Program in Contemporary Middle-Eastern Studies

Summer 2010 Course OFferings:

Summer Session I (June 5 – July 7)

POL 316: The Politics of Yemen and the Arab Middle East: This course examines the political history of the two Yemens (“North” and “South”) and unified Yemen against the background of the political and economic development of the Arab Middle East. It focuses on how the two Yemens, latecomers to the "modern world" and "modern politics", encountered and responded differently to that world and its politics. It also focuses on how the very different Yemens of the 1980s dealt with each other and on the politics leading to and following Yemeni unification in 1990. Class Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Robert D. Burrowes

ECO 201: Economic Development in the Middle East, the case of Yemen:
Class Syllabus and course description available by March 15th, 2010.
Instructor: Dr. Mahmoud Al-Iriani

Summer Session II (July 10 – August 11)

ANTH 201: The Anthropology of Yemen: This course intends to introduce students to the anthropology of Yemen. Topics to be examined will include the historical development of the unified Yemeni state, the role of tribes in Yemen’s past and present, the contrast of rural and urban social organization, and notions of gender and gender performance. In addition to these social structure topics, as Yemen is the poorest of the Arabian Peninsula states, development policies and implications in Yemen and throughout the region will be discussed.
While anthropology provides the courses means of analysis, the course is structured so that students do not require any previous anthropology coursework or knowledge. Class room sessions will include lecture, video, discussion and guest lectures. To insure students acquire some understanding of Yemen’s physical and social diversity, a significant portion of the course will be conducted through on-site visits to museums, social events and regions presented in the readings or addressed in class. Class Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Thomas B. Stevenson

More courses are to be announced soon…

Students enrolling in a PCMES course are encourage to study Arabic at the same time as we believe that you cannot study a people without understanding their language. As an incentive, the YCMES is therefore including Arabic instruction into the PCMES Summer packages at NO EXTRA COST. Simply check the prices here !

The PCMES offers a wide range of university-level courses on contemporary Middle East Studies. The faculty is comprised of the world’s most distinguished regional specialists, most of whom hold professorial appointments at leading universities.

Courses for students enrolled in the PCMES are offered in two fourteen-week semesters (fall and spring). There is a three-week winter session for students wishing to travel, do research, or take an intensive Arabic course, as well as a ten-week summer school session, when courses are more concentrated in time and content. A student may enroll for only one semester or for the whole year, depending on individual needs and interests, though for those students pursuing a comprehensive and integrated course of instruction on the study of the contemporary Middle East, the equivalent of a full year of instruction or more is encouraged. Whatever the length of study, the student will receive a grade transcript after completing the course of study. A special certificate will be awarded to those students who successfully complete the recommended Program in Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies.

Students will consult with the associate dean and faculty members to help plan their course of study and discuss their developing intellectual interests in the Middle East.

College enrollment is kept small, in an effort to make both student-to-faculty as well as student-to-student interactions more accessible and appealing. At the same time, the College tries to maintain diversity by welcoming qualified students not only of different gender, race, and class but also at different levels of education (undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate) and of varied professional backgrounds. In the context of a diverse college, it is hoped that students will be able to learn as much from their peers and their varied experiences in the Middle East as they will from their instructors.

Classes are conducted in English. In exceptional cases, instruction can be offered in Arabic, depending on student preparation. For the most part classes are in seminar format; however, lectures and cultural performances are periodically presented to the whole student body and independent studies with particular professors on specialized topics are possible (where instructor availability permits). While the course work of most classes is equivalent to the average U.S. undergraduate work-load (averaging four books, or the equivalent thereof in articles, per semester), it may contain a separate graduate component with a greater number of required readings or simply more challenging and specialized assignments. Depending on the nature of the course, the class might include field trips to various places in Yemen or supervised site visits for limited (and approved) research purposes.

While the study of the region’s pre-history and pre-modern history (pre-Islamic, early Islamic and medieval Islamic periods) is often well served at European and U.S. universities that offer instruction on the Middle East, the study of the contemporary Middle East is often underrepresented, if represented at all, at these same institutions. To offset this imbalance, the College’s curriculum focuses on the study of the contemporary Middle East, with historical courses offered to students who feel the need for such background.

Courses range in topic (e.g., religion, gender, development, and politics) and discipline (e.g., anthropology, economics, geography, history, literature and the arts, political science, and sociology), but individual courses are usually inter-disciplinary in any case. A limited number of basic courses are offered each term (though taught on the basis of sufficient demand of five or more students per course) to reflect what the College considers to be important regional knowledge expected of any student concentrating or majoring in contemporary Middle Eastern studies. A set of more specialized courses is also offered each term, representing a range of topics that will vary depending on faculty specialization as well as student interest.

The expectation is that most (though not necessarily all) students will take Arabic language courses at the Program in Arabic Language while majoring in contemporary Middle Eastern studies at the College, and they will consult with a faculty advisor to strike a balance between the two. Year-long course work minimally required for such a concentration includes four basic courses (200-level) and two specialized courses (300-level), if students are concurrently enrolled in Arabic language classes. If not, in addition to the basic courses they are required to take four specialized courses. A Certificate in Arabic and Contemporary Middle East Studies is issued to the student who has successfully completed the year-long program.

Visiting faculty members in the Program for Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies are rotated annually. The YCMES chooses its faculty members based on their academic specialty, Yemeni research background, and academic undergraduate teaching experience. The faculty is comprised of both highly-qualified international and Yemeni professors. Renowned international professors from tenured positions at leading Western universities are invited by the YCMES for semester or year-long teaching positions. Distinguished Yemeni professors are invited for teaching positions from Yemeni institutions, and all have experience in Western academic establishments and are fluent in English. The combination of visiting international and Yemeni professors offers students a first-rate, diverse academic program that evolves every year.

2008-2009 Academic Year

Dr. Miriam Cooke, Arabic Literature and Women's Studies, Duke University

Dr. Bruce Lawrence, Islamic Studies, Duke University

Dr. Nancy Um, Islamic Art and Architectural History, SUNY Binghamton

Dr. Ahmed Saif, Politics of the contemporary Middle East, Sheba Center for Strategic Studies

Dr. Laurent Bonnefoy, Political Anthropology, Institute of Research and Studies on the Arabic and Islamic World, Université d' Aix-en-Provence

2009-2010 Academic Year

Dr. Robert Burrowes, Political Science, University of Washington (retired)

Dr. Thomas Stevenson, Anthropology, Ohio University

Dr. Katherine Hennessey, Arabic Literature, Bethlehem University

More to be announced at a later date...