Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
The Center for Islamic and Middle East Studies (CIMES) at CSUSB serves for international dialogue and academic excellence for students and faculty as well as the local and international communities.
The Center supports research, lectureships, curriculum development and community outreach in order to advance the study of Islam and the Middle East.
About
The concept for the establishment of the Center for Islamic and Middle East Studies (CIMES) on the campus of California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) was initiated in 1997 and was predicated on the notion that the Center’s primary function was to serve the academic needs of the university and the wider local, national, and international communities. At that time, the largest university system in the United States, the California State University (CSU) was virtually bereft of courses in Middle East languages; its then twenty-two libraries were seriously lacking or deficient in holdings on the Middle East and Islamic world and it was a system with few majors or minors in Islamic or Middle East Studies. Our goal then, as it is now, was to develop and expand our Center as one that will serve as a flagship for international dialogue and academic excellence for our students, faculty and the local and international communities.
The first step in assuring the establishment of a broad and diverse Center was to develop formal and lasting ties with universities with whom we might advance a dialogue based on a shared commitment to international education. Our interest is to now draw on their expertise and to collaborate on a wide range of shared issues recognizing that these scholars and institutions might best represent the complex array of distinct cultures, languages, political, social, and economic expressions found in the Middle East specifically, and the 1.6 billion community of Muslims worldwide. Prior to the formal establishment of Center, numerous formal university Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) between CSUSB and prestigious universities and institutions located throughout the Muslim world were enthusiastically supported and signed by CSUSB President Albert Karnig and Provost and Academic Vice President Louis Fernandez. This rich and ever expanding collection of agreements with Arab, Turkish, and Southeast Asian universities and institutes has since been highlighted by the exchange of students, shared multi-party university conferences, university hosting of high-level government officials, NGO and faculty delegations, co-authored book projects, scholarly journal publications, and ongoing and successful talks and tests related to the establishment of various distant learning programs through which existing pedagogical and research ties can be further enhanced.
Having set the initial yet foundational stages for meeting our Center goals, and with the strong and unwavering support of Dr. John Conley, Former Dean of College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Center for Islamic and Middle East Studies was established in September 2005. The Center is currently housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (CSBS).
Minor in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
(Requirements 32 units)
Requirements for a minor in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies:
Core Courses (16 units)
- ANTH 358, Peoples of the Middle East (4)
2. HIST 383, Classical Islamic Civilization (4)
3. HUM 375, World of Islam (4)
4. PSCI 308, Government and Politics of the Middle East (4)
Electives (16 units)
- Sixteen units chosen from:
ANTH 303, Prehistory of the Middle East and Europe
ARAB 216, Introduction to Literary Texts (4)
ARAB 290, Arabic Literature in Translation (4)
ARAB 370, Arabic Film and Culture (4)
ARAB 470, Contemporary Issues in Arab Culture (4)
ARAB 471, Media-The Arab World (4)
ARAB 480, Special Topics in Classical Islamic Texts (4)
ARAB 481, Special Topics in Contemporary Arabic Literature (4)
COMM 565, Advanced Topics in Mass Communication (4)
(when the topic is Islamic/Middle East)
ENG 319, Studies in Literary Diversity:Contemporary Middle Eastern Literature, Contemporary
Middle Eastern fiction, Non-western Women Writers (4)
HIST 330, Oral History: Americans at War in Iraq (4)
HIST 384, Modern Middle East (4)
HIST 480, History of Christianity I (4)
HIST 485, Arab Israeli Conflict (4)
HIST 486, Modern Iran (4)
HIST 487, Topics in Modern Middle Eastern History (4)
HIST 491, Nationalism and conflict in the Middle East (4)
HIST 492, U.S. Media and the Middle East (4)
HIST 493, Iran-U.S. Relations (4)
PSCI 540, Seminar in Comparative Politics (4) (when the topic is Islamic/Middle
East)
An Independent Study course (595) chosen in anthropology, English, history, humanities or political science on a Middle Eastern topic. (4)
Contact the Center
Phone Number: 909-537-3778
Dr.EceAlgan
Director, Center for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
E-mail: ealgan@csusb.edu
Phone: 909-537-7469
Website: http://cimes.csusb.edu/index.htm
