It’s been a long time coming for Nayereh Tohidi, a professor in CSUN’s Department of Gender and Women’s Studies. Since 2005, she has been working on a project to start a Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MIES) program at CSUN, and it’s been announced that it will be a minor in the fall 2012 semester.

“This is the fulfillment of a long-standing dream to create a program that will be diverse and inclusive of all cultures throughout the Middle East,” said Tohid.

The new minor program, which was formed with help of a $100,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant, will be under the umbrella of the College of Humanities. The program will provide students access to courses in the languages, histories, religions, cultures, sociology and politics of the Middle East. It will also focus on the study of Middle Eastern countries of Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Palestine as well as the study of Muslim communities in South and Southeast Asia and North Africa.

The minor will be the only undergraduate program of its kind in the Los Angeles area, which is home to the largest Middle Eastern American community in the United States. Some of the courses in the MEIS program satisfy general education requirements at CSUN, or may be used as electives in several majors.

For more: CSUN to Offer Minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the Fall [CSUN Media Releases]

College of Humanities, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies