Unit Requirements

The minimum number of units required to earn dual master’s degrees in Journalism and Near Eastern Studies is 51 (18 from NES, 18 from Journalism, and 15 units which are shared between the two disciplines, including the thesis). The table below shows the required courses.

Curriculum

Admission to the Dual Degree Program

Students must apply to and be accepted by both the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Department of Journalism to qualify for the dual degree program. An interdepartmental committee from the two departments will review and make a recommendation about any student who has been accepted by both departments and has indicated that he or she wishes to earn the dual degree.

Students are advised to have completed the equivalent of NES 277A (History of the Middle East 600-1453) and NES 277B (History of the Middle East : Modern Middle East) and NES 334 (Islamic Thought) prior to enrollment in the dual degree program.  Any deficiencies in preparation should be addressed during the student’s first year of graduate work. No graduate credit will be given for these courses.

Students entering the dual degree program without a bachelor’s degree in journalism or significant professional experience must take JOUR 205-Reporting the News, JOUR 206-Advanced Reporting, and JOUR 208-Law of the Press, before they can take any graduate-level skills classes. No graduate credit is given for these 200-level courses. These students may take other graduate courses, such as seminars and language courses

Transfer Credit

A request to transfer must be submitted to the Graduate College , in consultation with the Graduate Advisors of both departments, by the end of the first year. Many of these transfer units may be applicable to requirements in either degree program, or may count toward the additional units required of the student.

Languages

Students must achieve third-year language proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish. Third-year language proficiency is achieved through successful completion of six semesters of the focus language or its equivalency.

Students entering the program with proficiency in one Middle Eastern language at the third-year level must take either 6 graduate units of that language above the third-year level, or 6 graduate units of a second Middle Eastern language. Graduate courses in Colloquial or Media Arabic can be used for the 6 units of language if the third-year level of Arabic proficiency has been attained.

Thesis

By the end of the second semester of enrollment, students must form a thesis committee of at least three faculty members, one of whom serves as the thesis advisor. At least one member of this committee must be a tenured or tenure-eligible faculty member in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, and at least one must be a faculty member in the Department of Journalism. The committee must be approved by the Graduate Advisor in each department.