Minor in Middle Eastern and North African Studies
The Schools of History and Sociology, International Affairs, and Modern Languages offer a minor in Middle Eastern and North African Studies. This interdisciplinary minor connects studies of the regions and countries in the Middle East—their languages, their cultures, and their peoples, both concurrently in their national and international relationships as well as longitudinally over the course of history. This minor is designed for undergraduates who will enter a wide range of careers that can lead directly or indirectly to interactions with the people, the social organizations and businesses, and governments of the Middle East and North Africa, both abroad and here in the U.S., especially in terms of the critical technological, social, and policy decisions facing the world today.
Students wishing to pursue this minor should declare the minor by filling out the minor change form with the Student Advisor in Modern Languages.
The MENAS Minor requires 15 credits of coursework of which nine or more credits must be at the 3000- or 4000-level.
Students may count up to six credits of lower-level foreign language coursework in Arabic, French, Hebrew, or Persian from the following list:
ARBC 1002, ARBC 2001, ARBC 2002
FREN 2001, FREN 2002, FREN 2005
HEBW 1002, HEBW 2001, HEBW 2002
PERS 1002, PERS 2001, PERS 2002
If counting two lower-level language courses, they must be in the same language group.
Students (e.g. native and heritage speakers) who can demonstrate language proficiency equivalent to the 2002 level or above in any one of these four MENAS languages, may choose two lower-level courses in English for up to six credits if they have a MENAS focus (e.g. ARBC 2301, HTS 2040, HTS 2041, INTA 2260, ML 2500, etc.)
Students must complete nine credits or more of 3000- and 4000-level coursework as part of the 15-credit total for the MENAS minor.
Students may count:
· Any 3000- or 4000-level course in Arabic, Hebrew, or Persian.
· Any 3000- or 4000-level course in French with significant treatment of MENAS topics such as Francophone Africa, North Africa, the Maghreb, or French African Diasporas (e.g. FREN 4101, FREN 4102, FREN 4103, FREN 4105, FREN 4107).
· Any 3000- or 4000-level course in HSOC with significant treatment of topics related to the Middle East and/or North Africa (e.g. HTS 3051 and some relevant offerings of HTS 4061 and HTS 4091)
· Any 3000- or 4000-level course in INTA with significant treatment of topics related to the Middle East and/or North Africa (e.g. INTA 3240, INTA 3260).
For questions regarding course selection and approval, please contact the MENAS minor coordinator.
Notes:
1) All students must show language competency equivalent to having successfully passed ARBC 2001 or above, HEBW 2001 or above, PERS 2001 or above, or FREN 2002 or above. To show language competency without taking lower-level language courses, students must successfully pass internal proficiency exams from the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech or demonstrate the required minimum level through a recent official proficiency test such as ACTFL’s Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI).
2) A maximum of 6 hours of Special Topics is allowed
3) All courses must be taken on a letter-grade basis and a grade of C or better must be received in each course.
4) A maximum of 9 credit hours of transfer credit may be used to satisfy the course requirements for a minor. This includes courses taken at another institution or credit earned through the AP or IB program, assuming the scores meet Georgia Tech minimum standards.
5) It is the major advisor’s responsibility to verify that students are using only courses from the designated block(s) from the student’s major field of study that are allowed to satisfy a minor program, that they are not using any Core Area A-E courses (including humanities and social sciences), and that they are not using any courses for more than one minor or certificate. Any free elective course used to satisfy the course requirements of the student’s major degree program may also be used to satisfy the course requirements for a minor.