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Degree Requirements

The requirements listed below are special to this department and must be read in conjunction with the general requirements of GSAS. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the GSAS rules and regulations.

For the M.A. Degree and Free-Standing M.A. Degree

Program of study: To be approved by an advisor or committee of advisors during the first term of study, in consultation with the chair of the department.

Twenty-four (24) points of courses taken for a letter grade are required. All students are required to take MDES G4000 (Theory and Method in Comparative Middle East Cultures) and at least five additional MEALAC (or advisor-approved) courses at or above the 4000 level for a total of six courses. Language courses below the 4000 level cannot be used to fulfill the letter grade requirement.

M.A. course requirements are designed to be completed by the end of the first year.By the end of the first year each student in the Ph.D. program asks an approved Ph.D. dissertation sponsor in MEALAC to become the student’s sponsor.

Languages: All students must demonstrate

1) proficiency in one MEALAC language by successfully completing a two-term course at the 4000 level or higher, in the student’s main language;

(2) a reading knowledge of one of the research languages required by the department for the M.Phil. degree (see below).

Field of study: One subject selected by the student in consultation with the advisor.

Examinations: Two: (1) written, on the student’s main language; (2) oral, on the literature or culture of the area related to the student’s main language.

M.A. thesis: All students are required to submit and defend an M.A. thesis. It is to be approximately 30 to 40 pages in length, and will typically emerge from a seminar paper. An M.A. thesis course, in the form of an independent study, may be taken with the advisor. The course may count as one of the five seminars necessary for fulfilling the M.A. requirement.

The thesis is to be submitted no later than the twelfth week of the student’s third semester and is defended before two faculty readers before the end of the semester in which it has been submitted. Students must submit an application or the oral defense of their Master’s thesis one month prior to scheduling the defense.For Ph.D. students in the Ph.D. program, grades are High Pass with permission to continue on to the M.Phil.; Pass with permission to continue on to the M.Phil.; Pass without permission to continue on to M.Phil.; Fail (no degree awarded). For students in the free-standing M.A. program, grades are High Pass, Pass, Fail. A copy of the thesis is to be deposited in the department.

For the Part-Time Free-Standing M.A. Degree

The department may permit students to register for one-half Residence Unit (up to three courses) or one-quarter Residence Unit (up to two courses) in each term for as long as four academic years in order to complete the degree requirements for the free-standing M.A. degree.

For the M.Phil. Degree

Admission to candidacy for the M.Phil. degree: To be determined by the department when the student has completed the M.A. degree or its equivalent.

Program of study: To be approved by the advisor designated by the chair.

Courses taken for a letter grade: An additional 24 points making a total of 48 from among the courses offered by the department and in approved related fields, including two terms of seminars. Ph.D. students are required to take at least five additional MEALAC (or advisor-approved) courses at or above the 4000 level (for a total of ten plus the departmental core).

Languages: (1) High proficiency in one MEALAC language, proficiency in a second MEALAC language (in addition to the language required for the M.A. degree), and reading competence in a third (the “supporting” language). “Proficiency” is normally achieved by a minimum of two years of Columbia coursework through the intermediate level, or the equivalent; “high proficiency” by a minimum of four years or the equivalent. Modifications to this general definition may be made on the recommendation of the senior faculty in the relevant language area. The supporting language requirement is satisfied by passing a Columbia University examination.

The student must pass at least two terms of courses at the 6000 level in the main Middle East language and must demonstrate a reading knowledge of a second Middle East language offered by the department; reading knowledge of the second language may be demonstrated by passing an intermediate-level course in the language with a grade of at least B, or by passing an examination at the intermediate level in the language; (2) research languages: a reading knowledge of two modern languages in which there is a substantial body of scholarship in the student’s field of interest; a student may not offer English or either of the two languages required under (1), above, in fulfillment of this requirement; in special circumstances the student can petition, with the advisor’s approval, the department for a substitution of the second research language with a disciplinary language; a departmental committee determines the validity of the petition.

Field of study: To be approved by the Academic Affairs Committee of the department upon the recommendation of the student’s advisor.

Teaching requirement: Participation in the instructional and/or research activities of the department for three years. As a rule, in the second, third, and fourth years of study, students gain exposure to teaching as assistants to professors in language courses and as readers or section leaders in lecture courses.

M.Phil. oral examinations: These are held only after the student has successfully satisfied all of his or her requirements. There are three oral examinations. Examination areas are determined by the student in consultation with the three-member M.Phil. committee. Reading lists are prepared by the student and each normally covers about 20-25 books or a commensurate number of articles.

All three examinations are administered on the same occasion; all together, they typically last two hours.

The M.Phil. is awarded once the student has completed six Residence Units, taken the departmental core course and ten graded courses with a grade of B or higher, satisfied the language requirements, and passed the three oral examinations.

M.Phil. requirements are designed to be completed within three years.

For the Ph.D. Degree

Admission to candidacy: To be determined by the department when the student has completed the M.Phil. degree (see under M.Phil. oral examinations above).

Program of study: Before writing the dissertation, students must defend a detailed proposal to members of the dissertation committee and the proposal must be approved by the Academic Affairs Committee.

Dissertation proposal: Prior to beginning the dissertation research the student is required to submit a dissertation proposal. The proposal should be approximately 20 pages in length. It should provide a clear statement of the scholarly problem to be addressed; a review of previous scholarship; a discussion of the student's theoretical and methodological orientation to the problem; a provisional outline of the dissertation as a whole; a plan of research, including discussion of the texts and/or archives to be consulted, research sites chosen, and a timetable; and a bibliography of two-three pages.

Dissertation proposal defense: The dissertation proposal is defended orally before the candidate's five-member committee; the proposal defense is open to all MEALAC faculty and students. With the acceptance of the proposal the student becomes ABD (all but dissertation), and may commence research.

Final dissertation defense: Upon completion of the dissertation and successful application for its defense (including approval by the GSAS Dean’s office), the student defends it before the candidate's five-member committee. Only the five GSAS-approved members of the Ph.D. defense committee may be present at the final dissertation defense per rules [ here ].

Advisor, Ph.D. faculty sponsor and committees: The Director of Graduate Studies is the advisor for all graduate students upon entering the program. By the end of the first year each student asks an approved Ph.D. faculty sponsor in MEALAC to become the student’s sponsor. A list of approved sponsors in MEALAC can be found at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/lists/sponsors.html

Students consult with their Ph.D. sponsor to choose committee members for the final defense. The sponsor must be a member of MEALAC (faculty with joint appointments in MEALAC may serve as sponsors); the committee members need not have appointments in MEALAC. Click here for list of approved sponsors: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/lists/sponsors.html

Committees of two, three and five members are responsible for M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. examinations, respectively. Rules governing the constitution of Ph.D. defense committees are set out in the GSAS Rules and Regulations [ here ] and the Dissertation rules [ here ].

Students must submit an application for their Masters Thesis/MPhil Oral exam one month prior to scheduling their exam.

Financial Aid

A comprehensive program of financial aid, including fellowships and appointments in teaching, is available to Ph.D. students. After the first year, all Ph.D. students admitted to the program receive annual stipends through the fifth year, provided that they remain in good academic standing.