<p>I just got into Amherst RD and was wondering how high current/past student would rank their Poli Sci department? I am interested in focusing on Middle Eastern affairs in particular. I also got into Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Bryn Mawr, Mt Holyoke, Vassar and Haverford. I did a lot of research into this but its always best to hear straight from the horses mouth! Any input would be appreciated.</p>
<p>If you are interested in Middle Eastern affairs, you should go through each colleges course offerings and faculty in Arabic. I believe that Amherst’s only Arabic instructor is a Five-College post-doc fellow and the course offerings are very slim.</p>
<p>I would also try to get a sense of where students are studying abroad in the Middle East and what kind of opportunities are currently available. </p>
<p>Finally, look at the recent faculty hires in Middle Eastern or Islamic studies. It’s a fairly new field and many liberal arts colleges have not really gotten their programs off the ground in terms of faculty hires, not only in Political Science, but across several departments as it’s really hard to isolate politics from literature from sociology from history when you start talking about a region.</p>
<p>I would say the general poli sci program is one of our strongest programs, with its unusually wide range of course offerings and big name professors like Austin Sarat (who’s an (in)famous LJST prof. but occasionally teaches Poli Sci classes).</p>
<p>In order to major in history, one has to choose a regional or thematic focus. A friend of mine has chosen the Middle East, and many of her courses reach outside of the purely historical approach; I think many of her classes are cross-listed with Poli Sci. I even took a course with her before and the class, which focused on the Middle East, was on par with my other humanities classes. I wish I were more familiar with the Poli Sci dept, so I could point you to certain faculty members.
(Edit: Professor Gordon Levin is one big name who comes to mind when I think of Middle Eastern studies here. Though, I think he is technically a part of the history department.)</p>
<p>Beyond all of that, I want to stress that Amherst’s biggest strength lies in the overall strength of its humanities programs. I’m sure you can find great faculty/course offerings in the realm of Middle Eastern studies here, but I think you’ll be amazed at the impact other random professors from all different departments will have on you. That’s what makes Amherst so amazing.</p>