<p>Hi everyone :) Please excuse the forthcoming <em>novel</em>, haha.</p>
<p>So, I registered because I figured I would ask this lovely group if anyone knows off the top of their head of any universities with flexible graduate degree programs or perhaps interdisciplinary studies that might fit my needs. I'm about to graduate (Dec) from UNC Chapel Hill with a BA in French and Francophone Studies, and I'm a second-year Arabic student. I intended to go into UNC's Franco-Arab Studies graduate program, but alas, a wrench was thrown into my plans this year: the chair of the program is moving overseas to establish her own doctorate program, and the only other person qualified to teach for the program is going with her, so the program is, to my/our knowledge, dissolving. </p>
<p>It was the ONLY Franco-Arab Studies program in the United States any of us are aware of, requiring French and Arabic language courses and courses studying interactions between France and North Africa/Middle East (as immigration and religious controversy are huge topics in France and obviously there is a huge ripple effect throughout NA from years of French colonization). Obviously, this is a fairly specialized area of study, and it's EXACTLY the field I wanted to go into. I'm pretty upset.</p>
<p>The professors advising me suggested either finding a school that offers interdisciplinary studies or going into Middle Eastern Studies and attempting to study the French aspect (and keep my French language skills up) on my own... which sounds far less appealing than the original program, but then almost all other options do. Sadly, moving overseas to follow the program is absolutely not an option for me. I really didn't want to leave the Triangle area of North Carolina as I have horses (shipping them and finding a new barn AGAIN is such a pain I don't even want to think about it!) and a partner who would have to transfer within her company and move with me, and it would be massively expensive and a big hassle, but studying in other areas is something I'm forced to consider at this time given that UNC and Duke only offer a graduate certificate in even straight Middle Eastern Studies, and I'm really after a MA, not a certificate. </p>
<p>In any case, the farther away I have to move, the more expensive it will be, and neither of us is made of money, so can anyone recommend any schools maybe at least near the East coast that have good Middle Eastern Studies/Arabic programs, and major major thanks/kudos for a school that would allow me to specialize a bit from the French perspective and take advanced French language courses in conjunction with my Arabic?</p>
<p>Thank you so much to anyone who reads this spiel :P</p>
<p>I’m moving this to the graduate school forum, where you may get more informed replies. </p>
<p>I suspect the closest program is Arab Studies at Georgetown. A friend of mine has similar interests (Muslims in France, French influence in the Maghreb, etc.) and has been very happy in the European studies MA program at Yale, but he came close to picking Georgetown. You may also want to check out Middle Eastern studies at UT Austin and/or some of the interdisciplinary programs at GWU. </p>
<p>You should investigate FLAS funding for Arabic. Many MA programs will not fund you themselves, so looking for alternate sources of funding is prudent.</p>
<p>It’s always a good idea to think carefully before applying to graduate school. You should ask yourself:
[ul][<em>]Why do you want to go to graduate school?
[</em>]What will you get out of it?
[li]Why a MA program in (Franco-)Middle Eastern studies? Will it serve you better than either moving directly into the workforce or getting an advanced degree in a similar but related subject (e.g. sociology or international relations)?[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Reading journals/articles in your field and scoping out academia.edu are ways of finding scholars working on topics of interest to you.</p>
<p>Oops, thank you! Didn’t see this forum, eeek. This is what happens when you’re a n00b, I suppose.</p>
<p>The biggest thing for me is that my interests, <em>first and foremost</em>, lie in the languages themselves. Ideally I would like to eventually translate–I’ve seen jobs posted for the CIA translating between French, English, and Arabic. A job like that, in the future, of course, would be ideal, with the added cultural awareness of a degree that does focus on social issues. As of now, my Arabic is not advanced enough to even think of a job translating, as I regrettably started it a bit late; I wasted a couple of years of undergrad space taking Japanese because all of my friends were taking it. It is a cool language, but, for my purposes, completely useless. BUT, I don’t want to lose my French whilst polishing my Arabic. </p>
<p>Most language classes are taught ABOUT various subjects, but in the target language… and I have very little interest in the literature aspect of most French programs which seems to be unfortunately the crux of the French programs (BA and MA) here and in many other schools I’ve looked into. I care far more about immigration and cultural relations than I do l’amour courtois or l’existentialisme. I am interested in these subjects also for their own merits and have taken various Arab Studies classes in English, but a program that develops my language skills is crucial to me, and I would like to increase proficiency in BOTH languages as much as possible.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the suggestions! I doubt that I have the GPA to get into Yale’s program but will certainly look into all of those… D.C. could potentially work out well since my partner has work connections there. <em>crosses fingers</em></p>
<p>(edit - if international relations would allow me to continue developing both languages while researching France/NA crossover, that would certainly be an option!)</p>
<p>If you’re primarily concerned with developing language skills, you should consider applying for the Critical Language Scholarship. It funds students to go to the Middle East and learn Arabic over the summer, and both intermediate and advanced Arabic are offered. It’s very competitive, but it’s hard to beat for getting languages down.</p>
<p>[Critical</a> Language Scholarship Program](<a href=“http://www.clscholarship.org/lang_2013_arabic.php]Critical”>http://www.clscholarship.org/lang_2013_arabic.php)</p>
<p>Ooohhh, thank you, I’d never heard of that particular program and I think I WILL apply! :)</p>