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Programme

Note: ‘ Semester 1’ stands for Fall semester and ‘ Semester 2’ for Spring semester.

Vak EC Semester 1 Semester 2

First year

Common Core Courses:

Critical Area Studies: Placing Your Research 10
Methodologies in the Social Sciences and Humanities 10

Students are strongly advised to opt to take the Methodologies course mentioned above. By taking this course, they fulfill the requirement that they should take in total at least 10 EC of courses from one of the research schools over the two years.
Alternatively, students may take 10 EC worth of national research school courses over the full duration of their enrolment (note that the number of credits per course offered by the research schools varies).

Core Elective Courses

  • Students need to take at least 20 EC of Core Elective Courses (600-level, course code starting with 5474I).

  • Alternatively, students may take (600-level) courses from other Research MA programmes or national research school courses over the full duration of their enrolment (note that the number of credits per course varies).

LIAS PhD Seminar: Decolonisation in Academia 5
LIAS PhD Seminar: Listening and Hearing in Research 5
Culture and Society in the Medieval Muslim World (ResMA) 10
International Relations of the Middle East: Everyday Matters (ResMA) 10
The Making of the Modern Middle East (1870 - 1940) (ResMA) 10
Material Culture, Memory and Commemoration along the Silk Roads in Central Asia (ResMA) 10
The Middle East in the International Political Economy (ResMA) 10
Narratives that Matter: Literature, Film and Television Drama in the Middle East (ResMA) 10
Oil, Waste and Water: Environmental Issues in the Middle East and North Africa (ResMA) 10
The Politics of Heritage in the Middle East (ResMA) 10
The Power of Words: Discourse and Society in the Middle East (ResMA) 10
LIAS PhD Seminar: Themes in Global Political Economy 5
LIAS PhD Seminar: Identity and Resistance in a Global Context 5
Culture and Conquest: the Impact of the Mongols and their Descendants (ResMA) 10
The Gulf and Arabian Peninsula: Power, Class, Mobilities (ResMA) 10
From Inkwell to Internet: Text and Transmission in the Muslim World (ResMA) 10
In the Time of Cities: Space, Place, and Politics in the Urban Middle East (ResMA) [CANCELLED] 10
Political History of the Middle East in the 20th Century (ResMA) 10
Power and Resistance in the Modern Middle East (ResMA) 10
Themes in Arabic Literature: Bandits and Outlaws, Fact and Fiction (ResMA) 10

Elective Courses

  • Choose two or more courses from the courses on offer in the regular MA programmes (levels 400-500) with a minimum of 20 EC in total

  • Alternatively, students may take maximally 10 EC worth of language or other skills courses such as methods or digital humanities courses at BA-level (100–400), unless similar courses were part of the previously completed programme which gave access to this programme.

  • Students may also replace Elective Courses by Core Elective Courses or courses from a national research school (take a 600-level course instead of a 400 or 500-level course).

  • See under tab "Elective courses" for a limited list and more information.

Second year, Semester 1

Research semester

During the first semester of their second year students need to do research worth minimally 20 EC and maximally 30 EC. As the semester must have a total load of 30 EC, the remainder may be filled by taking another course at at least 400 level in the case research is less than 30 EC.

Research Project (Fieldwork) (ResMA) 20-30

Second year, Semester 2

In this semester students write their research MA Thesis.

Research MA Thesis (Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Studies) 30

The writing process is supported through a bi-weekly Thesis Writing Seminar

Thesis Writing Seminar 0

First or second year, Fall semester

Additionally, students can apply to participate in extra-curricular lectures/courses:

Beyond Discipline and Place in the Social Sciences and the Humanities 0
What's Next? First Steps in Crafting Your Career (MA) 2

Elective courses

Elective Courses

  • Choose two or more courses with a minimum of 20 EC in total from the courses on offer in the regular MA Middle Eastern Studies as listed below, or

  • courses from other MA programmes (levels 400-500) (approval needed from the Board of Examiners), or

  • Students may also replace Elective Courses by Core Elective Courses or courses from the National Research Schools (take a 600-level course instead of a 500-level course).

The courses listed are, in principle, open to all students admitted to the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research). However, some of them may have additional entry requirements such as, for example, a particular level of language sufficiency. Please refer to the course descriptions for further details.

Vak EC Semester 1 Semester 2

Fall Semester

Culture and Society in the Medieval Muslim World 10
International Relations of the Middle East: Everyday Matters 10
Material Culture, Memory and Commemoration along the Silk Roads in Central Asia 10
Narratives That Matter: Literature, Film and Television Drama in the Middle East 10
The Making of the Modern Middle East (1870-1940) 10
The Middle East in the International Political Economy 10
Oil, Waste and Water: the Political Ecology of the Middle East and North Africa 10
Pilgrimage and Holy Places 10
The Politics of Heritage in the Middle East 10
The Power of Words: Discourse and Society in the Middle East 10
Social and Cultural History of the Middle East: the Ottoman Empire (1300-1922) 10

Spring Semester

Culture and Conquest: the Impact of the Mongols and their Descendants 10
The Gulf and Arabian Peninsula: Power, Class, Mobilities 10
From Inkwell to Internet: Text and Transmission in the Muslim World 10
In the Time of Cities: Space, Place, and Politics in the Urban Middle East [CANCELLED] 10
Political History of the Middle East in the 20th Century 10
Power and Resistance in the Modern Middle East (ResMA) 10
Themes in Arabic Literature: Bandits and Outlaws 10
Leiden Elective Academic Periodical 10

A special elective...

is the following course which aims at training the students in some skills particularly relevant if they want to pursue an academic career:

Language or other skills courses

Alternatively, students may take maximally 10 EC worth of language or other skills courses such as methods or digital humanities courses at BA-level (100–400), unless similar courses were part of the previously completed programme which gave access to this programme. See below for a limited list of available courses.
If they opt to take more than 10 EC of these BA-level courses, they will not count towards their degree, but listed on the Diploma Supplement as extra-curricular pending approval by the Board of Examiners.

Language courses:

Beginner's Hebrew 10
Beginner's Turkish 10
Indonesian 1 10
Modern Standard Arabic 1 5
Modern Standard Arabic 2 5
Persian Language and Culture 1 10
Ottoman Turkish (Fall) 10
Persian Language and Culture 2 10
Pre-Intermediate Hebrew [CANCELLED] 10
Pre-Intermediate Turkish 10
Ottoman Turkish (Spring) 10

Digital Humanities Courses:

Courses from the Minor Digital Humanities:
Only open as elective, if there are places left. Students from the Minor have priority.

Information Visualization and the Humanities 5
Exploring the Past in the Digital Present 5
Special Topics in Digital Humanities 5

Digital Humanities electives:
A limited number of places have been reserved for students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research) or the MA Asian Studies (research).

Statistics for the Humanities (Statistics I) 5
Introduction to Experimental Methods for the Humanities 5
Digital Media, Culture and Society 5
Digital Humanities and Digital Natives 5
Digital Text and Data Analysis 5

More info

Programme Details

  • Title: Master of Arts

  • Duration: 2 years, full-time

  • Start date: September

  • Language of instruction: English

  • Responsibility: Programme director Master Middle Eastern Studies (research), Dr. C. Strava.

Objectives

This research master provides core training in an Area Studies approach to knowledge, opportunities for the development of disciplinary skills (politics, history, literature, philosophy, religion, etc.), and possibilities to build upon regional and language specialisation (such as Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew). Master students in Middle Eastern Studies develop sophisticated theoretical and methodological tools for scholarly reflexivity as well as tools specific for their research projects – which may be framed in more conventionally disciplinary and regional terms. They are guided to understand the parameters of the various disciplines and the ways in which they may be creatively combined into sophisticated forms of inter-disciplinarity, suitable to their subject matter. Students develop in-depth knowledge of one of the regions of the Middle East and/or a transregional/comparative perspective that tracks particular themes through their relationship with ‘areas.’

Structure

Introduction

In the course of October, the students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research) are coupled with their research and thesis supervisor, one of the professors involved in the programme who (preferably) works on a topic of interest to the individual student. Together with the research and thesis supervisor, the student composes a programme which caters to her or his interest.

Common Core Courses

The programme consists of four semesters with a course load of 30 EC each. The courses have a weight of 10 EC each (a limited number of courses have a weight of 5 EC) and students generally follow three courses per semester. During the first year students have to take two Common Core Courses: ‘Critical Area Studies: Placing Your Research’ (Fall Semester) and ‘Methodologies in the Social Sciences and Humanities ’ (Spring Semester). The first one of these courses is obligatory for all students of both the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research) and the MA Asian Studies (research) and attended by them jointly. The other one may be replaced by courses from one (or more) of the national Dutch research schools in the Humanities.

Core Electives and Electives

Besides these Common Core Courses students take elective courses. The programme offers two kinds of electives: “core electives” and “electives”. Students need to choose at least two “core elective” courses (20 EC in total) during their first year. These core electives are courses which are also attended by regular MA students, but they aim at the same time at offering an extra intellectual challenge to the students of the research MA: during the course more challenging literature is read and extra tutorials are offered by the converners of the courses to discuss the literature read. Moreover, the assignments are assessed at a higher level to cater to the higher intellectual need of research MA students. Alternatively, students may opt to join LIAS PhD candidates in the LIAS PhD Seminars.
The remaining regular “electives” (20 EC in total) are courses attended jointly with the students of the regular MAs and lack the extra challenges offered by the “core electives”.
It is also possible to take courses from other programmes, but when students choose to do so, they need to obtain approval from the Board of Examiners first. Students should be aware, though, that for some of the courses a certain level of knowledge of a particular language is required (see course descriptions).
N.B. In the right column under files you will find a useful document explaining more about which courses can be replaced by which other courses.

Research Project

Students are expected to spend the third semester of the programme on their research research project. They may combine this research project with taking a course of maximum 10 EC either in Leiden or at an affiliated institution.

The last semester: Thesis Writing Seminar and MA Thesis

After the students have finished their research project, they write their Research MA Thesis. The process of writing is supported by a “Thesis Seminar” which is offered bi-weekly. Students present their research during this seminar and discuss relevant issues with their peers.

Schedule

Year I
Semester 1 Common Core Course: Critical Area Studies (10 ec) Core Elective Course (10 ec) Elective Course (10 ec)
Semester 2 Common Core Course: Methodologies in the Social Sciences and Humanities or Research School courses (10 ec) Core Elective Course (10 ec) Elective Course (10 ec)
Year II
Semester 3 (Core) Elective Course (≤ 10 ec) Research Project (≥ 20 ec)
Semester 4 Thesis and Thesis Writing Seminar (30 ec)

Master’s thesis and requirements for graduation

In the first year the students start working on their individual research project proposal, while the research project itself will take place in the first semester of the second year. This will result in a master’s thesis. The thesis must be based on the student’s own research, including primary data. The fourth semester is entirely reserved for the writing of the thesis. During this semester, the students gather on a regular base under the guidance of Prof. Jonathan Silk in the Thesis Writing Seminar to discuss their progress.

In order to graduate, students need to have successfully completed the 120 EC programme including the thesis (30 EC) as part of that programme. The thesis should be related to the expertise of at least one of the members of staff involved in the programme.

Contact Information

Mailing address

MA Middle Eastern Studies (research) programme
Secretariat Vrieshof 4, rm 112a
P.O.Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands

Visiting address (also address for courier services)

Matthias de Vrieshof 4, 2311BZ Leiden
Witte Singel 25, 2311BG Leiden

Education Administration Office

Matthias de Vrieshof 4, room 112a
Phone +31 (0)71 527 2253
E-mail osz-oa-Vrieshof@hum.leidenuniv.nl Opening hours

Coordinator/Student adviser

Nicole A.N.M. van Os, PhD
Phone: +31 (0)71 527 2937
E-mail: stuco-resma-as-mes@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Office hours: upon appointment through e-mail.

Start of your studies

Does the department have an introductory programme?

The introductory meeting of this programme will take place on Monday, September 4th, and start at 10 am (no endtime determined yet) in room room Matthias de Vrieshof 4/005. Further details will follow later.

Directions and map

Directions on how to get from Leiden Central Station to the Faculty of Humanities.

Most rooms are situated at the Witte Singel Doelen-Complex, the location of the Faculties of Humanities.

How do I get hold of my prospectus and lecture timetable?

You can find the courses for the academic year 2023-2024 and the detailed course descriptions in the Prospectus. Find your programme under Middle Eastern Studies (research) to view all courses on offer. Note that these may be updated (and thus still change) until 1st September!

The timetables are available through MyTimetable. Here you can also find what courses start when. Some of them will start in the week of September 4th (notably2, the beginner's level language courses), others a week later in the week of September 11th.

Please note that changes in the timetable may still occur during the summer.
For information on the exam periods, (official) holidays, etc see the Academic Calendar 2023-2024.

Is there anything more I need to do to complete my enrolment?

Make sure to complete your enrolment no later than 31 August. For this you need to:

  • pay the tuition fees;

  • accept the offer in the online application portal;

  • hand in all required documents at the Admissions Office as per the instructions in your admission statement.

Registration for courses

Once your enrolment with Leiden University is complete and you have received your Student Identity Number, log in name and password, you will be able to enroll online for all courses (and later for exams) through MYStudyMap. You may also want to have a look at this FAQ.To make sure your register for the right (version of the) course, make sure to read the item "Course registration" in the course descriptions.

Where can I buy my study books and study material?

To find out what books you will need for next year, you can visit the Prospectus. Here you will find the course descriptions of the courses you will be taking, with the required literature. Most professors use Brightspace for a detailed list of literature. As soon as you are registered for a course, you will have access to the relevant Brightspace module.

Where do I go for any further information I may need?

General information on the programme is available at the Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA) website. You will have to log in the first time you visit this page. Once you have done this your cookies will enable you to enter this page further without problems.

For questions related to more general issues of registration, housing and other practicalities around your coming to Leiden and Leiden University, please, refer to the university's FAQ base.

For any other questions you may contact the student advisor, Ms. Nicole van Os.