The program encompasses four semesters, during which students gain the tools and knowledge they need to analyze and interpret cultural developments in the Near and Middle East. Students examine a variety of aspects related to the region’s past and present, including its different languages, literary traditions, social structures, religions, cultures of knowledge, and other traditions.

“An interdisciplinary approach to this field really makes sense given how the cultures in the Near and Middle East are interconnected, not only with each other, but also with cultures in other regions,” says Lukas Mühlethaler, a professor of Jewish studies, who coordinates the degree program together with Victoria Mummelthei from the Seminar of Semitic and Arabic Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. “Students get to know how other disciplines work and learn how to combine those approaches with their own area of study.”

“ISME has two defining features. The first is the diversity of the six disciplines that it brings together within the Department of History and Cultural Studies: Arabic studies, Iranian studies, Islamic studies, Jewish studies, Semitic studies, and Turkic studies. The second is its international character,” says Victoria Mummelthei. Freie Universität Berlin’s status as International Network University means that it can draw upon its numerous contacts from around the world in the area of research and education, Mummelthei explains, for example, through its liaison office in Cairo or partnerships like the one with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Admission requirements for the program include advanced English skills, a bachelor’s degree with at least 60 course credits related to content covered in the Interdisciplinary Studies of the Middle East program, as well as knowledge of another language of study, such as Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Syrian-Aramaic, or Turkish.