Islamic World Studies

Welcome to Islamic World Studies

Islamic World Studies is a multidisciplinary minor in CUA's School of Arts & Sciences that consolidates the University's offerings on the Near East and Islamic world into a sub-concentration to supplement undergraduate majors in the humanities and social sciences. The program draws on the individual expertise of scholars in Semitics, Modern Languages, History, Anthropology, and Religious Studies, as well as special resources of the J.K. Mullen Library and in the Consortium of Washington Area Universities.

Extending from Morocco, across the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, into China and Africa, the Muslim world is diverse and historically transnational. CUA's minor in Islamic World Studies emphasizes the common heritage of Islam and Christianity in late antiquity, in the high Middle Ages, and in contemporary issues of religious identity and practice in the modern and post-modern world.

Current Courses.

Spring 2010

Classes not requiring Arabic:

• SEM 247, Arabic Literature in Translation, MWF 12:10-1:00 PM;
• HIST 236A, The World of the Crusades, MWF 10:10-11:00 AM;
• TRS 398, Introduction to Islam, TR 12:35-1:50 PM  (Pre Req: Any 200-level or HSTR course);
• TRS 480 Special Topics in Religious Studies: Practical Issues between Muslims and Christians, Th 6:35-9:05 [requires consent of IWS Director and of TRS; normally it is open only to seniors with a GPA of 3.2].

Arabic Instruction or Electives requiring Arabic:

• SEM 242, Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic, MWF 10:10-11:00 AM;  TR, drilling, TBA on the first day of class [permission of the instructor is required];
• SEM, 246, Arabic Literature II, TR 9:35-10:50 AM [permission of the instructor is required].