Likewise, a great deal of scholarship has explored connections between the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and other Indian Ocean trade routes. Thus, in many Middle Eastern and North African Studies courses, these connections and contacts are explored. Intellectual inquiry does not stop at a program’s borders, whatever they are. In addition, Middle Eastern and North African Studies faculty recognize that the borders of the region studied in the Middle Eastern and North African Studies program are contested and that terms such as ‘Middle East and North Africa’ have problematic histories. Faculty who teach in the Middle Eastern and North African Studies program are committed to questioning definitions.
Bowdoin College’s initiative in Middle Eastern and North African studies oversees students’ interdisciplinary study of this region. Students minoring in Middle Eastern and North African studies take courses in a Middle Eastern language and in relevant courses in at least two other disciplines.
Middle Eastern and North African studies minors will improve their ability to analyze historic and current events in the region, and will understand how accurate, informed conclusions require both nuance and a recognition of complexity.
For more information about the related Arabic minor, visit the Arabic site.
