About

Why study Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies?

Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies are taught in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

When you hear the words Islam, Arabia and the Middle East, what picture does this conjure up in your mind....fundamentalism, terrorism, war and unrest? If this is so, then you have a great deal to learn about  Arabia, the Middle East and Islamic Culture.

If you want to know more, and you have a desire to venture beyond the common notions and images which the West, in general, holds about the Middle East and the Islamic world, why not consider studying for a degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Leeds?

The Western world has had a unique and not always open relationship with the Middle East. Yet this relationship did not start in the 19th century, but goes back to the Middle Ages, to the Crusades and beyond. The civilizations of the Middle East reached their peak in architecture, science and literature long before the Western world was put on the map. Whatever your interests in this area, the University of Leeds can provide you with the means to a better and more informed view of the Islamic and Middle Eastern world.

Current teaching areas include: Islamic Civilisation, Islamic Art and architecture, History of the Middle East, Arabic Literature, Arab Cinema, Culture and Society in the Middle East, Qur'anic Studies, Qur'anic Exegesis, Media Arabic, Arabic Stylistics, Arabic Grammar and Translation, Travel in Medieval Islam, Arabian Nights and Islamic Spain and Sicily. Staff research interests include: Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Politics, Qur'anic Exegesis, Arab Cinema, Middle Eastern Gender Studies, Islamic Material Culture, Arabic Literature, Arabic Media and Translation Studies.

The Department maintains strong links with the University's Institute for Medieval Studies (IMS), which is responsible for running the largest International Medieval Congress (IMC) in Europe, an annual event with an attendance of over 1,300 medievalists from all over the world. www.leeds.ac.uk/imc