Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

The College of Arts & Sciences welcomes students and their families to connect with faculty and staff, learn about a variety of topics, and explore our spaces throughout Family Weekend.

Happening September 18–27, 2024, Dawg Daze offers more than 500 events hosted by student organizations and UW departments. Kick off the fall quarter and celebrate a return to campus with these can’t-miss recommendations from the College of Arts & Sciences!

Through her love of languages and plants — and some serendipity — UW junior Katie Ruesink connected with a Korean family while studying in Seoul.

Building upon the curriculum of the new course, “Cinema and Feminism in the Middle East”, the department of Middle Eastern languages and cultures and the Henry art gallery collaborated on film screenings from a renowned Iranian director. The films “[serve] as a window into a culture rich with history that is worth learning about”, according to writers Shireen Aryana and Madhavi Karthik.  

Kick off the Autumn quarter and celebrate a return to campus with these can’t-miss recommendations from the College of Arts & Sciences.

The Mo Habib Translation Prize is bringing the work of Persian writers — and translators of Persian — to an English-language audience. 

Four Dean's Medalists were selected by the College of Arts & Sciences for their varied and impressive work as UW undergraduates. 

University of Washington Provost Mark A. Richards today announced Dianne Harris will become dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, beginning Sept. 1.

Gary Martin, Assistant Teaching Professor of Near Eastern Languges and Civilization, discusses his fascination with the alphorn.

Hamza Zafer, UW associate professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, has been awarded a fellowship from the Herbert D. Katz Center.

This week at the UW, attend a talk on Gender in the E.U, visit the Henry Art Gallery, and more.

This week at the UW, attend a book talk for “Empire of Convicts: Indian Penal Labor in Colonial Southeast Asia" and listen to the Jewish Questions podcast.

“Nowruz, the Persian New Year which takes place this Saturday, is a time for new beginnings. For President Biden it will mark the first occasion to offer a message directly to the Iranian people and perhaps hint at how his administration may approach the issue of Iran,” write Aria Fani, assistant professor of near Eastern languages and civilization, and Kevin Schwartz of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

College of Arts & Sciences Dean Stacey explains that there is an important civic, political, social, and cultural element to an education and that you can get that in a wide variety of majors.

Interested in the College of Arts & Sciences but don’t know what to study? Here are six majors that you may not have discovered yet.