US
Major Program
Major Program
Contacts
Department Chair
Information
Samah Selim
Undergraduate Director
Information
Benjamin Koerber
Undergraduate Program
Why AMESALL?
Prospective Students
Major
Minors
Course Schedule
Course Descriptions
Advising
Languages
FAQ
Undergraduate Quicklinks
Academic Calendar
Course Schedule Planner
SAS Academic Advising
SAS Core Curriculum
University Schedule of Classes
Web Registration System
Major Program
The Major in African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures is open to students admitted to and enrolled in any of the campuses and schools at Rutgers-New Brunswick.
The Major requires two years of language study (or the equivalent proficiency) as a prerequisite, and the successful completion of at least 33 credit hours. It has two options, a
Global Humanities
option and a
Regional
option.
The Global Humanities Option (013G)
The Global Humanities major option requires 36 credit hours for completion, of which 9 must be at the 300 level or above.
Here
is a sample program of study to complete the Global Humanities major option.
All majors must take the following three courses:
013:201: Crossroads: Introduction to the Classical Literatures of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia
and
013:205: Cultural Forces in International Politics
and
013:401: Capstone Seminar in Literature, Culture and Society
In addition majors must take at least two courses from each of the following two categories:
Transregional Sociolinguistics Courses
013:115: History of the Alphabet
013:203: Language and Society
013:204 Introduction to Discourse Analysis
013:225 Global Arabic
013:285: Language and Globalization
013:305: Languages in Peril
013:409: Introduction to Semitic Languages
Transregional Culture courses
013:202 Cinemas of Africa and Asia
013:206 Banned Books
013:210 World Literature and Social Change
013:304: Introduction to Translation Studies
013:307: Intro to Postcolonial Literature and Theory (with CL)
013:324: Ottoman Africa
013:365: Bollywood
013:412: Literature and Religion
013:445: Storytelling in the Muslim World
Majors must also take at least 3 courses, in any combination of their choice, from the following:
African Literature/Cinema courses
Middle Eastern literature/Cinema courses
South Asian literature/cinema courses
Majors will take at least 6 credits hours, in any combination of their choice, from the following:
AMESALL’s literature/sociolinguistics/cinema/culture courses
AMESALL’s language courses at the Intermediate level or above
STUDY ABROAD program courses
Courses from other units with significant AMESALL regional content (History, Anthropology, Geography, WGS, Art History, etc)
Learning Goals (013G)
As an AMESALL major with the global humanities option, you will demonstrate:
appreciation of major global issues as articulated in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia and from the perspective of these three regions;
understanding of a variety of epistemologies rooted in the cultures of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia;
proficiency in critical, theoretical, and research-oriented skills in global and comparative cultural studies.
The Regional Option (013J)
This option is designed to allow students to explore in depth one of the literatures offered by AMESALL, within a regional context. Here are sample programs of study for learning
African languages and literatures
Middle Eastern languages and literatures
, and
South Asian languages and literatures
. All majors must take the following two (2) courses in order to complete this major option:
01:013:201
Classical Literatures of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia
and
01:013:401
Senior Seminar in Literature and Society
Students enrolling in this option must complete at least six (6) credits of language courses at the advanced (300) level or higher.
They must also take one of the following three (3) courses, as appropriate to their region of study:
01:013:211
Literatures of Africa
or
01:013:221
Literatures of the Middle East
or
01:013:231
Literatures of South Asia
Finally, they must complete 18 credits of additional literature, sociolinguistics or linguistics courses on the region of their concentration, nine (9) of which must be upper level courses at the 300-level or above. These courses must either be taught in AMESALL, cross-listed with AMESALL, or approved by the Department Chair.
Learning Goals (013)
As an AMESALL major with the regional major option, you will:
Demonstrate listening, speaking, writing and reading proficiency in one (1) of the languages taught through AMESALL at a level of Advanced-Low or higher according to the guidelines of the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL);
Demonstrate familiarity with a cross-section of the classical literatures of all three regions;
Demonstrate a broad understanding of the literatures of one of the three regions.