American Foreign Policy /Middle Eastern History

[lelick1234]

Hello folks, 

I am well aware that U.S. foreign policy historians are a dime a dozen.  With that being said, I am not sure I will be able to master Arabic before my short window of opportunity to apply to graduate schools in Middle Eastern history closes.  I was wondering if I mastered Arabic and maybe Farsi, while obtaining my PhD in US foreign policy, would I be automatically rejected for positions in Modern Middle Eastern history even if my research focused deeply on Middle Eastern primary sources along with English primary sources?  Is it possible to stretch my focus from strictly U.S. foreign policy and move more into a regional focus like the Middle East by the time I earned my PhD?  

--Leonard 

[TMP]

You do need to be working on your Arabic before you apply.  I wouldn't be surprised if it is one of the reasons why you may not get in during this cycle.  Middle East history tend to have a number of language requirements- at least one European language (German, French) and another Middle East language.  

 

Modern Middle East history positions tend to want folks who have passed their comprehensive exams in MME as their major field as you will be expected to teach classes in MME and carry out future research projects in that area.  If you're looking to examine US Foreign Policy in Middle East strictly from US perspective, you would be considered as an American historian and not competitive for MME positions.

 

Examine your intellectual questions.  Think about what kind of classes would you like to teach for the rest of your academic career.  Take a look at some of the recent job postings for Middle Eastern history and see if you can see yourself applying for them (read what the search committee wants).   The faculty position tend to define the individual's teaching and research plans as well as his/her reputation in the field.

[czesc]

The key is "working" on your Arabic, though. I've been surprised by the number of people I've met in a very good ME history program who had only fairly basic Arabic when they applied. It may be easier/more efficient to master one of the other languages you might being able to use or need (French is a good one for the ME) with the indication you'll keep working on Arabic if admitted.

[APBrown]

Hey!

 

I am a first year PhD student, focusing on US foreign relations. I received my MA in history earlier this year. Chances are, if your academic focus is on the US and its foreign policy, you will most likely only be competitive for US history academic jobs. Most Modern Middle East job openings will want applicants to have their major field be Middle East history. Fortunately though, for American history job openings, many history departments ask for historians who research "US and the World." So as was said before, you may want to look at what historical questions you are asking in your research and what historiographies you want to converse with. 

 

In terms of language requirements, you should probably start working on Arabic but it is not necessarily a must have to get accepted into a program. Remember, for the first few years of your program you will be focusing on coursework and preparing for comps. So, while you will want to get a direction on what you want to do for your dissertation, ability to read in Arabic is not something you will need right away. I do US-Latin American relations, so I am working on Spanish but I am not quite where I need to be to be confident in a Latin American archive and I am at an excellent school for diplomatic history. I recommend that you look at Osamah Khalil at Syracuse, Salim Yaqub at UCSB, Mary Ann Heiss at Kent State, Douglas Little at Clark University (though he may be retiring soon), Terry Anderson at Texas A&M, and Peter Hahn at Ohio State. They are some great historians who do US-Middle East relations. If you have any questions about being a PhD student and studying US foreign policy history just message me!