Middle East Peace Studies

Dr. Behrooz Moazami, Director, Department of History, bmoazami@loyno.edu (504) 865-2162

WEBSITE: interdisciplinary.loyno.edu/mideastpeace

While Peace Studies and Middle East Studies programs exist in a number of institutions, Loyola is unique in combining these two areas into a single academic program. Building on the Jesuit tradition of engaging the world by promoting a values-based education, Middle East Peace Studies seeks to provide students an intellectual and practical response to the spread of war in the Middle East, and to increased militarism throughout the world. The program’s courses encourage inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue in a non-partisan fashion, and make meaningful contributions to world peace by exploring one of its most volatile and compelling regions.

Selected Courses:
History and Religious Studies: Fundamentals of Conflict and Peace
History: Palestinians and Israelis
Political Science: U.S. Foreign Policy

Minor Requirements

The Middle East Peace Studies minor is composed of the following 21 hours:

Must complete one of the following seminars:

  • HIST A495 Radical Islamic Movements
  • HIST X254 Palestinians and Israelis
 3

Middle East Studies: Courses in this area familiarize students with different aspects of Middle Eastern history, languages and culture. By focusing on some of the major issues that have defined this region we will seek to untangle some of the complexities that have been central to the ongoing conflicts.

Choose nine hours from the following Middle East Studies courses:

  • ARAB A101 First Year Arabic II
  • HIST A288 History of the Middle East
  • HIST A289 History of the Middle East II
  • HIST A304 Early Christianity
  • HIST W256 The Crusades
  • HIST X254* Palestinians and Israelis
  • HIST A495*
  • RELS V260 Discovering Islam
  • RELS U246 Judaism

(*If not taken as a seminar)

 9

Choose nine hours from the following courses:

Normative Views: Courses in this area of study explore the impact of religious, philosophical, and cultural discourses on war and peace. They examine the use of force and violence as seen through the world's religious traditions, by investigating the different ethical viewpoints, theological orientations and philosophical perspectives that have been used either to reject or approve the role of violence in a given historical situation.

  • RELS A442 Millennium Seminar
  • RELS H295
  • PHIL V235 Philosophy of Right
  • PHIL V280 Freedom and Oppression
  • ENGL A216 World Literature II
  • ENGL A437 American War Literature
  • ENGL U232 Vision of Utopia
  • ENGL V234 Literature and Justice
  • ENGL V292 The Sixties Through Literature
  • ENGL V296

Historical and Institutional Practices: Courses in this area investigate the institutional and historical underpinnings of war and peace in history and at present. These courses will entertain such questions as: Why people fight each other, how war has changed throughout history, and what sort of political and economic conditions were more suitable for a long-term peace and which ones were (or are) prone to war and militarism. Students will become acquainted with the types of political organizations and forms of governments that are most in keeping with international norms and most conducive to human rights.

  • HIST X264 American Left in the 20th Century
  • HIST A328 The Holocaust
  • POLS A315 International Relations
  • POLS A320 U.S. Foreign Policy
  • POLS A340 Law Among Nations
  • POLS A341 International Organizations
  • POLSX258 Global Political Issues
 9

More Interdisciplinary Programs »