Program Requirements and Opportunities

Published annually, the Course Catalog sets out the requirements of the academic programs--the majors, minors, and concentrations. Each Bryn Mawr student must declare a major before the end of the sophomore year. Students may also declare a minor or a concentration, but neither is required for the A.B. degree. Students must comply with the requirements published in the Course Catalog at the time when they declare the major, minor and/or concentration.

The Course Catalog also sets out the College requirements. Students must comply with the College requirements published at the time they enter Bryn Mawr College.

For more information, visit the Catalog Homepage to view the current content. To view Catalogs from previous academic years, visit the Catalog Archives page.

The Program in Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and North African Studies (MECANA) offers a concentration focusing on the study of the area from Morocco to Afghanistan, from antiquity to the present day. Bryn Mawr students can investigate the history, politics, and cultures of the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa through coursework, independent study, study abroad, and events here and at neighboring institutions. 

The Director of MECANA is also the advisor for the concentration and can assist students to plan coursework and independent study, including independent majors.

There are two tracks in the MECANA concentration: one requires study or competence in a modern regional language, the other does not.

Track 1

The first track consists of six courses in the Humanities or Social Sciences that include pre-modern and modern topics distributed in the following manner:

  1. A basic course that offers a broad introduction to the region and its peoples. When available, students should take MEST 100: Introduction to Middle Eastern Studies at Bryn Mawr. If this course is not available, students will select a comparable introductory course in consultation with the MECANA advisor(s). 
     
  2. Five elective courses, including:
  • at least one course at the 300 level, in a specific area to be chosen in consultation with the MECANA advisor. This area might be defined in terms of conceptual, historical, or geographical interests and, in many cases, will be connected to work in the student's major.
  • at least one course must be in the Social Sciences, and at least one course must be in the Humanities.
  • at least one course must be pre-modern in content, and at least one course must be modern in content.
  1. Of the six courses required for the concentration, only three may form a part of the student's major or minor.

Track 2

The second track includes language study. Students opting for this track must take the equivalent of two years of study of a modern regional language or pass a language proficiency exam whereby they may also fulfill the A.B. degree foreign language requirement. Four additional courses distributed as follows are required for the concentration:

  1. A basic course that offers a broad introduction to the region and its peoples. When available, students should take MEST 100: Introduction to Middle Eastern Studies at Bryn Mawr. If this course is not available, students will select a comparable introductory course in consultation with the MECANA advisor(s).
     
  2. Three elective courses, including:
  • at least one course at the 300 level, in a specific area to be chosen in consultation with the MECANA advisor. This area might be defined in terms of conceptual, historical, or geographical interests and, in many cases, will be connected to work in the student's major.
  • at least one course must be in the Social Sciences, and at least one course must be in the Humanities.
  • at least one course must be pre-modern in content, and at least one course must be modern in content.
  1. Of the four courses required for the concentration, only two may form a part of the student’s major or minor.

For Middle Eastern languages taught at Bryn Mawr and Haverford, please see the course listings for the Bi-College Program in Arabic and the Bryn Mawr offerings in Hebrew. Additional regional languages may be offered at the University of Pennsylvania.