Introduction

Admission open for Spring 2012

Click here to Download NAMES brochure

The Master of Arts in North African and Middle Eastern Studies (NAMES) offers an intensive study of social sciences and humanities courses focusing on North Africa and the Middle East combined with an equally intensive study of Modern Standard Arabic. The course also includes the opportunity for direct contact with the realities of the field and with social actors and stakeholders.

The program takes advantage of the school’s faculty expertise in the region, as well as their experience in teaching diverse student bodies, from North Africa, North America, and Western Europe who are interested in this field of studies. The program is intended to address the needs of students who want to become specialists in this region by learning about its culture, history, economy, and politics. Applicants can be from different backgrounds (ex. International Studies, International Relations, Political Science, Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, Mediterranean Studies, Middle Eastern Studies) since the program caters to different needs and challenges.

To download the North African and Middle Eastern Studies brochure, click here.

Admission Requirements

All candidates must submit formal applications to the University. Preselected applicants will be invited to take an oral interview (distance interviews can be arranged on demand).

Selection criteria include:

•BA degree with GPA of 3.0 or equivalent

•Non-native speakers of English or those who do not have a degree from an English medium university are required to have a TOEFL minimal score of 550 (or equivalent) for full-time enrollment in the program; applicants with scores between 500 and 549 may enroll in the AUI language center on either a full time or part-time basis.

•One year of (non intensive) Arabic language study. Students who do not meet this requirement (based on an AUI’s Arabic placement test) may take the intensive Beginning Arabic 1 and 2 during the Arabic and North African Studies (ARANAS:www.aui.ma/arabic) summer program preceding the beginning of the NAMES program, which should bring them to the level required