Overview | Summary of Courses

Offered By:	ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Academic Contact:	cais@anu.edu.au

The Master of Arts specialising in Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies is designed for those who seek academic preparation for a career in a professional area requiring a solid understanding of the Middle East and Central Asia, whether in diplomacy, the public service, teaching, journalism or business. It is available to qualified applicants from both Australia and overseas.

Prerequisites

Admission to the Master of Arts program is available by two means:

• Applicants for direct entry to the Master of Arts program should have obtained a Bachelor degree from an approved tertiary education institution, with passes at least at credit level in six courses other than first year courses; or
• Admission to Part B is available to students who have completed the coursework courses (36 units), or equivalent, for a Graduate Diploma in Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies with an overall average mark of 70%. In the case of students transferring from Graduate Diploma enrolment, the completed Graduate Diploma coursework will count as status for Part A of the MA degree.

In the case of students who enrol initially for the MA but who fail to achieve the required 70% average mark for coursework, they will have the option of reverting to Graduate Diploma enrolment and having that credential awarded on the basis of the level of coursework completed.

Requirements

The degree is in two parts. In Part A, candidates are required normally to complete courses to the value of 36 units taught in the area of their specialization. The Master of Arts specializing in Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies does not include a compulsory language component, but the Persian, Turkish and Arabic languages are available as optional courses for those students who wish to do a relevant language. Two of the six courses in the program may be language courses.

Coursework begins in late February/early March and ends in early November, with a five week mid-year break.

In order to proceed from Part A to Part B, a candidate must pass each course at their first attempt and achieve an overall 70% average or better.

Part B comprises an additional 36 units, normally comprising a thesis of between 25,000-30,000 words.

After successful completion of the coursework, the MA candidates may choose to be enrolled through the summer session of the University calendar (December to late February) to complete and submit their sub-thesis before the start of the new academic year. Alternatively, they can enrol in the first semester of the new academic year.

The topic of the research sub-thesis is to be chosen by the candidate in consultation with the Convenor and supervised by an academic member of the Centre.

For a candidate to meet the requirements for admission to the degree, he or she must achieve a result of at least 70% (H2A) in the sub-thesis (Part B) component. A candidate's degree performance will be determined as a fail where this result is not achieved.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2010 website applies to the 2010 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2009 website.