Middle East and North Africa Studies

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is home to a diversity of peoples and cultures, rich literary and artistic traditions, extensive trade networks, urban planning, and governance systems. Through our minor program, students can explore critical issues across the region while focusing on their areas of interest.

What You Can Do with a Minor in Middle East and North Africa Studies

Recognizing the crucial economic and political role that the MENA region plays, this minor gives students foundational qualifications to enter a global workforce. It is especially useful for careers in:

  • Academia
  • Foreign service
  • International business
  • International law

Our Degree Program

The Middle East and North Africa studies minor is an interdisciplinary program.

an Arabic classroom with students listening to someone speaking

Learn from Experts in the Field

Our minor draws on expert faculty from a dozen different departments across the College of Arts and Sciences.

students sitting in Amman, Jordan, watching the sunset

Get Real-world Experience

Strengthen your language and culture skills overseas. Explore countries in the Middle East and North Africa region through study abroad opportunities.

Scholarships and Funding

Students in the Middle East and North Africa Studies can seek funding through the College of Arts and Sciences, which awards various scholarships both to incoming students and to those already attending the UO.

CAS and UO Scholarships

Academic Support

Our academic advisors can help students understand their major or minor requirements, plan their course of study, explore study abroad opportunities, and more.

Undergraduate Advising

Social Sciences News and CAS Events

NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES—As a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and an associate professor of English at the University of Oregon, Kirby Brown blends a deep commitment to preserving his family’s personal stories with a vision for fostering Indigenous research and archival storytelling. Through storytelling and literature, he seeks to highlight moments of love, joy, humor, resistance, desire, and futurity.
ANTHROPOLOGY - Departments, programs and organizations on campus are collaborating to host a symposium on Latinx and Indigenous migrations, histories and identities, which runs April 24-25. The event features UO faculty members, as well as scholars from across the US.
SOCIOLOGY - On Thursday, April 10, researchers from the College of Arts and Sciences hosted a town hall to present findings about the positive impact that CAHOOTS has had on the Eugene community. The forum was held days after the city of Eugene announced that it would cut CAHOOTS’s funding.

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Gender, Race and Empire Symposium
May2
Gender, Race and Empire Symposium May 2 Knight Library
Organic/Inorganic/Materials Chemistry KLEMM Lecture Series: Design and synthesis of organic electronic materials
May2
Organic/Inorganic/Materials Chemistry KLEMM Lecture Series: Design and synthesis of organic electronic materials May 2 Willamette Hall
Tech Together: Unconventional Paths to Tech
May4
Tech Together: Unconventional Paths to Tech May 4 Erb Memorial Union (EMU)
Department of History Coffee Hour
May6
Department of History Coffee Hour May 6 McKenzie Hall
Lecture: Jacob Hamblin, Models of Harm for Radiation Effects in the Nuclear Age
May6
Lecture: Jacob Hamblin, Models of Harm for Radiation Effects in the Nuclear Age May 6 Lillis Business Complex
Archaeological Discoveries in the Indo-Pacific Shed Light on Long-term Subsistence Practices
May7
Archaeological Discoveries in the Indo-Pacific Shed Light on Long-term Subsistence Practices May 7 Chapman Hall
Bridging the Impasse: 21st Century Practices for a Stronger Democracy
May8
Bridging the Impasse: 21st Century Practices for a Stronger Democracy May 8 Erb Memorial Union (EMU)
Graduate Research Forum
May8
Graduate Research Forum May 8 Ford Alumni Center
Opening Event for Blue Visions: Thinking with Ocean Ecologies across the Arts and Humanities
May8
Opening Event for Blue Visions: Thinking with Ocean Ecologies across the Arts and Humanities May 8 Knight Library
Blue Visions: Thinking with Ocean Ecologies across the Arts and Humanities
May9
Blue Visions: Thinking with Ocean Ecologies across the Arts and Humanities May 9 Erb Memorial Union (EMU)

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