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

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: 1/3/25