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

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 Islamic Studies track is designed to offer students an integrated program of training in the academic study of the religion of Islam, combining the philological study of texts with the methodological perspectives of religious studies. Students opting for this track can draw on faculty expertise in such areas as Quran and exegetical traditions, Islamic law, Islamic history and historiography, Sufism, material culture and lived religion, while also taking advantage of the comparative and methodological resources of NYU',s Program in Religious Studies. Several other NYU programs, including the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World and Silsila: The Center for Material Histories, offer a plethora of public events and conferences on topics (including early Islam and Islamic material culture) of interest to students in Islamic Studies. The broader resources of the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies department also facilitate the integration of analytical tools adapted from history, anthropology and cultural studies to topics relating to Islamic Studies. Courses within the department relevant to this track, taught by Professors Ismail Fajrie Alatas, Abigail Balbale, Aye Baltacolu-Brammer, Marion Katz, and Philip Kennedy, include Problems and Methods in Islamic Studies (a core course required for students in the Islamic Studies track), Lived Islam, Islamic Space and Time, History of Islamic Law, Religion and Religious Movements in the Middle East, Sunni-Shia: Past and Present, and History, Fiction and Narrative in Arabic/Islamic Texts. In addition, students in the Islamic Studies track frequently take advantage of the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium and take classes at Columbia and Princeton.

You must receive your undergraduate degree (U.S. baccalaureate or equivalent) from an institution of recognized standing before enrollment in the Graduate School.
Academic Transcripts
Test Scores (if required)
Applicant Statements
R'sum or Curriculum Vitae
Letters of Recommendation, and
For the TOEFL, the Graduate School recommends that the applicant achieve a minimum TOEFL score of 100 on the internet-based test. For the IELTS, a minimum overall band score of at least 7 is recommended.