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Regional Specialization

Middle East 

Courses must focus on the countries of  the Middle East region of the world, to include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Israel, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Turkey, Palestine, Libya, Cyprus, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Afghanistan, Sudan, Djibouti.

  • UPPER-DIVISION REGIONAL SPECIALIZATION COURSES MAY NOT OVERLAP WITH YOUR MAJOR.
  • Students entering as freshman must take 3 courses, of which 2 are UPPER DIVISION courses (#100-199).
  • Students entering as transfers must take 2 UPPER DIVISION courses (#100-199).
  • Language courses may not count for both language requirement and regional specialization.
  • Students must take ALL courses from the SAME region.
  • Only ONE course can be taken P/NP.
  • Qualifying AP credits for Regional Specialization counts as the one allowable lower-division requirement. It does not count as the one allowable P/NP course.
  • See General Catalog for complete course descriptions and pre-requisites: http://www.ucsd.edu/catalog
  • Students may overlap their Regional Specialization requirement with the Upper-Division Writing requirement. Please see Approved Courses for Upper-Division Writing to determine which classes are eligible for overlap. 

(^) Must take at least TWO UPPER DIVISION courses to satisfy the Regional Specialization requirement
(#) Courses taught in native language, not English.
(*) May be used for Regional Specialization OR Fine Art requirement, NOT BOTH

Anthropology

Course Number

Course Title

ANAR 113 Past, Present, and Future Perspectives on Natural Resources in Israel 
ANAR 114 Environmental Hazards in Israel
ANAR 115 Coastal Geomorphology & Environmental Change-Israel/South-Eastern Mediterranean
ANAR 116 Sea Level Change—The Israel Case in World Perspective
ANAR 138 Mesopotamian Archaeology
ANAR 141 Prehistory of the Holy Land
ANAR 142 The Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel
ANAR 143 Biblical Archaeology—Fact or Fiction
ANAR 144 Pharaohs, Mummies, & Pyramids: Intro to Egyptology
ANAR 145S Study Abroad: Egypt of the Pharaohs
ANAR 165 Marine and Coastal Archaeology and the Biblical Seas
ANAR 185 Middle East Desert Cultural Ecology
ANAR 190 Eastern Mediterranean Archaeological Field School (12)
ANAR 191 Advanced Cyber-Archaeology Field School
ANSC 133 Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East
ANSC 187  Anthropology of Mental Health in Israel and the Diaspora

Communication

Course Number

Course Title

COMM 158 Representations of the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Economics

Course Number

Course Title

ECON 165 Middle East Economics
ECON 165T Advanced Topics in Middle East Economics
ECON 168 Economics of Modern Israel

Global South Studies

Course Number

Course Title

^GSS 25 Middle East: History, Culture, and Politics

History

Course Number

Course Title

HIEU 159 Three Centuries of Zionism, 1648–1948
HIEU 159S Three Centuries of Zionism 1648–1948
HIGL 104 The Jews and Judaism in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
HINE 100 The Hebrew Bible and History
HINE 108 The Middle East before Islam
HINE 109 History of the Middle East (1200-1800): The Ottoman Empire
HINE 113 Ancient Near East Mythology
HINE 114 History of the Islamic Middle East
HINE 116 The Ottoman Empire, Iran and Egypt (1798–1914)
HINE 118 The Middle East in the Twentieth Century
HINE 119 U.S./Mid-East Policy: Post– World War II
HINE 120 Middle East in the New Century
HINE 126 Iranian Revolution in Historical Perspective
HINE 127 History of Modern Turkey
HINE 128 History of the Middle East: The Early Medieval Period, 500-1000
HINE 129
History of the Middle East: The Late Medieval Period, 1000-1500
HINE 135GS Introduction to Contemporary Israeli Society and Culture
HINE 136GS Zionism and Post Zionism
HINE 137 History of Two Peoples in Palestine/Israel
HINE 144 Topics in Middle Eastern History
HINE 145 Islam and Science: The History of Science in the Middle East (600-1950)
HINE 160 Special Topics in the Bible and Ancient Near East
HINE 162 Anthropology & the Hebrew Bible
HINE 165 The Colonial Mandates in the Middle East
HINE 166 Nationalism in the Middle East
HINE 170 Special Topics in Jewish History
HINE 186 Special Topics in Middle Eastern History
HINE 199 Independent Study in Near Eastern History
HISC 132 Israel—Start-up Nation
HITO 105 Jewish Modernity from 1648-1948

Jewish Studies

Course Number

Course Title

JWSP 101 Introduction to Hebrew Texts
JWSP 102 Intermediate Hebrew Texts
JWSP 103 Advanced Hebrew Texts
JWSP 104 Practicum in Advanced Hebrew 
JWSP 110 Introduction to Judaism
JWSP 111 Topics in Judaic Studies
JWSP 130 Introduction to the Old Testament: The Historical Books
JWSP 131 Introduction to the Old Testament: The Poetic Books
JWSP 196A Jewish Studies Honors Course
JWSP 196B Jewish Studies Honors Course
JWSP 198 Directed Group Study in Jewish Studies
JWSP 199 Independent Study in Jewish Studies

Linguistics

Course Number

Course Title

^LIHL 16 Arabic Literacy for Arabic Speakers
^LIHL 17 Persian Literacy for Persian Speakers
#LIHL 116F-W-P Arabic for Arabic Speakers
#LIHL 117F-W-P Persian for Persian Speakers
#LIHL 137F-W-P Advanced Persian for Persian Speakers

Literature

Course Number

Course Title

LTWL 101 Death and Life in Ancient Egypt
LTWL 102 Life & Death in Ancient Mesopotamia
LTWL 143 Arab Literatures and Cultures
LTWL 157 Iranian Film
LTWL 159 Digital Middle East: Culture, Politics, and Religion

Political Science

Course Number

Course Title

POLI 121 Government & Politics of the Middle East
POLI 121B Politics in Israel
POLI 124 Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Sociology

Course Number

Course Title

SOCI 158 Islam in the Modern World
SOCI 188F Modern Jewish Societies & Israeli Society
SOCI 188I The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
SOCI 188O Settlements and Peacemaking in Israel
Last Updated: 9/26/24