Islamic Studies in America

• Columbia University –Islamic Studies
  The Program in Islamic Studies focuses on the cultural, political, and religious history of Islam and the nations linked to this practice of faith. Students pursue their interest in the art, philosophy, literature, and history of the Middle East and South Asia through the course offerings of several departments. The program concludes with a substantial paper that brings synthesized perspectives from two (or more) disciplines to bear on a limited topic within the student’s area of concentration.
  URL: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/departments/islamic-studies/department.html
  
  
  
• George Mason University - The College of Humanities and Social Sciences
  The Islamic Studies minor offers interdisciplinary study of societies with significant or majority Muslim populations in the Middle East and North Africa, Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, as well as Europe and North America. The Islamic Studies minor recognizes that Islam is a universal faith and world civilization with a global community, and thus provides a global approach rather than a regional framework for exploring Islam. This innovative approach encourages students to explore Islam's role and contributions beyond the Middle East and to appreciate the experiences that connect over one billion Muslims worldwide, historically and in the present.
  URL: http://chss.gmu.edu/chss/degrees/index.cfm?programID=42901
  
  
  
• The Ohio State University - The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
  The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) proposes to coordinate an interdisciplinary major in Islamic Studies. The Islamic Studies program allows students to combine relevant courses from a number of fields history, history of art, philosophy, and others with work in Islamic languages and literatures. In choosing elective courses, majors are not limited to the area commonly known as the Middle East, but rather are urged to explore dimensions of Islamic civilization across spatial and chronological boundaries. They may, for example, study the Hellenic and Iranian past, which serves as a background to the rise of Islamic civilization, or the Muslim societies that have emerged in Central Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Europe over the 14 centuries of Islamic history.
  URL: http://nelc.osu.edu/programs/islamicMajor.cfm
  
  
  
• University of California--Santa Barbara – Middle East Studies
  The Middle East Studies (MES) Program was established in 1994 following a three-year planning period. The purpose of MES is twofold: 1) to grant a BA in Middle East Studies; and 2) to help graduate students in the various disciplines to obtain appropriate language and area-studies training as part of their degree programs, and to provide needed graduate financial assistance. In addition, MES provides funding and helps to coordinate lectures, colloquia, and visiting scholars.
  URL: http://www.global.ucsb.edu/programs/mes/mes.html
  
  
  
• University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign - South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
  An interdisciplinary minor in the Study of the Islamic World is offered by the Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. It is designed for students interested in developing an expertise in one or more parts of the Islamic world or in Islamic culture generally, as a complement to their disciplinary major.
  URL: http://courses.uiuc.edu/cis/programs/urbana/2006/fall/undergrad/las/south_asian.html
  
  
  
• University of North Carolina—Charlotte – Islamic Studies
  The interdisciplinary minor in Islamic Studies allows students to develop an understanding of Islamic culture, history, philosophy, and religion, and to appreciate the role of Islamic traditions in the development of world civilizations.
  URL: http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/Islamic_Studies/
  
  
  
• University of Texas—Austin - Department of Middle Eastern Studies
  The Islamic Studies Program at The University of Texas offers a unique bachelor's degree program. The program includes core courses on Islamic Studies while allowing students the flexibility to choose from a broad selection of related courses in Islam and Muslim society offered in a variety of departments. The course of study is designed for students who plan to continue their education at the graduate level in Islamic Studies or related disciplines, as well as for students who are interested in obtaining this BA before going on to other fields or professions. The university also allows for a dual major program with Islamic Studies as one of the majors. While the program currently offers a BA, a graduate program is currently being developed.
  URL: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/mes/islamic/
  
  
  
• Villanova University - The Center for Arab and Islamic Studies
  The Center organizes lectures, film series, conferences and outreach programs for the University and the Greater Philadelphia communities. The Center also hosts academic seminars by scholarly associations, including the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies. "The Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies," published at the University, features articles by highly regarded analysts and scholars on issues pertinent to modern Islamic societies and states.
  URL: http://www.villanova.edu/artsci/arabislamic/
  

[Last update on March 5, 2008]