Middle East Studies

Return to: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences  

The Department of Middle East Studies (MDES) is committed to the teaching and study of the languages, cultures, peoples and societies throughout the Middle East with an emphasis on the impact of the pressing problems of globalization and the environment. MDES is home to an interdisciplinary major and minor in Middle East Studies, an Iranian Studies Minor , and an Arabic Minor .

Taper Hall of Humanities 256
(213) 740-2795
Email: mdes@usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/mdes

Chair: Ramzi Rouighi, PhD

Faculty

Farhang Foundation Chair in Iranian Studies and Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies: Ciruce Movahedi-Lankarani, PhD

Professors: Sarah Gualtieri, PhD* (American Studies and Ethnicity); Ramzi Rouighi, PhD         

Associate Professors: Christelle Fischer-Bovet, PhD (Classics, History and Middle East Studies); Olivia C. Harrison, PhD (French and Italian)

Assistant Professor: Allison Hartnett, PhD (Political Science and International Relations)

Associate Professor (Teaching): Peyman Nojoumian, PhD

Senior Lecturer: Suzanne Wali, EdD

Lecturer: Brady Ryan, PhD

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Relations & Middle East Studies: Laurie A. Brand, PhD* (International Relations)

*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

• •  Middle East Studies (BA)

Minor

• •  Arabic Minor
• •  Iranian Studies Minor
• •  Middle East Studies Minor

Courses

Arabic

• •  ARAB 122 Arabic I
• •  ARAB 152 Arabic II
• •  ARAB 222 Arabic III
• •  ARAB 252 Arabic IV
• •  ARAB 300 Introduction to Translation
• •  ARAB 322 Advanced Arabic I
• •  ARAB 333 Colloquial Arabic: Regional Dialects
• •  ARAB 334 Media Arabic
• •  ARAB 352 Advanced Arabic II

Persian

• •  IRAN 120 Persian I
• •  IRAN 150 Persian II
• •  IRAN 220 Persian III
• •  IRAN 250 Persian IV
• •  IRAN 320 Advanced Persian I
• •  IRAN 325 Business Persian
• •  IRAN 350 Advanced Persian II

Middle East Studies

• •  MDES 180 The Middle East
• •  MDES 201w The Middle East: Global and Environmental Perspectives
• •  MDES 213gp Iran: From Antiquity to Modernity
• •  MDES 301g The Global Middle East
• •  MDES 312 Premodern Iran
• •  MDES 313 Modern Iran
• •  MDES 314p Politics, Ideologies, Cultures of the Global South
• •  MDES 316p The Great Muslim Empires of the Near East and India
• •  MDES 324 Persian Literature
• •  MDES 325g Politics of Film and Literature in Modern Iran
• •  MDES 335 Nation and State in Modern Turkey
• •  MDES 340 The United States and the Middle East
• •  MDES 342g Arab Intellectuals in Question
• •  MDES 343g Modern Arab Culture and Literature
• •  MDES 345p Power and Authority in the Middle East
• •  MDES 349gp Ancient Empires
• •  MDES 355g The Arab-Israeli Conflict
• •  MDES 362 The International Relations of the Contemporary Middle East
• •  MDES 363 Middle East Political Economy
• •  MDES 375 Politics and Society in the Contemporary Middle East
• •  MDES 378 Ptolemaic Egypt
• •  MDES 382 The Middle East, 500–1500
• •  MDES 383 The Modern Middle East
• •  MDES 384 Popular Culture in the Middle East
• •  MDES 394 Archaeology of Egypt and the Near East
• •  MDES 401 Environment and Politics in the Middle East
• •  MDES 402 Cultural Heritage, Religion, and Politics in the Middle East
• •  MDES 403 Infrastructures of Dominance: Technology, Development and the Struggle for Power
• •  MDES 437 Arabic Autobiography: Writing and Interpreting the Self
• •  MDES 441w Cities of the Middle East
• •  MDES 447 Traveling Genres: Politics/Poetics of Modern Arabic Prose
• •  MDES 448m France and Islam
• •  MDES 449 Multilingual Encounters
• •  MDES 454 Classical Arabic
• •  MDES 463 Islam and Arab Nationalism
• •  MDES 475 Seminar in Middle East Studies
• •  MDES 480 Seminar in Middle East History
• •  MDES 490x Directed Research
• •  MDES 492 Honors Thesis
• •  MDES 499 Special Topics