Middle East and South Asia Studies
Why Study MESA at W&L?
The Middle East and South Asia, though wide in extent and culturally diverse, contain multiple cradles of civilization, and have been linked since antiquity by cultural, religious and economic networks, both on land (the Silk Road) and sea (the Indian Ocean).
Students in the MESA program gain broad-based, historically grounded knowledge about the societies and cultures of the Middle East and South Asia, including their linkages and area-wide patterns, acquiring the skills to analyze and interpret social, religious, political and cultural processes or developments relevant to the area.
About the Program
Students may choose to minor in Middle East and South Asia Studies Or MESA Studies with Language Emphasis, both of which require seven courses (at least 21 credits). Language emphasis requires three additional 3-4 credit courses earned by completing through term five in one MESA-relevant language. The first two terms of language study are not applicable to the minor. Both Arabic and Sanskrit instruction are available at W&L; other MESA-relevant languages, such as Hebrew, Hindi or Tibetan, may be studied elsewhere and considered by the program director for credit toward the minor with language emphasis.
Opportunities for Students
Students are encouraged to take advantage of study abroad or language learning opportunities in the Middle East and South Asia. Washington and Lee’s relationships with the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and Middlebury Schools Abroad facilitate student experiences in Jordan and India. The Critical Language Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, offers fully funded summer language institutes for U.S. students studying Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, Urdu, Persian, Punjabi, Bangla or Turkish. Students may also consider programs with the Council on International Education Exchange or the School for International Training, which offer opportunities in Jordan, India, Indonesia, Morocco or Nepal. Scholarships are available for some of these experiences.
The Association for Middle East Interests, a campus student group, is dedicated to informing the student body and Rockbridge-area community about the Middle East.
Other co-curricular and extracurricular activities include movie nights, calligraphy lessons, cooking lessons, dance lessons, spoken word nights, guest speakers and the WLUArabic Lunch.
After W&L
- Chase Leeby ’18 was an art history major and MESA minor, and is pursuing a masters degree at Oxford University in Tibetan and Himalayan studies.
- Stephanie Williams ’18 was a global politics major, MESAL minor and Russian area studies minor. She completed an internship in Jordan in summer 2017 and is pursuing a masters degree at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky.
- Rachel Reibach ’18 is a congressional intern for the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Zach Schaeffer ’18 is an associate at Standish Management, LLC, Dallas.
- Alora Martin ’18 is a client service specialist at Vanguard.
- Emily Austin ’18 held a Critical Language Program fellowship in Indonesia for the study of Indonesian during the summer of 2018, and earlier spent a term in Bali on the SIT program.
- Kalady Osowski ’19 spent a semester in India studying Hindi and art history, and hopes to conduct research in Delhi on cultural heritage preservation after graduation.
- Alexander Yacoubian ’16 received the William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship and studied in Dubai in 2015. He then studied Arabic at Georgetown intensively in summer 2016, and started a master’s program in security studies at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in fall 2017.
- Jacob Berman ’16 is a history major who also studied Arabic; he started law school at Boston University in fall 2016.
Sample Courses
Language Policies & Politics
An examination of language policies in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia (broadly defined). Students are introduced to the concepts and theories involved in language planning and policy (LPP) and discuss topics such as the legal status of language(s); linguistic rights; language attitudes and ideologies; language in education; language standardization; multilingualism and nationalism; and language endangerment. Students investigate the factors that govern and influence different LPPs through a series of case studies from the MESA region.
God & Goddess in Hinduism
This course explores the many ways in which Hindus visualize and talk about the divine and its manifestations in the world through mythic stories, use of images in worship, explanations of the nature of the soul and body in relation to the divine, and the belief in human embodiments of the divine in Hindu holy men and women. Topics include: the religious meanings of masculine and feminine in the divine and human contexts; the idea of local, family and "chosen" divinities; and differing forms of Hindu devotion for men and women.
Yogis, Monks & Mystics
Yogis, ascetics and other holy people pursue extraordinary paths that invert the normal aims and values of society. This course surveys ideas on mental and physical training, their conceptual basis, the range of techniques used, and their philosophical development. Course material is drawn from a diverse range of religions that may include Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Islamic and Christian. The course seeks to answer such questions as: "What is the purpose of these teachings and for whom were they designed?" "What roles do yogis and ascetics play in religious life?" and "What is their ethical status in the world?"
Art & Material Culture of Tibet
Through a chronological presentation of sites and objects, we study Tibet's great artistic movements from the 7th-20th centuries. Our analyses of the art and material culture of Tibet, and its larger cultural zone, has an art historical and historiographic focus. This two-pronged approach encourages students to analyze not only the styles and movements of Tibetan art, but the methods by which this art world has been studied by and simultaneously presented to Western audiences.
Gender, Sexuality & Islam
How have issues of gender and sexuality in medieval and modern Islamic societies been debated across the Middle East, South Asia and the West? Students examine scholarly and public discussions of gender and Islam, and they build a vocabulary in which to talk about women, queer and intersex history as they concern Muslim societies and their foundational sources in their regional and historical contexts.
Arab Women Writers
This course examines literary works of women writers in the Arabic literary tradition. In the Western world, Arab women's fiction is often read in order to gain insight into the social and political questions facing women in various Arab societies - the metaphorical drawing of the veil from the face of the Arab woman. We follow this mode of inquiry to some extent, and we also consider our eagerness to draw back this veil in the first place. While paying attention to literary themes, poetics, rhetoric and literary forms, we examine the roles women came to fulfill in Arabic literary culture, the narrative and poetic forms they have adopted in their writing in different periods, and the way these reflect on gender dynamics in the Middle East.
Meet the Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
