper division.

• A minimum of 16 credits must be taken in residence.
• 20 credits must be taken for graded credit.
• A maximum of 16 credits may overlap with a student’s major or other minor.
• Courses applied to the minor must be passed with a grade of C- or P.

Course Requirements

Students must complete each of the following areas to earn the minor.

Core Courses (8 credits)

Students must take MENA 111 Media Coverage of the Middle East, plus one of the following courses:

• ANTH 250 Introduction to Middle Eastern Studies
• GEOG 209 Geography of the Middle East
• GLBL 423 Development of the Muslim World
• PS 199 Crisis in the Middle East
• COLT 231, 370, 461, or 470 (with Professor Michael Allan, and in consultation with MENA advisor)

Social Sciences Electives (8 credits)

The following courses (each 4 credits) have been approved as electives for the MENA undergraduate minor. For questions or specifics, please contact the MENA director.

• ANTH 250: Introduction to Middle East Studies
• ANTH 342: Archaeology of Egypt and Near East
• ANTH 429: Jewish Folklore and Ethnology
• CRES 410: Experimental Course: [Topic], when Topic is “Working Abroad”
• CRES 410: Experimental Course: [Topic], when Topic is “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”
• CRES 435: Israel and Palestine
• GEOG 209: Geography of the Middle East and North Africa
• GLBL 323: Islam and Global Forces
• GLBL 423: Development and the Muslim World
• HC 431H: Honors College Social Science Colloquium: [Topic], when Topic is “The Politics of Human Rights)
• HC 431H: Honors College Social Science Colloquium: [Topic], when Topic is “The Problem with Genocide and Mass Atrocity”
• HC 434H, Honors College International Cultures Colloquium: [Topic], when Topic is “Middle East Peace”
• HIST 325: Precolonial Africa (HIST 325)
• HIST 417: Society and Culture in Modern Africa: [Topic]
• HIST 419: African Regional Histories: [Topic]
• HIST 450: The Iraq War
• JDST 212: Medieval and Early Modern Judaism
• JDST 213: The Jewish Encounter with Modernity
• JDST 352: Jewish Literature and Culture
• JDST 353: Jewish Image and the Media
• JDST 354: Jewish Thought and History
• PS 199: Special Studies: [Topic], when Topic is “Crisis in the Middle East”
• PS 384: Nuclear Politics in the Middle East
• PS 399: Special Studies: [Topic], when Topic is “Nuclear Politics of the Middle East”
• PS 399: Special Studies: [Topic], when Topic is “Politics of North Africa”

Humanities Electives (8 credits)

The following courses (each 4 credits) have been approved as electives for the MENA undergraduate minor. For questions or specifics, please contact the MENA director.

• ARB 201: Second-Year Arabic
• ARB 202: Second-Year Arabic
• ARB 203: Second-Year Arabic
• ARB 301: Language and Culture
• ARB 302: Language and Culture
• ARB 303: Language and Culture
• ARB 331: Reading Classical Arabic
• ARB 353: Arab Cinema
• ARB 410: Experimental Course: [Topic] (past topics include “Shiism” and “1001 Arabian Nights”)
• ARB 411: Classical Arabic Sources
• ARH 321: Ancient Jewish Art
• ARH 325: Islamic Art & Architecture
• ARH 382: Arts of the Silk Road
• COLT 231: Literature and Society (only if taught by Michael Allan)
• COLT 370: Comparative Comics (only if taught by Michael Allan)
• COLT 461: Studies in Contemporary Theory: Colonialism and Postcolonial Theory (only if taught by Michael Allan)
• COLT 462: Cultural Intersections: Orientalism (only if taught by Michael Allan)
• COLT 470: Studies in Identity: [Topic] (only if taught by Michael Allan)
• FLR 350: Folklore and the Bible
• FLR 411: Folklore and Religion
• HBRW 111: Biblical Hebrew I
• HBRW 112: Biblical Hebrew II
• HBRW 113: Biblical Hebrew III
• HBRW 311: Biblical Narrative
• HBRW 312: Biblical Poetry
• HBRW 313: Postbiblical Literature
• REL 102: World Religions: Near Eastern Traditions
• REL 211: Early Judaism
• REL 222: Introduction to the Bible I
• REL 223: Introduction to the Bible II
• REL 233: Introduction to Islam
• REL 317: Jesus and the Gospels
• REL 321: History of Christianity
• REL 324: History of Eastern Christianity
• REL 325: History of Eastern Christianity
• REL 335: Introduction to the Qur’an
• REL 355: Mysticism
• REL 357: War, Terrorism & Religion
• REL 410: Experimental Course: [Topic], when Topic is “Islamic Origins”
• REL 410: Experimental Course: [Topic], when Topic is “Islamic Law and Society”
• REL 414: Biblical Book: [Topic]
• REL 418: Martyrdom
• REL 432: Islamic Mysticism: [Topic]
• TA 472: Multicultural Theater: [Topic], when topic is “Israeli and Palestinian Theater”
• TA 472: Multicultural Theater: [Topic], when topic is “Middle Eastern Theater”
• WGS 410: Experimental Course: [Topic], when topic is “Muslim Women: Life and Identity”

Area of Concentration

Choose an area of concentration in consultation with the MENA advisor. The MENA Language option is strongly encouraged for the minor; however, two other concentration options are available.

• Middle Eastern/North African language (one-year proficiency minimum; second-year language completion may fulfill the humanities electives requirement)
• Study abroad (8 credits; may fulfill the social science and/or humanities electives requirements)
• Research paper (4 credits; may be applied to the social science and/or humanities electives requirements)

Related Language Programs

The University of Oregon offers the following language programs for students pursuing a MENA minor.

Arabic

Department: Arabic Studies (Religious Studies)
Number of users worldwide: 420 million
Offerings: Levels 100-300, Minor
Region affiliations: Middle East and Africa

Today, Arabic is the native language of over 300 million speakers in North Africa and West Asia. Arabic is also the primary language for Islamic scholarship from the seventh century to the present and has historically functioned as a lingua franca for the entire Muslim scholarly world. Arabic has long served as the spoken and written language for a number of other confessional communities (Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Mandeans, and others).

French

Department: Romance Languages
Number of users worldwide: 220 million
Offerings: Levels 100-600, SLAT, Minor, BA, Master’s, PhD
Region affiliations: Europe, Middle East and Africa, The Americas

French is spoken in more than 50 countries worldwide, is an official language in 29 countries, and maintains its status as a major language of culture, diplomacy, and economics. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, established in 1970 and usually referred to as “La Francophonie,” includes 53 member states on several continents. French is a passport to much of the world!

In the French sector in the Department of Romance Languages, we teach courses ranging from beginning language instruction through graduate seminars designed for master's and PhD students. Our language courses emphasize real-world proficiency as well as the history and culture of the Francophone world. Our upper-division and graduate courses cover a broad range of geographic areas and historical periods of French cultural production.

Our teaching faculty includes experts in the French of France, Québec, the Caribbean, and Africa. Our work is highly interdisciplinary, and French faculty are members of programs including African studies, comparative literature, European studies, medieval studies, and women’s and gender studies.

Hebrew

Department: Judaic Studies
Offerings: Levels 100-300, BA
Region Affiliations: Middle East and Africa

Hebrew has gone through periods of strength and weakness during its unique history. At the end of the nineteenth century, the process of the Hebrew language revival began by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda. This revival process is considered one of the rarest successful examples of reviving a dead language. As a result, Modern Hebrew became the official language of the state of Israel (1948), and today is used by 10 million (Jewish and non-Jewish) people worldwide.

The program offers a major leading to a bachelor of arts (BA) degree and minor. It sponsors courses, lectures, and other events of interest to the general student population and the wider community.

Persian/Farsi

Department: Yamada Language Center
Number of users worldwide: 110 million
Offerings: LT 199 – Self-Study Program
Region affiliations: Middle East and Africa

Farsi, or Persian, is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in Iran with dialects spoken in Afghanistan (Dari) and Tajikistan (Tajik). It has a wide range of influence from the Turkic languages and Arabic but is still distinctively its own. There are 110 million speakers of Farsi in the world. Though Iran is adjacent to Arab countries and Farsi uses the Arabic script, the culture and language is distinguishable. Farsi has added letters to the Arabic alphabet and has its own pronunciation.

Turkish

Department: Yamada Language Center
Number of users worldwide: 88 million
Offerings: LT 199 – Self-Study Program
Region affiliations: Europe, Middle East and Africa

Turkish, also referred to as Istanbul Turkish, is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with about 75 million speakers in Turkey and in 35 other countries, including Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iran, Iraq and Israel.

Turkish culture is unique in the world in that it has influenced and has been influenced by cultures and civilizations from China to Vienna and from Russian steppes to North Africa for over a millennium. Turkish culture reflects this unparalleled cultural richness and diversity, and remains mostly shaped by its deep roots in Middle East, Anatolia, and Balkans, the cradle of many civilizations for at least 12,000 years.