Doctor of Philosophy in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies - Culture and Representation

The doctoral program of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies provides training in fields relating to the history, cultures, languages, literatures and religions of the Middle East, focusing on the period from the rise of Islam to the present. Members of the department are drawn from different disciplines and specializations (including history, anthropology, literature, Islamic studies, language instruction, sociology, and political science) and are committed to providing students with a solid disciplinary grounding; at the same time, the department fosters innovative interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to the study of the Middle East. Several of the department’s faculty have joint appointments with other academic units at NYU.

MEIS offers a program of coursework and supervised research leading to the doctorate in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Students in the MEIS doctoral program concentrate their studies in one of three tracks: Islamic Studies, Literature or Culture and Representation. In collaboration with the History Department, department also offers a Joint PhD Program in History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. MEIS seeks prospective graduate students who are academically well-prepared and strongly committed to pursuing the PhD; as noted above, it has no MA program and does not offer that degree. Students who are interested in obtaining the MA. should apply to the Kevorkian Center’s Program in Near Eastern Studies, which offers a terminal MA in Near Eastern Studies.

The Culture and Representation track provides a coherent academic framework for exploring a range of overlapping fields of inquiry, mainly related to the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies, including popular culture, media studies, visual culture, cultural policy, along with the related fields of cultural anthropology and cultural geography. Inaugurated in 2005, the track builds on the strengths of MEIS as a broadly multidisciplinary area studies department, highlighting the acquisition of knowledge in critical theory (including narratology, performance, postcolonial, political thought), analytical methodologies (including textual, discourse, and institutional analyses), and various research approaches (including interviews and digital methods). Students in the Culture and Representation track will, in consultation with their advisor(s), craft a program of coursework and supervised study in a range of areas, and will be encouraged to enroll in related courses offered via other departments, such as Anthropology; Art & Public Policy; Cinema Studies; Comparative Literature; Media, Culture & Communication; Performance Studies; Social & Cultural Analysis.