Middle East & North Africa Studies

The interdisciplinary Middle East & North Africa Studies (MENA) program, part of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, coordinates a remarkably strong array of more than 80 undergraduate courses with focus on the culture and politics of the MENA region. (MENA is defined in this context as comprising the Arabic-, Hebrew-, Persian-, and Turkish-speaking areas of the world.) Central to the MENA program’s research and teaching mission is our commitment to providing students with a safe, smart academic space to explore, deepen, and perhaps revise their ideas and beliefs about this contested region.

For students enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences, the program offers a solid and flexible major in Middle East & North Africa Studies. Bridging humanities and social sciences, the major is known for its rigorous language work: our students learn one or more of the four MENA languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian/Farsi, and Turkish) that are taught, from beginning to advanced levels, in the CAS Department of World Languages & Literatures. Study abroad is strongly encouraged for all interested students and is well integrated with requirements for the MENA major. BU currently sponsors one study abroad program in the MENA region, in Haifa, Israel.