Courses

The Middle East Studies Major is an interdisciplinary major leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree in which students explore the myriad peoples, societies, languages, and cultures of the Near East and the Islamic worlds. The MES Major is housed in the Religious Studies Department at UCSB.

Below you’ll find two lists: 1) courses that will be offered in the upcoming quarter and 2) courses that fulfill credits towards the MES major.

Upper-Division Middle Eastern Studies Courses

Any of the following courses can be taken to fulfill the 36 UD credits required for the MES major. This course list was updated in Fall 2022.

ANTH118TS: Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
ANTH 138TS: Archaeology of Egypt
ANTH 176TS: Ancient Egyptian Religion
ARTHI 132A. Mediterranean Cities
ARTHI 132D. Islamic Architecture 650-1400
ARTHI 132E. Islamic Architecture 1400-Modern
ARTHI 132I. Art of Empire
ARTHI 132J. Modern Art of the Arab World
ARTHI 132K. The Mosque in History
ARTHI 133AAZZ. Special Topics in Islamic Art
ARTHI 186Q. Seminar in Islamic Art and ArchitectureGLOBL 112 Global Refugee MigrationHEB 114A-B-C. Readings in Modern Hebrew Prose and Poetry
HIST 111F. Achaemenid Persia, 559-330BCE
HIST 118A. The Crusades in Cross-Cultural Perspectives
HIST 118B. Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain: Conquest, Colonization, and Coexistence
HIST 119. The Crusades and the Near East, 1095-1291
HIST 145A. The Middle East I: From the Origins of Islam to the Year 1000
HIST 145B. The Middle East II: The Era of Invasions, 1000-1500
HIST 145C. The Middle East III: Early Modern Empires and Transformations, 1500-1800
HIST 145D. War and Diplomacy in the Middle East: 1876-Present
HIST 146. History of the Modern Middle East
HIST 146BQ. Readings Seminar in the Body and Revolution in Middle East History
HIST 146FR. Undergraduate Research Seminar in Family, Gender, and Sexuality in Middle East History
HIST 146Q. Readings in Middle Eastern History
HIST 146R. Undergraduate Research Seminar in Middle Eastern History
HIST 146T. History of Israel/Palestine
HIST 146W. Women and Gender in Middle Eastern History
HIST 168M. Middle Eastern Americans
HIST 171ME. The United States and the Middle East Since 1900
FAMST 122ME. Middle East Media
FAMST 166MI. Special Topics in Cultural Studies: Mediating Islam
FAMST 187IS. Topics in Film and Television Analysis: Mediating Islam
MUS 122D. Practicum in World Music Performance: Dastgah
MUS 122M. Practicum in World Music Performance: Arabic Maqam.
MUS 122N. Practicum in World Music Performance: Nay
MUS 122O. Practicum in World Music Performance: Oud
MUS 122P. Practicum in World Music Performance: Middle Eastern percussion
MUS 160E. The Arabic System of Melodic Modes: The Maqamat
MUS 168X. Umm Kulthum: Her Music, Her Life, Her Times
MUS 175F. Music Cultures of the World: The Middle East
MUS A 170N. Middle East Chorus (up to 4 units)
POL S 149. Israeli Politics
POL S 150A. Politics of the Middle East and North Africa
RG ST 102A. Muslim Diasporas and Law
RG ST 111. Religion, Politics and Marriage in the Middle East
RG ST 115A. Literature and Religion of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
RG ST 116A. The New Testament and Early Christianity
RG ST 116B. Second-Century Christianity
RG ST 119A. Introduction to Islamic Law
RG ST 119B. The Qur’an and Its Interpretations
RG ST 119C. Jihad and Just War Theory
RG ST 119D. Islam and Women
RG ST 119E. Islam and Government
RG ST 119F. History of Islamic Theology
RG ST 128A. Religion and Spirituality in the Roman Empire
RG ST 128C. The Sacred Geography of the Ancient Mediterranean World
RG ST 129. Religions of the Ancient Near East
RG ST 130. Judaism
RG ST 131A. Religions in Judea from the Maccabees to Rabbis
RG ST 131C. Judaism in the Medieval World
RG ST 131D. Judaism in Modern Times
RG ST 131F. The History of Anti-Semitism
RG ST 131H. Politics and Religion in the City: The Case of Jerusalem
RG ST 131J. Introduction to Rabbinic Literature
RG ST 132A. Holy Delight: Eros and the Sacred in Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the Song of Songs
RG ST 132B. Jewish Dream Interpretation from the Bible to Freud
RG ST 132C. Representations of Jesus in Jewish Thought from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages
RG ST 132D. Jewish Magic, the Occult, and Western Esotericism
RG ST 133C. Studies in Jewish Law
RG ST 133D. Gender in Jewish Culture
RG ST 133E. Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature
RG ST 133F. Image of Jews in Film
RG ST 137. Gnosticism and Manichaeism
RG ST 139C. Coptic Language and Literature
RG ST 140A. Islamic Traditions
RG ST 140B. Religion, Politics and Society in the Persian Gulf Region
RG ST 140C. Islamic Mysticism and Religious Thought
RG ST 140D. Islam in South Asia
RG ST 140E. Islam in America
RG ST 140F. Modern Islamic Movements
RG ST 140G. Other Islams: Alternative Forms of Muslim Religiosity
RG ST 142B. Religious Literature in Hebrew
RG ST 145. Patterns in Comparative Religion
RG ST 148. A-B-C Advanced Arabic
RS 144 The Problem of Evil in Religious Traditions
RG ST 149. Comparative Religion and Politics of the Middle East
RG ST 149D. History of Islamic Philosophy
RG ST 149H. Islamic Humanism
RG ST 149R. Islamic Philosophy and Theology
RG ST Advanced Persian 157A-B-C
RG ST 157G. Persian Cinema
RG ST 157I. Persian Media and Translation
RG ST 157J. Persian Translation
RG ST 157CP. Contemporary Persian Literature and Translation
RG ST 157PP. Classic Persian Literature and Translation
RG ST 158E-F. Intensive Advanced Persian I and II
RG ST 181B. Political Islam and the Response of Iranian Cinema
RG ST 181F. Shi’ism Before and After the Iranian Revolution
RG ST 181G. Shiism, Politics and Everyday Life
RG ST 185. Food, Religion, and Culture in the Middle East
RG ST 186B. The Arabic Qur’an
RG ST 187A. Politics of Veiling in Modern Egypt
SOC 130ME. Development and Social Change in the Middle East