Arab and Islamic Studies Concentration and Minor

Director: Dr. Silvia Nagy-Zekmi
Office: 268 St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts
Tel. (610) 519-4640
Website: http://www.villanova.edu/artsci/arabislamic/

The interdisciplinary program of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies serves undergraduates who wish to emphasize Arab and Islamic studies in conjunction with a regular major. The course of studies entails an interdisciplinary approach that reflects the complexity of the Arab and Islamic world, a basic grounding in Arabic language, and provides a background for advanced professional studies, as well as careers in government or business in the field. The program is open to students in all the colleges.

Concentration in Arabic and Islamic Studies (21 credits, in addition to 12 credits of Arabic language courses.)

1. AIS 4100 AIS Seminar (3 credits)
and
2. Three courses (total of 9 credits) from this list as follows:
• HIS 4031 Islamic Civilization to 1800, or HIS 4041 History of the Modern Middle East
• PSC 4900 The Arab States, or PSC 5900 Middle East International Relations
• THL 5150 Introduction to Islam
Any AIS course not chosen for requirement from the above list may be chosen as elective.
and
3. Three ELECTIVE courses (9 credits): (see list below)
The 9 elective credits for the concentration must come from the list of approved elective courses on the Arab and Islamic Studies, including additional Arabic language courses. Certain topics courses listed under each Department (ARB, COM, GIS, HIS, HUM, PSC, THL, etc) with content relevant to AIS may qualify as electives with permission from the director of the Arab and Islamic Studies program. The list of possible electives, including topics courses, is posted on the AIS website every semester.
and
4. 12 credits of Arabic language courses.
Students are encouraged to take more than the mandatory minimum of 12 credits of Arabic language courses as their electives. Intermediate ARB courses are 5 credits each, thus students who choose to take more ARB for their electives will do 10 credits as electives.
(Students who are fluent in Arabic may test out of the language requirement at the intermediate level. They must take 12 credits of additional elective courses instead.)

Minor in Arabic and Islamic Studies (15 credits)

1. AIS 4100 AIS Seminar (3 credits)
and
2. Two courses (6 credits) from this list:
• HIS 4031 Islamic Civilization to 1800
• HIS 4041 History of the Modern Middle East
• PSC 4900 The Arab States
• PSC 5900 Middle East International Relations
• THL 5150 Introduction to Islam
Any course not chosen for requirement from the above list may be chosen as elective.
and
3. Two ELECTIVES (6 credits) (see list below)
The 6 elective credits for the minor must come from the list of approved electives courses on the Arab and Islamic Studies, including Arabic language courses. Certain topics courses listed under each Department (ARB, COM, GIS, HIS, HUM, PSC, THL, etc) with content relevant to AIS may qualify as electives with permission from the director of the Arab and Islamic Studies program. The list of possible electives, including topics courses, is posted on the AIS website every semester.

Students minoring in AIS are encouraged to complete their College language requirement by taking Arabic language courses.

List of Elective Courses
[*] ARB 1111 and 1112 may be used as electives only for the minor. For the concentration they are mandatory. Elective courses offered in a specific semester are listed on the AIS Center’s website:
 

Course Credits

• ARB 1111 Basic Arabic I * 6
• ARB 1112 Basic Arabic II * 6
• ARB 1121 Intermediate Arabic I 5
• ARB 1122 Intermediate Arabic II 5
• ARB 1123 Intermediate Arabic I 3
• ARB 1124 Intermediate Arabic II 3
• ARB 1125 Intermediate Arabic III 3
• ARB 1131 Intensive Adv Arabic I 3
• ARB 1132 Intensive Adv Arabic II 3
• ARB 1141 Intro to Colloquial Egypt Arabic 3
• ARB 2100 Arabic Lit in English Translation 3
• ARB 2142 Arab Culture 3
• COM 3342 International cinema 3
• FRE 2218 Francophone Writers & Cultural Identity 3
• GEV 3800 Islamic World 3
• HIS 4031 Islamic Civilization to 1800 3
• HIS 4041 History of the Modern Middle East 3
• HIS 4090 Women in the Middle East 3
• HIS 4095 TOP: Middle Eastern History 3
• HIS 4360 History of Modern South Asia 3
• HIS 4365 History of India & Pakistan 3
• HUM 4000 Jews,Christians,Muslims:Dialog 3
• PHI 3160 History of Islamic Philosophy 3
• PSC 4200 South Asia 3
• PSC 4900 The Arab States 3
• PSC 5900 Middle East International Relations 3
• THL 5150 Introduction to Islam 3
• THL 5160 Islamic Mysticism 3
• THL 5170 Islamic Philosophy & Theology 3
• THL 5180 Islamic Political Thought 3
• THL 5270 Religion in India & Southeast Asia 3
 

See the website address above for more information.