Best Middle East Studies programs?

[Anonymous]

DP. Oxford does not do colloquial and is more literature-based. Cambridge Arabic does colloquial and is a little less literature heavy; it’s better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP. Oxford does not do colloquial and is more literature-based. Cambridge Arabic does colloquial and is a little less literature heavy; it’s better.

Your info is wildly out of date. Oxford has completely updated their program.

[Anonymous]

FLAS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Might be an unpopular suggestion, but sequestered away from the middle east and its spillover issues is not the route to getting a good career in the region. I'd suggest a top student interested in this field to go to the UK and study at Oxford(!!!) or Cambridge. You will get much further.

If staying in the US, Georgetown is where it's at. Yale and Berkeley are also spectacular.

But the problem with Oxbridge is that if you have studied a Middle Eastern language in high school, you start from scratch anyhow. Your first year is then a total waste of time.

SOAS will at least place you in a more advanced Arabic course to start (but no colloquial). Of course, all American schools will do that automatically…

I'm sure intro Arabic at Oxbridge isn't exactly easy, even if you have studied the language.

[Anonymous]

Clearly your DC has never suffered through a college Arabic class that’s not at their level. Some high school Arabic learning is far more advanced, especially with a four-year program.

[Anonymous]

Some schools have campuses in the middle east like Northwestern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Might be an unpopular suggestion, but sequestered away from the middle east and its spillover issues is not the route to getting a good career in the region. I'd suggest a top student interested in this field to go to the UK and study at Oxford(!!!) or Cambridge. You will get much further.

If staying in the US, Georgetown is where it's at. Yale and Berkeley are also spectacular.

But the problem with Oxbridge is that if you have studied a Middle Eastern language in high school, you start from scratch anyhow. Your first year is then a total waste of time.

SOAS will at least place you in a more advanced Arabic course to start (but no colloquial). Of course, all American schools will do that automatically…

I'm sure intro Arabic at Oxbridge isn't exactly easy, even if you have studied the language.

They are wrong anyway, that PP. Oxford has a streaming system for these languages, you go into a beginner group or an advanced group at the start. EVERYONE is expected to be super capable and intelligent and that they will successfully pick it up so that there's parity by the end of the 3 yrs.

[Anonymous]

Has this changed since Fall 2023? Inquired about it with the specific program and was told starting from scratch was required no matter what level Arabic you come in with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Might be an unpopular suggestion, but sequestered away from the middle east and its spillover issues is not the route to getting a good career in the region. I'd suggest a top student interested in this field to go to the UK and study at Oxford(!!!) or Cambridge. You will get much further.

If staying in the US, Georgetown is where it's at. Yale and Berkeley are also spectacular.

But the problem with Oxbridge is that if you have studied a Middle Eastern language in high school, you start from scratch anyhow. Your first year is then a total waste of time.

SOAS will at least place you in a more advanced Arabic course to start (but no colloquial). Of course, all American schools will do that automatically…

I'm sure intro Arabic at Oxbridge isn't exactly easy, even if you have studied the language.

They are wrong anyway, that PP. Oxford has a streaming system for these languages, you go into a beginner group or an advanced group at the start. EVERYONE is expected to be super capable and intelligent and that they will successfully pick it up so that there's parity by the end of the 3 yrs.

Don’t lie. They don’t stream. I asked them. No exceptions. No streaming at Cambridge either. Don’t be daft. They have a “stream” for languages like French and Spanish only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP. Oxford does not do colloquial and is more literature-based. Cambridge Arabic does colloquial and is a little less literature heavy; it’s better.

Your info is wildly out of date. Oxford has completely updated their program.

No, Oxford does not do colloquial; you can pick it up during a year abroad. And while Oxford will allow some history and Middle East studies it has far more required literature (often with outdated Arabic) than Cambridge. You are “wildly” wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some schools have campuses in the middle east like Northwestern

Can go to Georgetown Qatar and get a foreign service degree from there.

[Anonymous]

In the UK, Exeter has excellent Arabic and some scholarship money to defray the int’l costs.

Keep in mind that Oxbridge is in session only 24 weeks a year (as opposed to 30-32 in the states). Not ideal for language learning.

[Anonymous]

St. Andrews