Middle East & North Africa Studies

The interdisciplinary Middle East & North Africa Studies (MENA) program, part of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, coordinates a remarkably strong array of more than 80 undergraduate courses with focus on the culture and politics of the MENA region. (MENA is defined in this context as comprising the Arabic-, Hebrew-, Persian-, and Turkish-speaking areas of the world.) Central to the MENA program’s research and teaching mission is our commitment to providing students with a safe, smart academic space to explore, deepen, and perhaps revise their ideas and beliefs about this contested region.

For students enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences, the program offers a solid and flexible major in Middle East & North Africa Studies. Bridging humanities and social sciences, the major is known for its rigorous language work: our students learn one or more of the four MENA languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian/Farsi, and Turkish) that are taught, from beginning to advanced levels, in the CAS Department of World Languages & Literatures. Study abroad is strongly encouraged for all interested students and is well integrated with requirements for the MENA major. BU sponsors four study abroad programs in the MENA region: Rabat, Morocco; Haifa, Israel; Istanbul, Turkey; and an exchange program at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon (currently suspended until further notice).