Why study Middle East and North African Studies at BU?

  • Because Middle East and North Africa-interested BU students need an interdisciplinary place to become familiar with the history, arts, religions, and politics of the region, and to build cultural competence and language proficiency
  • Because BU offers Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, AND Turkish
  • Because BU offers more than 80 undergraduate courses on Middle Eastern and North African topics
  • Because BU offers study abroad programs in Rabat (Morocco); Haifa (Israel); and Istanbul (Turkey).

What will the MENA Studies Major give you?

  • Coursework on Middle Eastern languages, art, history, cultures, religions and politics
  • Access to professors across the university who are experts in this important region
  • Balance of social science and humanities courses
  • Opportunity to attain real proficiency in one MENA language and to sample several
  • Encouragement to study abroad in the region
  • Sense of community with other MENA Studies majors, from a sophomore mini-seminar to co-curricular events, and research projects culminating in a senior conference
  • A safe, smart academic space to explore, deepen, and perhaps revise your beliefs and ideas about the region
  • If you play it right, a job after graduation. For instance: three of the Middle Eastern languages taught at BU are on the State Department’s “critical languages” list (i.e., where it is considered in the national interest to have more speakers)

Where can you get more info?

Visit our website at http://www.bu.edu/mena/