The newly approved major in “Islamic Civilization and Societies” (ICS) is an interdisciplinary program that will introduce students to a diversity of cultures, languages, and political systems in several critically important areas of the world. It represents a collaborative endeavor by five departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, including History, Political Science, Theology, Fine Arts, and Slavic and Eastern Languages. The major has been designed to offer the students an intellectually rich, rigorous and coherent introduction to the study of the Islamic world, including the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of South, Central and East Asia, as well as Muslim minorities in the U.S. and Europe. The new major will enhance the breadth and diversity of our undergraduate curriculum and will help foster a deeper understanding of the Middle East as well as other areas where Islam is the majority religion or has a significant presence.
In inaugurating the new major, Boston College will be joining the ranks of numerous other universities with Middle Eastern and Islamic studies programs, though we believe that ours will be distinctive in at least two respects: it will reflect the University’s commitment, as a Jesuit institution, to a sustained interfaith dialogue with other religious traditions; and it will build on our special strengths in the humanities and social sciences, as well as the existing major in International Studies and the minor in Jewish Studies. Given the successful record of our existing A&S minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MEIS) over the past several years, we are confident that the new major will continue to benefit from the faculty’s active participation and collaboration across several disciplines and, as such, offer a well-integrated and rigorous program of study in the languages, cultures, and politics of the many diverse societies where Islam is the majority religion or in which there are significant Muslim minorities.
A concentration in Islamic Civilization and Societies will be available also to all Boston College students as a minor.
Academic Advisory Board for Islamic Civilization and Societies (ICS)
- Patrick J. Maney, Dean, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Chair
- Kathleen Bailey, Political Science, Associate Director
- Ali Banuazizi, Political Science, Director
- Nasser Behnegar, Political Science
- Sheila Blair, Fine Arts
- Jonathan Bloom, Fine Arts
- Benjamin Braude, History
- Dwayne Carpenter, Romance Languages and Literatures
- David Deese, Political Science
- James Morris, Theology
- Dana Sajdi, History
- Franck Salameh, Slavic and Eastern Languages