Master of Arts in Arab Studies

Master of Arts in

Arab Studies ‫ﻣﺮﻛﺰ اﻟﺪراﺳﺎت اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ اﳌﻌﺎﺻﺮة‬

The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Walsh School of Foreign Service

Georgetown University

The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies is the only academic center in the United States focusing exclusively on the Arab world, and it has been doing so with distinction since 1975. CCAS is part of Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, the oldest school of international affairs in the United States.

Master of Arts in Arab Studies

The Master of Arts in Arab Studies Program (MAAS) provides rigorous training in the language, history, culture, society, politics, and economics of the contemporary Arab world. MAAS students design an interdisciplinary program of study and develop expertise on contemporary issues relevant to the Middle East and North Africa, including: • • • • • • • • • •

Statecraft, Governance, and Authoritarianism International Development Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies Business and Diplomacy Women and Gender Studies Arts, Literature, and Culture U.S. Foreign Policy Historiography and Archival Research Water and Resources Human Rights and Law

Program Structure

• 12 courses (36 credits) plus Arabic

• Oral and written proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic required to graduate (ACTFL level MidAdvanced) • Option for thesis or oral comprehensive exam

Arabic

Rigorous training in the Arabic language is a cornerstone of the MAAS program, which is supported by the largest and oldest Arabic language department in the country. Students are encouraged to enter the program with intermediatelevel Arabic proficiency and must continuously take Arabic classes until they pass the proficiency exam. Once they fulfill the proficiency requirement, they must take one Arabic course per year.

MAAS students have the unique opportunity to take Arabic content courses on topics ranging from Arabic literature to politics, history, and culture of the region, as well as to attend film series and lectures in Arabic. The program's Arabic language requirement is cited by alumni as what sets them apart from their peers in the workplace and beyond.

Admissions

The MAAS program welcomes applicants with a diverse range of experiences and interests. It is recommended that applicants have at least two years of Arabic instruction. Successful MAAS candidates have strong analytic capabilities, an excellent academic record and a demonstrated interest in the Arab world. Experience studying, living, and working in the region is valued.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

January 15 (Priority Consideration for Scholarships) April 1 (Final Deadline)

Application Requirements • • • • • •

Online application form Statement of purpose Transcripts 3 Recommendation letters C.V. or Resume Supplemental Essay

Note that the MAAS program no longer requires the GRE for admission to the program.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

The MAAS program offers full and partial tuition scholarships to highly qualified applicants. Applicants to the MAAS program are automatically considered for merit-based aid from the MAAS program. Decisions about scholarship awards for incoming students are made at the time of admission and are judged on the basis of academic record and intellectual promise. Approximately 2/3 of students—U.S. and international students alike—receive tuition scholarships.

The MAAS program also awards a limited number of stipends in the form of fellowships.

Incoming students are automatically considered for stipends during admission. In additional to departmental stipends, the MAAS program offers academic year and summer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships, funded by a U.S. Dept. of Education Title VI grant, as well as the Kuwait-America Foundation Scholarship for residents of the MENA region.

MAAS students may apply for grants to support summer opportunities, such as internships, thesis research, and language study, as well as to cover expenses related to conference travel.

Alumni and Careers

MAAS students are connected to the alumni network of the entire School of Foreign Service and the SFS Graduate Career Center, which provides students and alumni with individual career advising, targeted job-search skills workshops, a regular Career Bulletin, and opportunities to attend industry information sessions with employers.

MAAS graduates have distinguished themselves in fields such as diplomatic service, international finance, media, human rights and development, and as U.S. Congressional staff members and faculty at leading universities.

QUICK FACTS

ABOUT MAAS STUDENTS

25% are international

MAAS students have come from more than 55 countries.

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pursue summer opportunities abroad

MAAS offers summer funding for internships, research, and language study.

95%

are employed within 9 months of graduation

MAAS grads have held positions at Google, U.S. Department of State, World Bank, United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Al-Jazeera, and Center for Strategic and International Studies, among others.

Living in DC

Immersed in a truly global city, the MAAS program benefits from its Washington, DC location, which provides endless opportunities for engaging with the public and private sectors. The MAAS program and Georgetown are regularly visited by world leaders, policy makers, artists, activists, and entrepreneurs, giving students the opportunity to engage with the people driving political, social, cultural, and economic change. But there’s also time for fun—starting with the annual MAAS welcome party, complete with a DJ who mixes Arabic tunes and gets the party started with a dabke line!

Faculty

Marwa Daoudy

at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Rochelle Davis

Director, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies; Associate Professor, Anthropology Research and Teaching: Refugees, Migration, Conflict, Syria, Palestine, Arab Society, Culture, Oral History

Fida Adely

Director, MAAS Program; Associate Professor, Anthropology; Hala and Clovis Maksoud Chair in Human Development Research and Teaching: Education, Gender, Development, Labor, Migration, Marriage and Family, Jordan

Osama Abi-Mershed

Assistant Professor, International Relations Research and Teaching: International Relations, Security, Negotiation, Peace and Conflict, Water, Syria

Noureddine Jebnoun

Adjunct Associate Professor, Political Science Research and Teaching: Contentious Politics, North Africa, U.S. & the Middle East, Civil-Military Relations, Democratization

Daniel Neep

Assistant Professor, Arab Politics Research and Teaching: State Formation, State-Society Relations, Violence, Colonialism and Empire, Syria

Associate Professor, History Research and Teaching: North Africa, Arabs and Ottomans, Colonial and Post-colonial FrancoMaghribi Relations

Joseph Sassoon

Mohammad Alahmad

Judith Tucker

Assistant Teaching Professor Research and Teaching: Modern Arabic Poetry, Arab Rhetoric & Literary Criticism, Arabic Novels, Prison Literature

Professor, History and Political Economy; CCAS Sheikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah Chair Research and Teaching: Political Economy, Economic History, Iraq, Iraqi Refugees, Authoritarianism

Professor, History Research and Teaching: Women and Gender in Middle East History, Islamic Law, Piracy, Mediterranean

T

he Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) is part of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, the oldest school of international affairs in the United States. Since its founding in 1975, CCAS has enjoyed international recognition as a leader in research, teaching, and public education about Arab society, culture, history and politics. CCAS’s distinctive logo, “The Arabs Today” (al-`Arab al-yawm), designed by acclaimed Palestinian artist Kamal Boullata, embodies our focus. Our Master of Arts in Arab Studies (MAAS) program is distinguished by its rigorous Arabic language training and unique Arabic content courses, its blend of foundational and innovative coursework, and its long and successful record in preparing new generations of diplomats, business leaders, scholars, teachers, citizens, and policymakers capable of critical thought, constructive dialogue, and creative engagement with the contemporary Arab world. In recognition of the Center’s first decade of excellence, Senator J. William Fulbright observed in 1985 that “with remarkable foresight, Georgetown University moved to fill the need for understanding the Arab people by creating the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies . . . a significant contribution to our country.” Moreover, since 1997 CCAS has formed the core of Georgetown University’s National Resource Center on the Middle East & North Africa, funded by a Title VI grant from the US Department of Education.

241 Intercultural Center 37th and O Streets N.W. Washington, D.C. 20057 202-687-5793 http://ccas.georgetown.edu