About CAMES

History 

The Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies was established in 1972 alongside the Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan Chair in Arab and Islamic Studies. From 1975 on, the Center’s activities were restricted and in 1986 it closed down completely along with several other graduate programs at AUB. In 1997, CAMES was completely reorganized and began receiving applications for the MA program the following year. The first intensive summer Arabic program took place in 2000.

Programs

CAMES' goal is to enhance the understanding of the Middle East and to encourage informed scholarship on the region in all academic disciplines. CAMES is an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary unit which aims to assist students in acquiring a sound grounding in one or more aspects of the study of the Middle East, and in the Arabic language. CAMES offers two programs towards this objective: the MA program and the intensive summer Arabic program.

MA program                                                                                                                                                             The MA in Middle Eastern Studies is a thesis program specifically designed for students who wish to obtain a broad knowledge of the MIddle East. The program focuses on current methodologies and approaches to the general field of the Middle Eastern scholarship. Students structure their own course of study in areas such as contemporary Middle Eastern History and Archaeology, Social Sciences, Middle Eastern politics, and Arabic language and literature. The interdisciplinary nature of the program encourages the students' critical and independent thinking and the undertaking of analytical in-depth research. The MA program takes at least two years to complete.

Summer Arabic program                                                                                                                                     The CAMES summer program in the Arabic language offers intensive courses in Modern Standard Arabic for six and a half weeks each summer.

Arabic study at AUB
CAMES is committed to the study of the Arabic language and offers courses at all levels throughout the academic year in coordination with the department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages.

For more information, please feel free to contact us with any questions.