Middle East Studies

Description

The responsibility for graduate studies of Modern Middle Eastern at Oxford University is divided into three parts. Firstly, the Faculty of Oriental Studies oversees the main teaching program for the one-year MSc degree and the two-year MPhil, as well as doctoral research supervision. Secondly, The Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA) shares the thematic teaching load of the Middle East with Oriental Studies, and faculty members from each division teach across the Modern Middle East degree programs. Thirdly, the Middle East Centre of St. Antony's College has a close relationship with both OSGA and Oriental Studies. It coordinates general activities related to the Modern Middle East, including contributing to the organisation of teaching programs and running a regular interdisciplinary seminar series covering historical, political, economic, cultural, and social themes. The combined efforts of all three parts lead to fruitful intellectual collaboration in Middle Eastern teaching and research across the social sciences.

In October 2018, OSGA welcomed its first intake of eight students to the newly introduced one-year MSc in Modern Middle Eastern Studies, which complements the one-year MSc degrees offered in OSGA's other regional units. It was also only the second year of OSGA's DPhil in Area Studies, and the first year that a dedicated Modern Middle Eastern cohort was included in the program.

In 2014, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) initiated a funded Fellowship Programme in collaboration with OSGA's Middle East faculty. The program aimed to develop an interdisciplinary collaborative research agenda for postdoctoral research. This agenda, focusing on "Minorities, Sectarianism, and Civil Society," has thus far appointed seven Fellows to explore diverse areas of inquiry. It has brought together scholars and practitioners to gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by "minorities" and civil society in the midst of significant upheavals and transformations in the Middle East. Research topics have included gender politics in Iran and Turkey, the role of faith-based charity organizations in the Middle East, the construction of Coptic Christian identity in colonial Egypt, the Alevi movement in Turkey, international interventions in post-Cold War Lebanon in the name of peace, and governance in Jordan. The most recent event organised by fellows was a three-session online conference in February 2021 titled "Western Intervention in the Wake of the Arab Uprisings: Political Containment, Neoliberalism, and Imperial Legacies." Previous events included a panel at the Middle East Studies Association annual conference titled "Limitations and Opportunities of Religious Activism in the Middle East," a one-day workshop at St Antony's College on "Ethno-religious 'Minorities' and Mobilization in the Middle East," and a three-day international conference titled "Rethinking Nationalism, Sectarianism, and Ethno-Religious Mobilization in the Middle East." The conference brought together 37 speakers from 11 different countries in panels chaired by 10 leading experts on Islam and the Middle East.

Since September 2019 an expert in Israeli Studies has served as the Director of OSGA's Middle East Programme. 

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University of Oxford
Oxford