Arabic Major

Program Requirements

  • Total Units Required: 24 advanced, in addition to prerequisites
  • Grade Requirement: Students must maintain a B average in all courses for the major; Grades of B- or higher must be earned in each language course in order to advance to the next level; Pass/No Pass grades do not count toward the prerequisites or the major.

Prerequisites

  • 1000- and 2000-level Arabic, by coursework or by placement exam. (A student who skips the first four semesters of Arabic courses by placement exam must successfully complete ARAB 3010 Third-Level Arabic I. Students who complete the third-level language course with a grade of B- or better will receive 6 units of back credit.) 
  • JIMES 2081 Introduction to Jewish Civilization: History and Identity and JIMES 2100 Introduction to Islamic Civilization. (Students with substantial prior coursework may substitute an additional upper-level course with permission of their advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies.)

Requirements

  • 12 credits in 3000- and 4000-level language courses
ARAB 3010Third-Level Arabic I3
ARAB 3011Third-Level Arabic II3
ARAB 4051Fourth-Level Arabic I3
ARAB 4061Fourth-Level Arabic II3
  • 6 credits distributed as the student wishes, in other 3000- and 4000-level JIMES courses such as, but not limited to, the following (please confirm applicability of a course with your advisor):
JIMES 3510Muhammad: His Life and Legacy3
JIMES 3520Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi: Genre-Fiction in Arabic Literature3
JIMES 3740Of Dishes, Taste, and Class; History of Food in the Middle East3
JIMES 3770History of Slavery in the Middle East3
JIMES 4043Race and Ethnicity in the Middle East and North Africa3
ARAB 4130Topics in Modern Arabic Literature in Translation3
  • At least 3 credits in 3000- and 4000-level courses in a JIMES culture other than that of the selected language tradition such as, but not limited to, the following (please confirm applicability of a course with your advisor):
JIMES 3036Antisemitism: History, Causes, and Consequences3
JIMES 3232Religion and Nationalism in the Middle East & South Asia3
JIMES 3410Jews and American Popular Culture3
JIMES 3562Exodus3
JIMES 3661The Sephardic Experience: 1492 to the Present3
JIMES 3750In the Beginning: Creation Myths of the Biblical World3
  • 3 credits in a departmental capstone course to be taken during the senior year (Students may take this course during their junior year with permission of their advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies.) Capstone courses include, but are not limited to, the following (please check the course listings in a given semester to see which Capstone is being offered or consult with your advisor):
JIMES 4002Capstone Seminar3
JIMES 4009Beyond Geography: The Meaning of Place in the Near East3
JIMES 4062Conflict or Convivencia? Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Spain3

Additional Information

Students enrolled in preapproved Washington University study abroad programs during the regular academic semester can earn a maximum of 9 credits subject to review by their advisor and the director of undergraduate studies. Summer programs and transfer courses can be granted as many as 6 credits subject to review by the student's advisor and the director of undergraduate studies. A limit of 9 credits in total can be applied to the major whether the credits are earned via study abroad, summer programs, or transfer credit. For more information about preapproved study abroad programs, please visit the Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies Study Abroad Programs website.

Students must maintain a B average in all courses for the major. A grade of B- or higher must be earned in each language course in order to advance to the next level.

No course taken Pass/No Pass can count toward the prerequisites or the major.

A student may request credit for courses taken outside of the department by seeking the permission of the director of undergraduate studies and the department chair.

To be eligible to write a senior thesis, a student must maintain a grade point average of 3.65 through the sixth semester. Senior thesis writers should sign up for an appropriate 3-credit course during both the fall and spring semesters. (The 6 credits from these courses may be applied to the primary area of study.)

Contact Info

Phone:314-935-8567
Email:jimes@wustl.edu
Website:http://jimes.wustl.edu