Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Course Details

Courses in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies cover the major languages and cultural history of East Asia and the Middle East, broadly defined. The major languages offered are Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese and Persian. Arabic, Hebrew and Persian may be combined with each other or with subjects from other faculties such as a modern European language. All subjects in the Faculty involve intensive study of the language or languages taken and a range of courses on the literature, culture and history. For full details of possible combinations see the Faculty website. In several of these subjects there is an essential continuity between the ancient culture and contemporary life. For this reason courses include both classical and modern languages and literatures, together with the study of the cultural achievements of the area.

AMES students spend the whole third year of their four-year course abroad, studying in the relevant country for the purpose of increasing fluency of language and understanding of the culture. In the fourth year, greater specialisation is possible and most students write a dissertation on a topic of their choice.

Information about the course structure, departmental teaching arrangements, offered topics and options can be found on the University of Cambridge website: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Course Outline

AMES at Queens'

Queens’ is one of the few Colleges that has a Director of Studies with specialities in the Middle East and that accepts more than one AMES student per year. This has greatly enhanced my experience of AMES as I have had both a mentor and peer who I can discuss the course with. In addition, through the Nourhan Nassar Fund, Queens’ offers generous grants that can be used for books, extra courses and travel related to the AMES tripos.

Grace

Being an AMES student at Queens’ is fantastic – since there aren’t too many of us, you get a lot of individual attention from your Director of Studies, and it helps that the College is only a 2-minute walk from the Faculty! I’ve felt very welcomed and supported throughout my 2 years studying Japanese at Queens’.

Hannah

AMES students at Queens’ generally have one or two supervisions per week.

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Queens’ is supported by the Nourhan Nassar Memorial Fund.

Academic Staff

Professor Andrew Marsham

Official Fellow, Director of Studies in Asian & Middle Eastern Studies