Dual Ph.D. Degree
Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies
University of Arizona
Rationale: The Dual Ph.D. Program in Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona will be the first program in the United States to provide a formal institutional setting for simultaneous doctoral training and professional certification in the two disciplines. The program will build on the long traditions of excellence and interdisciplinary dialogue that have energized both departments at the University of Arizona for decades. It will involve faculty from both departments, as well as affiliated professors in other departments on campus, who share a vision for interdisciplinary research focusing on Sociocultural or Linguistic Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona.
A dual doctoral program in Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies will build upon the complementarity and affinity of the two fields, and the University of Arizona's nationally recognized strength in both, to train and certify uniquely qualified scholars for a rapidly globalizing world in which complex interdependencies are redefining relations between the West and the Middle East. From Anthropology, students will gain a conceptual and analytical apparatus for studying the complexity and diversity of cultures. They will also receive training in the theory and method of ethnographic field work and comparative research. From Near Eastern Studies, students will receive rigorous language training available in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish, and scholarly expertise in histories, literatures, religions, and the material and popular culture of Middle Eastern societies. This opportunity to combine comparative and theoretical breadth with linguistic and textual depth, and to develop research methods under the supervision of the core faculty, will attract the best students in both fields to the program.
Students will follow a curriculum of courses in each discipline that will provide first rate qualification in each discipline, while enjoying significant flexibility to develop innovative trans-disciplinary projects on the Middle East and world of Islam using a wide variety of research techniques and analytical approaches including fieldwork, textual analysis, and archival research.
Students and faculty will frequently participate in other interdisciplinary programs at
the University of Arizona including those of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Ph.D. program in Middle Eastern Histories, the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, and the program in Women's Studies.
Students must apply to and be accepted by both departments to qualify for the dual degree program. We will only accept students who will have completed an MA in Anthropology, Near Eastern Studies, or a related field prior to enrollment in the Anthropology/NES Dual Degree program. We expect students to have demonstrated intermediate proficiency in one Middle Eastern language at the time of admission.
Coursework
The total number of units required to earn the dual Ph.D. degree is 81 units. A total of 27 will be unique to NES, 27 unique to Anthropology, and an additional 27 counting towards both degrees. Subject to approval, up to 33 units of graduate credit may be counted from an M.A. program toward each degree (see section below on transfer credit).
(1) NES Requirements – 27 Units
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Required NES Courses for the Dual Degree
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Units
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Middle East Studies: Approaches, Themes, and
Controversies (NES 595D)
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3
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Language Course for 3rdYear Proficiency*
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8
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5 Elective courses, (1 each Gender & Society, Islamic
Studies, History, plus 2 more)
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15
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1 Independent study for 1 unit
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1
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Total
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27
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*3rd year Arabic MSA is worth 8 credits but 3rd year Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew are only 6 credits. Those pursuing the latter three languages will have to find two more units. Taking an additional 3-unit course will provide those two units and eliminate the need for
a one-unit independent study.
(2) Anthropology Requirements – 27 Units
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Required ANTH Courses for the Dual Degree
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Units
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History of Anthropological Theory I (ANTH 608A)
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3
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History of Anthropological Theory II (ANTH 608B)
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3
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Research Methods (ANTH 605)
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3
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Mixed Methods (ANTH 609)
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3
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Anthropology of Religion (ANTH 511)
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3
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Islam & Modernity (ANTH 696B)
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3
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Ethnography of the Middle East (new graduate
course, ANTH ###)*
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3
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2 Electives (at least one outside student’s
anthropological subdiscipline)
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6
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Total
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27
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* Dr. Anne Betteridge currently teaches an undergraduate version of this course, Anth 375, and is willing to teach a graduate version in alternate years.
(3) Other Courses Available in NES, Anthropology, and other Departments – 27 additional units. (Any course listed here may be used for rounding out the 27 units unique to each degree program, or for the 27 additional shared units, but not both.)
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Course Name/Number
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Units
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ANTH 524A -- Political Ecology
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3
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ANTH 528A -- Anthropological Demography
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3
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ANTH 534 -- Reproduction, Politics, and Household Economics
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3
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ANTH 536A -- Medical Anthropology
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3
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ANTH 536B -- Ethnomedicine
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3
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ANTH 538A -- Women's Health in Global Perspective
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3
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ANTH 548 -- Writing Culture
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3
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ANTH 565 -- Women in International Development
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3
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ANTH 576 -- Language in Culture
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3
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ANTH 580 -- Historical Comparative Linguistics
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3
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ANTH 583 -- Sociolinguistics
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3
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ANTH 585 -- Language in Face to Face Interaction
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3
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ANTH 612 – Anthropology of Modernity
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3
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ANTH 613 -- Culture and Power
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3
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ANTH 620 -- Linguistic Field Techniques*
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3
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ANTH 631 -- Anthropology and Development
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3
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ANTH 675A/B – Anthropology and International Health
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3
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ANTH 679 -- Language and Ethnography
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3
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ANTH 680 -- Foundations in Linguistic Anthropology*
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3
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ANTH 696B -- Seminar in Sociocultural Anthropology (topics vary by semester)
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3
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ANTH 696C -- Seminar in Anthropological Linguistics (topics vary by semester)
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3
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ARB 524A/B -- Conversational Levantine Arabic
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6
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ARB 526 -- Introduction to Arabic Linguistics
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3
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ARB 527A/B -- Colloquial Moroccan Arabic
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ARB 539A/B -- Egyptian Arabic
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6
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ARB 584A/B -- Intermediate Levantine Arabic
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6
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ARB 596B -- Iraqi Arabic
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3
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ARB 595A -- Modern Arabic Prose
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3
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ARB 595B -- Classical Arabic Prose
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3
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ARB 595C -- Classical Arabic Poetry
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3
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HIST 545 -- Women In Islamic History
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3
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HIST 572 -- History of Medieval India
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6
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HIST 573 -- History of Modern India and Pakistan: 1750-Present
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3
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HIST 579 -- The Ottoman Empire to 1800
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3
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HIST 595E -- Struggle and Survival: Modern Mid East and North Africa, c. 1850 - Present
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3
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HIST 596C -- Women and the Literature of Identity in Modern Middle East and North Africa
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3
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HIST 695M -- Advanced Studies in Middle Eastern History
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3
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HIST 696O -- History and Historiography in Colonial North Africa
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3
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JUS 552 -- Israeli Women
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3
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LING 515 -- Phonetics*
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3
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LING 554 -- Structure of a Middle Eastern Language
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3
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NES 502A -- Economic History of the Islamic World
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3
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NES 503 -- Art and Architecture of the Islamic World
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3
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NES 530A -- Language and Society in the Middle East
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3
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NES 544 -- Islamic Mysticism
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3
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NES 548 -- Arabic Literature in English Translation
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3
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NES 563 -- Gender Issues and Women's Literature in the Middle East
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3
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NES 566 -- The Middle Eastern City and Islamic Urbanism
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3
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NES 580 -- The Middle East in the Twentieth Century
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3
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NES 584 -- History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1800 to Present
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3
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NES 585B -- Social, Cultural and Political History of Iranian Plateau: 7th Century – Present
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3
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NES 590 -- Women in Middle Eastern Society
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3
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NES 595D -- Middle East
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3
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NES 596B -- Special Topics in Near Eastern Studies (recent offering: Arabic Multimedia)
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3
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NES 596G -- Islamic Law and Society
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3
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NES 596M -- Middle East: Topics in History and Civilization
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3
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NES 696Y -- Islam, Ethnicity and Nationalism
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3
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NES 640 -- Gender Issues in Middle Eastern Studies
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3
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NES 696Y -- Islam, Ethnicity and Nationalism
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3
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POL 541 -- Arab-Israeli Conflict
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3
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WS 586 -- Transnational Feminisms
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3
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* Required of students in anthropology specializing in anthropological linguistics.
Admission to Dual Degree Program
An interdepartmental committee will be appointed by the Heads of Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies each year, with two members from each department. This committee will review the files of any student who have been accepted to both departments and who has indicated that they wish to earn the dual degree and make a recommendation to both departments. This should occur in the spring before the April 15th deadline for student acceptance of admission offers.
Transfer Credit
Up to 33 units of graduate coursework may be transferred from another institution. A request to transfer must be submitted to the Graduate College, in consultation with the Graduate Advisors of both departments, by the end of the first year. Many of these transfer units may be applicable to requirements in either of the degree programs, or may count towards the additional 27 units required of the student.
Languages
Students must achieve 3rd year language proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish. Third-year language proficiency is achieved by successfully completing six semesters of the focus language. Second year (or intermediate) proficiency must be achieved in a second Near Eastern language and reading proficiency is required in French, German, or a relevant European language.
Comprehensive Examination
Comprehensive exams will be taken at the end of coursework. The committee should include two individuals from Anthropology and two from Near Eastern Studies.
Dissertation
A total of 24 units of dissertation hours must be taken in addition to the 81 hours of coursework. The dissertation committee will be composed of at least two faculty from Anthropology and two from Near Eastern Studies and should include content from both fields. A proposal must be approved by the student’s entire doctoral committee within six months of the completion of the Comprehensive Exams.
Funding
The proposed dual program will not require additional resources, including additional funding for students. Students accepted into the program will be eligible for Teaching Assistantships for Near Eastern language and General Education courses, and Research Assistantships in the departments of Anthropology and NES, as well as FLAS fellowships and Research Assistantships in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Neither department, however, guarantees funding for students or is there any obligation to match the funding provided by another department.
5/7/07
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