Modality
On Campus
Program URL
https://arabic.georgetown.edu/ma/
The Master of Arts program in Arabic and Islamic Studies seeks to advance knowledge and understanding of classical and modern Islamic thought and to provide understanding of Arabophone culture and intellectual history in the pre-modern and modern periods. With a special emphasis on Arabic textual traditions, the program offers graduate training in the study of the languages, literatures, and thought of the Islamic world, and introduces students to scholarly approaches to the study of Islam.
Academic Policies
For a successful completion of the course work for the M.A. degree, students must maintain a strong academic record and must score a minimum average of B+ in the major concentration with no single grade below B. Receiving grades less than A-, especially in research seminars, should be considered as a warning sign. Incompletes are strongly discouraged, and will turn into failing grades if not completed before the end of classes of the following semester. Students who do not perform satisfactorily will risk possible dismissal from the program.
Program Requirements
Language Requirement
In the first week of their first academic year, students who are non- native Arabic speakers are required to take an Arabic language exam administered by the department. Students must pass the Arabic proficiency exam before the start of their second academic year. Arabic language courses taken to enable students to reach the required proficiency level do not count towards the degree credits.
Course Requirements
Candidates for the master’s degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies take a program of 36 credits, including 11 courses (33 credits) plus a M.A. research course (3 credits). The distribution of the credits are as follows:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| ARAB 5555 | IntroArb/Islm Stud:Sources/Met | 3 |
| ARAB 5558 | Intro Linguistics Methodology | 3 |
| ARAB 5559 | Intro to Literary Methodology | 3 |
| 18 |
| 9 |
| 3 |
| |
| Total Credits | 39 |
Concentrations
Students must select a major concentration from one of three available options: Arabic Linguistics, Arabic Literature, or Islamic Studies. The minor concentration is also selected from the available options, but should not be the same concentration as the major concentration.
Concentration courses must meet the following distributional requirements:
- 3 Courses on the Classical Period
- 3 Courses on the Modern Period
- 4 advanced Arabic seminars that include reading and research using primary Arabic sources
Required Examinations
The Comprehensive Examinations are designed to demonstrate the candidate’s rounded knowledge of scholarship in the field, familiarity with its primary and secondary sources, and understanding of its main approaches and methodologies. A candidate for the master’s degree must take this exam at the first opportunity and no later than the end of the first semester after completion of all course requirements.
Thesis Requirements
A master’s research paper is related to the work of a particular graduate course in Arabic and Islamic Studies. It marks the significant development and revision of a term paper the student has written in a seminar, modeled along a publishable research paper in the field. It may be written either in Arabic or in English and normally consists of at least 25-35 typed pages.
