Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Specializing Master in Middle Eastern Studies
Milan, Italy
MA
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
28 Oct 2026
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2027
TUITION FEES
EUR 7,500 / per year
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
This Master's program in Middle Eastern Studies is specifically tailored for graduates of various disciplines and backgrounds, who are interested in obtaining a better knowledge of the Middle East region, considering its social-historical complexity and cultural plurality.
The program aims to offer solid historical, political, and institutional perspectives of the current domestic, regional, and international dynamics affecting the stability of the region, as well as a critical outlook on current debates over the Middle East. Its distinguished international Faculty is composed of renowned professors from the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, who have matured a long experience as field researchers or in situ professionals.
Students are guided across this diverse and fascinating region, which, for decades, has been at the center of the geostrategic interest of the international system.
The program mainly focuses on the contemporary period, through a multi-disciplinary approach ranging over international relations, geopolitics, conflicts, and security, economy, and energy. Nonetheless, specific sections are devoted to the analysis of the historical and religious foundations of the modern Middle East, from the birth of Islam to the evolution of Islamic thought, law, and economy. A dedicated course will offer a linguistic analysis of the political and juridical terminology and a glossary in Arabic.
MIMES analyses in detail infra-regions and inter-regions peculiarities and relations, from Maghreb to Central-Southern Asia, encouraging a comparative and holistic area studies approach.
- Number of scholarships available: 6
- Scholarship value: 25%
Total ECTS: 60
The Master in Middle Eastern Studies is articulated in five complementary levels, fostering multidimensional training and cross-fertilization, integrating scientific methodologies and operative competencies. The topics are the following:
1st Level. Propaedeutic Phase: History, Power, and Institution: the Conceptual Foundation of the Middle East
- Methodological introduction: debates on the Middle East
- History of the Middle East
- Religion, society, and thought in the Islamic Middle East
- Islamic law and economy
- Study of political and juridical terminology - glossary in Arabic
- Middle East within the 20th-century international order
2nd Level. In-depth Analytical Phase: sub-regional contexts
- Maghreb
- Mashreq
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- South-West Asia and the Gulf
- Central-Southern Asia
3rd Level. Thematic and Contemporary Issues
- Politics in the contemporary Middle East and the current International Relations context
- Global security: jihadism, violent activism, conflicts and nuclear proliferation
- Post-conflict Institution-building and human security
- Gender, ethnoreligious diversity, and pluralism in the Middle East
- Energy and the geopolitics of resources
- Contemporary economic trends
4th level. Project Work
Students are required to develop a personal research project on an issue related to Middle Eastern affairs, under the supervision of a MIMES professor. It is suggested to connect the project work to the internship experience.
5th Level. Internship (or Arabic/Persian/Turkish Language Course)
The Master's program is completed with an internship within institutions whose mission and activities are consistent with the Master's program. This gives students the invaluable opportunity to test and strengthen the competencies acquired during the Master and it usually lasts three months. As an alternative, students who do not carry out an internship may choose to attend a certified Arabic, Persian, or Turkish language and culture course. In any case, the course will have to be positively evaluated by the Master's Direction (additional fees depending on the organizing institution may occur).
MIMES provides graduate students with a detailed, comprehensive knowledge of the wider Middle East, beneficial to undertake a number of different careers, consistently with their previous training and experience, within:
- International Institutions
- Private Companies
- NGOs
- Research Centers and Area Studies
- Media Networks
- Diplomacy related institutions
- Regulatory bodies
MIMES provides graduate students with a detailed, comprehensive knowledge of the wider Middle East, beneficial to undertake a number of different careers, consistently with their previous training and experience, within:
- International Institutions
- Private Companies
- NGOs
- Research Centers and Area Studies
- Media Networks
- Diplomacy related institutions
- Regulatory bodies
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