Middle East Studies

Return to: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences  

Taper Hall of Humanities 449
(213) 740-2795
FAX: (213) 740-9354
Email: mdes@dornsife.usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/mesp
Chair: Laurie A. Brand, PhD

Faculty

Robert Grandford Wright Professor and Professor of International Relations and Middle East Studies: Laurie A. Brand, PhD (International Relations)

Professor: Azade-Ayse Rorlich, PhD (History)

Associate Professor: Ramzi Rouighi, PhD (History)

Assistant Professor: Olivia Harrison, PhD (French and Italian)

Lecturers: Hani Khafipour, PhD; Suzan Wali

Associated Faculty

John Elliott Chair in Economics: M. Hashem Pesaran, PhD (Economics)

Professors: Richard Dekmejian, PhD (Political Science); Jeffrey B. Nugent, PhD (Economics and Business); Bruce Zuckerman, PhD (Religion)

Associate Professor: Sarah Gulatieri, PhD (History and American Studies and Ethnicity)

Assistant Professor: Christelle Fischer-Bovet, PhD (Classics)

Associate Professor of the Practice: Lynn Swartz Dodd, PhD (Religion)

Assistant Professor (Teaching): Peyman Nojoumian, PhD

Lecturers: Fayez Hammad, PhD (Political Science); Rym Kaki, PhD (Public Policy)

Programs

• Middle East Studies (BA)

• Iranian Studies Minor
• Middle East Studies Minor

Courses

• 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

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

• MDES 180 g The Middle East
• MDES 312 Shadow of God on Earth: Religion/Politics in Medieval Persia
• MDES 313 Modern Iran: Fall of Monarchies and Rise of Islamic Republic
• MDES 314 Political Thought in the Middle East
• MDES 316p The Great Muslim Empires of the Near East and India
• MDES 324 Classical Persian Literature in Translation
• MDES 325 Modern Persian Literature in Translation
• MDES 340 Perspectives on US Foreign Policy in the Middle East
• MDES 342g Modern Arab State and Society I: Media and Intellectual Works
• MDES 343g Modern Arab State and Society II: Culture and Literature
• MDES 345p Sovereignty in the Middle East
• MDES 349 g Ancient Empires
• MDES 362 The International Relations of the Contemporary Middle East
• MDES 363 Middle East Political Economy
• 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 402 Cultural Heritage, Religion, and Politics in the Middle East
• MDES 448 m Islam in France
• MDES 449 Multilingual Encounters
• MDES 454 Classical Arabic
• MDES 461 Topics in Ancient Iranian Languages and Cultures
• MDES 463 Islam and Arab Nationalism
• MDES 464 U.S. Policy Towards the Middle East: 1950 to the Present
• MDES 480 Seminar in Middle East History
• MDES 490x Directed Research
• MDES 492 Honors Thesis
• MDES 499 Special Topics