The Daul MPA/MA Degree In MELC
Students pursuing a dual Master of Public Affairs (through the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs)/Master of Arts in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures will complete a total of 66 credit hours: 36 credit hours in the Master of Public Affairs program, plus 30 credit hours in Near Eastern Languages and Culture
MPA Core (18 credits)
SPEA V502 Public Management
SPEAV506 Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making
SPEAV517 Public Management Economics
SPEA V540 Law and Public Affairs SPEA V560 Public Finance and Budgeting
SPEA V600 Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs
MPA Concentration (18 credits)
Students will complete eighteen credit hours pertaining to one of the specialized concentration areas of the M.P.A., with courses to be chosen in consultation with a SPEA faculty advisor
MA in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (30 credits)
Students will complete 12-18 credits in graduate-level courses on the culture, history, politics, and religious traditions of the Middle East.
Students will complete 12-18 credit hours of graduate level courses in an appropriate Middle Eastern language. Students should complete their language to at least the third-year level (i.e., in the case of Arabic, to the level of A670, Advanced Arabic II), and must take no fewer than 12 credits of language courses. For students who begin their program with a high level of proficiency in their major language (whether attained through previous instruction or because they are native speakers), the 12-hour minimum in language can include seminars or research courses with substantial content in the major language, to be approved by the MELC Director of Graduate Studies.
Students will submit a term or seminar paper (i.e., a paper originally written in one of their courses) substantially revised and expanded, and meeting the following criteria:
- A clear understanding of a chosen topic
- Demonstrated ability to conceive and carry out an original project of a scholarly nature, including the use of primary and secondary texts in the original language, where appropriate
- An advanced level of critical or theoretical insight
- Command of expository English
- Competence in the proper use of research and bibliographic tools
- The paper should be suitable in form and content for publication in a professional journal in a recognized sub-field of Middle Eastern Studies.
Students will undergo two, two-hour comprehensive examinations in Middle Eastern language, history, and culture. Students who are not native-speakers of their major language will undergo a four-skill language examination, along with a two-hour written examination in Middle Eastern history. Students who are native speakers of their major language will undergo a two-hour history examination and a second two-hour examination in a field to be determined in consultation with Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Director of Graduate Studies.
Select List of Representative MELC Courses that may Count towards the Dual Degree: Arabic 600 Intermediate Arabic I
Arabic 660 Advanced Arabic I
Researching Politics of Muslim Countries
States and Societies in Muslim Central Asia and the Middle East Islam and Politics in Muslim Central Asia & Middle East
Representations of Islam and Muslims in Ethnographic Literature of Central Asia and the Middle East Islam and Modernity
African and Middle Eastern Narratives