Midden-Oosten Studies

The MA Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University offers one of the most interdisciplinary programmes in the Netherlands, stretching the breadth of humanities and social sciences and involving multiple languages of the Middle East. Our research and teaching covers periods from the late antique and medieval to the premodern and contemporary times, and with a regional diversity stretching from North Africa and Central Asia, including the Levant, Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian Plateau, and their transnational and global interactions. Courses are offered and faculty members conduct research in a wide range of fields including history, politics, religion, anthropology, political economy, international relations, heritage, material culture, literature, philology and cultural production, among others.
Our research and education are further grounded in Arabic, Hebrew, Ottoman Turkish, Turkish and Persian studies. You will develop research projects supervised by faculty across this range of specializations, as evidenced by the wide variety of thesis topics submitted every year. This programme is definitely for you if want to take a deep dive into the diversity, nuance, beauty and challenges of studying this large, intercultural regional space and its rich history.