What is it like being a Near Eastern Studies major?
What are common misconceptions about NES majors?
What kind of internships and international experiences have majors had?
How will Near Eastern Studies majors save the world?
Why would anyone want to date an NES major?
NES is a department that encourages interdisciplinary study of the Middle East, including its languages, cultures, history, and politics. The only strict requirement is that concentrators become proficient in one of four regional languages — Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, or Turkish. Apart from that, they must complete eight departmental courses, two junior papers and a senior thesis. Students are given a great deal of freedom in choosing their individual focus. What is common to all of them is rigorous study of various topics relating to the Near East as a region.
The relevance of Near Eastern Studies should be clear based on recent geopolitical developments. As an area studies department, NES focuses in an interdisciplinary manner on the most contentious region in the world, allowing students to develop a genuine understanding of its history, cultures and politics. Major in NES if you wish to have a deeper knowledge about the Middle East than one can gain through news media or even political science.
What is it like being a Near Eastern Studies major?
NES offers a considerable degree of freedom to its concentrators. No specific departmental courses are required, with the exception of proficiency in one of the four languages (Arabic/Persian/Hebrew/Turkish). If you can find a faculty member willing to advise your independent work topic, then no one else will stand in your way. This freedom is one of the best parts of being an NES concentrator.
What are common misconceptions about NES majors?
There are no real "conceptions" or reputations related to NES majors, since in many class years only five people choose to concentrate in the department. (The numbers are growing, however....)
What kind of internships and international experiences have majors had?
Many NES concentrators benefit from studying abroad in countries such as Egypt and Turkey. The department is supportive of study abroad, especially insofar as it allows concentrators to build fluency in their Near Eastern language. For juniors wishing to go abroad, the department helps them to coordinate this with independent work requirements.
How will NES majors save the world?
When the federal government decides that it is ready to seek out genuine expertise on the Middle East and the issues facing the region, anyone who concentrates in NES will be in an excellent position to work in an advisory capacity. This is not to minimize the great work that former NES majors are already performing in the nonprofit sector; think tanks; government agencies; etc. Again, the relevance of studying the Near East is clear, and the region needs as much help as it can get from qualified scholars.
Why would anyone want to date an NES major?
We're a rare breed.
