Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures

The Dual BA Program between Trinity College Dublin and Columbia University offers students the opportunity to study Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures for those interested in cross-cultural understanding and global dialogue. This unique program explores multiple perspectives on Middle Eastern and European societies and their long interaction through the study of languages, history and culture. In their first year, students focus on one European language and its history and culture (choosing from French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, or Polish) and they then begin their study of one Middle Eastern Language (Arabic, Hebrew, or Turkish) in year two.

During these two years, the history and culture of the Middle East from antiquity to the present is examined. Students develop their language skills throughout the four years and take an intensive language course in the summer between years two and three. In years three and four at Columbia, there are a number of possibilities for majors and specializations:

• Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
• History
• Political Science
• Religion

Students complete their Columbia major alongside the Core Curriculum and continue with their language studies. Students who choose to study History at Columbia will benefit from joining one of the leading centers of historical scholarship in the world, where the faculty are deeply committed to undergraduate education and all senior faculty teach undergraduate lectures and seminars. Students who choose a Columbia major in Political Science will be joining the first department of Political Science established in the United States. Students who choose Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies as their Columbia major can specialize in the Middle East, studying the cultures, ideas, and politics of this complex region of the world.  Students who choose Religion as their Columbia major will have the opportunity to pursue a broadly interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to the study of religion and to understand how religion contributes essentially to the arts, philosophy, law, and politics.

As part of their Trinity Degree, students also complete an additional 30 ECTS credits in their third and fourth years at Columbia. Students will undertake a 20 ECTS credit Capstone dissertation project conducted as a research project in year four, as well as a multidisciplinary 10 ECTS TCD module to be taken in the third year.