wannabee

Nothing like double posting and you may be long gone! Ifyou are there, could you tell me more about NYU? I looked on the website and found just two profs who are dealing with the Middle East. One is Zvi Ben-Dor Benite. He is described as "Associate Professor of History, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies". However, these are his listed research interests: World history; Chinese History; Islam in Asia; Religious Minorities in World History; Exile; Diaspora and Historiography; Comparative Human Rights; Chinese Muslim history. There is also Leslie Peirce Silver Professor; Professor of History, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Her interests are early modern Ottoman history. The problem is that I am looking for the modern middle east, with emphasis on social or political development, possibly some intellectual history. (I am also considering Poli Sci) So far, Stanford and Princeton look good, but I need a wider range of schools. Anyone with any information or ideas?

Thanks for the info. It's been a long wait. They kept promising and retracting.

Ach! Than you. There was no picture on the site when I looked. I will check further.

Thank you for telling me that Jamal got tenture. I was looking at Princeton Near Eastern Studies and specifically looked at him. He was listed as an assistant. They NES requirements said you could take one field with someone from a different department so this looks possible. I will check out the other schools.

I hope you are right about language training and also that admissions will loosen a little next year. I am now doing advanced study in Arabic at the CASA program in Cairo (at AUC) and even turned down some money for the master's since I felt the language was so important. I am weighing whether to go the history department road, the middle eastern studies road, or possibly poli sci or IR. Nothing like being undecided! I am interested in the modern political experience of the Middle East and especially how social realities impact this experience--questions of national identity, the long term impact of colonialism, etc. I am trying to dig up faculty members and discover what they are doing research in. On this basis, I am considering the following programs, but the list could change: Columbia, Arizona, Princeton, doctorates in Middle Eastern/Near Eastern Studies Chicago, doctorate in Poli Sci(with Wedeen) Stanford, doctorate in History (with Beinin) Georgetown - MA Arabic Studies UT Austin - MA Middle Eastern Studies

Are you still out there??? Take a look at the Stanford history department. Are you considering Middle Eastern or Near Eastern Studies Departments or only History, per se? (I know there are many people who say you should go for the discipline rather than area studies, but you get so many more faculty to choose from at Middle Eastern Studies Programs at places like Arizona and Columbia.) This is similar to what the other poster said. Also look at the MA in Middle Eastern Studies at UT Austin.

I am looking for a doctoral program in Poli Sci/Comparative Politics, preferably with a qualitative slant, that lets me focus on the Middle East. I was not a poli sci major although many of my classes emphasized politics of the Middle East and South Asia (including an honors thesis). My BA (4.0 gpa) is in Middle Eastern Studies from a top twenty university. I took four years of Arabic, plus summer study abroad under a State Department scholarship and another semester at the American University in Cairo. Now I am at CASA(Cairo)in advanced Arabic for a year because I need strong language skills for the type of field research I hope to do. My GREs are mixed -- 730 verbal, 680 quant., 5.5 writing. I took statistics in college but no other math. I had great references and luck with Middle Eastern Studies/Arabic last year, turning down partial/full funding from several masters programs in order to accept CASA. However, poli sci is a new trail for me. I have been pouring over faculty rosters of Poli Sci departments. I was surprised that so few have faculty at the associate or full professor level specializing in the Middle East. There are some assistant professors and a few emeritus but I can't rely on that. So far I've found one or more tenured person with that specialty in these departments: U Chicago (best of the best with Wedeen!), UCLA with Steven Spiegel(although I am wondering if he will retire soon), Georgetown (with several faculty in this area but it looks as if they have little funding), University of Michigan with Mark Tessler. Anyone with any other suggestions on CP programs with faculty specializing in the Middle East? Plus, how much will I be hurt for my undergrad major and/or comparative weakness in math?