Programs
Academics
Humanities
American Studies
Program Description: The American Studies Program offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of culture and society in the United States. Students take courses in a wide range of fields with the aim of learning how to study this complex subject in a sensitive and responsible way. In the introductory course, students develop the ability to analyze a broad spectrum of texts (novels, autobiographies, newspapers, photographs, films, songs, buildings, websites, etc.); in the junior seminar and Senior Project, students identify and integrate relevant methodologies, creating modes of analysis appropriate to their topics. By graduation, students should have developed a base of knowledge about the past and present conditions of experience in the United States, as well as intellectual habits that will enable them to be aware of what surrounds them, wherever they are in the world.
History
Program Description: The history program at the Honors College will introduce students to unconventional ways of engaging with the past, taking an interdisciplinary approach to social, economic, political, and cultural histories. Palestine is a rich starting point for exploration, as a place where ancient and modern pasts are constantly being represented, reenacted, reinvented and even manipulated. The multiple uses and misuse of history here in Palestine provides a rationale for history majors at the Honors College to approach their study in a nuanced and critical way. The interdisciplinary nature of the program demands that students draw on methods of interpretation common to other disciplines, including Literature and Society, Political Science, Economics, Human Rights and Media Studies. Before moderation students will take two core courses, The History of the Near East and the Mediterranean World: The Crusades to Napoleon and History of the Modern Middle East: the 18th century to World War I. Through these introductory courses, students will engage with multiple perspectives for viewing the past, focusing on economies, subaltern voices, and intellectual movements and taking into account the subjectivity of the field. By providing students with a solid foundation in critical thinking, research writing and seminar work, and in the analysis of complex texts and theories, the major prepares them for careers across the spectrum of international finance or trade, law, for work in government and UN Agencies, NGOS, international relations, public policy, social work, and education.
Literature and Society
Program Description: The program in Literature & Society is designed to provide students with rigorous training in the scholarly analysis of literary texts, with an emphasis on social and historical context, and questions surrounding the nature and function of literature in society. What is "literature"? How do literary texts differ from other types of cultural production? How do literature and criticism relate to other aspects of culture, such as gender, race, class, and nation? The program In Literature & Society encourages students who make the study of literature the central focus of their work to explore specific periods and genres, and to look for relations among national literatures (in forms such as lyric poetry or the novel), or literature within the context of culture, history, or literary theory. At the same time, the major encourages to explore courses in related fields, such as history, political science, human rights, and media studies, in order to inform their study of literature with social, historical, political, cultural and other perspectives. The major prepares students with both the methodological tools necessary for the graduate study of literature, as well as a broad training in writing and critical analysis that will make them uniquely suited to pursue careers across a range of professions in the Middle East and abroad. By furnishing students with a solid foundation in critical thinking, research writing and seminar work, and in the analysis of complex texts and theories, the major prepares them for careers in government and UN Agencies, NGOS, international relations, public policy, social work, education, advertizing and publishing.
Media Studies
Program Description: The world is changing fast, and through a mixture of theory and hands-on apprenticeships students of media prepare for jobs that often do not yet exist. In fostering an environment of engaged thinking and doing, the media major sets out to promote innovation and creativity in the area of socially “meaningful” digital media. Students will be expected to think critically about the profound impact media has on the world around us. This is especially needed in a place in which the production of public opinion is inextricably tied to the political conflict. Just as importantly, students will become producers of cutting-edge content from podcasting and documentary to screenplay writing and blogging. We believe interactive media is an especially powerful instrument to put people, long the passive consumers of media, back into the roles as active creators. Regardless of a student’s choice of specialization, the program’s interdisciplinary and hands-on approach to teaching and learning engages students in the entire creative process. A documentarian might take courses in history and literature - before she then writes an original script, shoots it, and then edits the film into its final form. Palestine has long been a center of attention for traditional forms of media, be it journalism, scholarship, documentary filmmaking, or works of fiction and non-fiction. People throughout the world follow local events often with the passion they would a local sporting team. This attention has turned media into a growth area in the Palestinian labor market. But to land a job after they graduate, students will need to be able to write proposals, create a budget, organize their time, and work in a team – and these are skills not typically products of the classroom but of real work experience. An important aspect to our program is the opportunity for students to meet local and international media and policy makers. Our weekly media lab gives students the thrill of production, and the one-year internship, required of all students in the major, gets them apprenticing with news organizations, documentary and feature film teams, Al Qud University’s own IMM, NGOs, and other private and public institutions working with media.
Philosophy
Program Description: The philosophy curriculum consists of courses in the history of philosophy as well as such traditional areas as ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, logic, the philosophy of language, and aesthetics. Historically, the discipline of philosophy has been expansive in the scope of its interests, exploring issues across the fields of natural science, social science, literature, and the arts. In this spirit, students concentrating in philosophy are encouraged to enrich their study of philosophy by making connections with other disciplines. The philosophy curriculum is designed to provide every student with the opportunity to obtain a general understanding of the nature and history of philosophical inquiry. Students concentrating in philosophy have extensive access to a more specialized curriculum, which can serve as the foundation for graduate study.
Natural Science, Mathematics, and Computing
Biology
Program Description: The biology curriculum at the Honors College addresses biological problems at different levels, such as biochemical, molecular, and ecological—and approaches (laboratory-based, field-based, computational). Students are also encouraged to explore, in depth, another scientific discipline. Gaining additional expertise in chemistry, physics, mathematics, or computer science is essential to the interdisciplinary nature of modern biological research. Students are encouraged to take courses cross-listed with cognate disciplines, such as Environmental Studies, to develop a broad knowledge of the field and to prepare themselves for a range of professions inside and outside the research community. The Honors College has full access to the first-rate laboratory facilities of Al-Quds University, allowing students to conduct sophisticated laboratory research and to develop original Senior Projects in a wide variety of areas.
Chemistry
Program Description: Chemistry at Bard is geared primarily, but not exclusively, toward meeting the needs of students planning to do graduate work in chemistry and biology. Students receive extensive hands-on experience with contemporary instruments, and equipment. In addition to the core courses, a student typically takes at least two advanced Chemistry 191 electives in chemistry, biology, mathematics, or physics, according to personal goals.Computer Science
Program Description: Computer science is integral to current technological and cultural changes and to all fields of study. The Computer Science Program at the Honors College offers courses of interest to computer science, science, and non-science majors. The program focuses on the fundamental ideas of computer science and introduces students to multiple programming languages that emphasize different programming paradigms. The curriculum offers broad coverage of theoretical, applied, and systems-oriented topics. Students have numerous opportunities to participate in hands-on courses and research projects in the laboratory. The program is designed to offer many opportunities for students whose interest in computer science arises from its intersection with another discipline. Computer science has many linkages with cognitive science, electronic arts, mathematics, and physics. Students from these fields often begin with an introductory course and later return to take a more advanced computer science course that enhances skills and knowledge they will use in their Senior Project.
Environmental Studies
Program Description: The program in Environmental Studies is designed to allow students to engage with a wide range of issues concerning the environment, both globally, and at the local level specific to the Middle East and Palestine, in particular. Courses range in topic from the global ecology of disease and epidemics, to the consequences of alternative property systems for environmental sustainability, to environmental contaminants; environmental racism, globalization, deforestation, species extinction, and international efforts to protect the global environment. Issues of specific urgency to the Palestinian environment, such as the politics of water management and waste disposal, as well as the environmental impact of the Israeli occupation, are given special emphasis.Social Sciences
Economics and Finance
Program Description: The Program in Economics and Finance at the Honors College offers a wide range of courses in economic theory, finance, quantitative research methods, applied economics, economic history and economic thought. Because issues of public policy invariably have an economic dimension, all informed citizens should be familiar with basic economic principles. Students typically begin their study of economics by taking introductory microeconomic or macroeconomic theory. The program also offers several courses of general interest at the that provide an introduction to economic principles and issues for students who have not taken the introductory theory sequence. Examples are “Economics from the Ground Up” and “Globalized Food Systems.”
A number of 200 and 300 level courses in applied economics, economic history and economic thought are offered regularly. The 200 level courses typically assume knowledge of introductory theory and are of special interest to students concentrating in political studies, historical studies, sociology, philosophy, human rights, global and international studies, social policy and environmental and urban studies. Students who have completed introductory theory are encouraged to take at least one 200 level applied course before proceeding to more advanced coursework in economics. The 300 level upper college courses and seminars provide advanced treatment of theory, research methodology and applications for moderated economics majors.
Human Rights
Program Description: As the first undergraduate program of its type in the Middle East, the Human Rights Program seeks to create a cadre of human rights experts to serve not only in Palestinian institutions, but also at the regional and global levels. The program emphasizes integrative historical and conceptual investigations and offers a rigorous background that forges meaningful practical engagement. It aims to orient students in the intellectual tradition of human rights, and to give them the tools to appreciate and criticize its contemporary status. Holders of the Honors College’s human rights degree, who are expected to be fluent in English and Arabic, would be able to work in academia, international, regional and national organizations, governmental and non-governmental, and act as human rights experts and advisors to governments or UN agencies.
This multi-disciplinary program would offer a profound and critical analysis of the historical, philosophical, political, cultural, economic and legal aspects that shape the human rights discourse in a globalizing world. The program is designed to introduce human rights not simply as matters of law and diplomacy, or as a product of western imperialist civilizations. Instead, it engages openly with the history and actuality of the idea of rights, teaching students to explore its trajectory with particular attention to the scope and extent of their influence. The program, taught in Palestine, lays the ground for a contextualized understanding of the human rights situation in the Palestinian-Israeli context, and within the Arab and Muslim world.
Political Science
Program Description: Politics can be understood in many ways: as a struggle for power over other people and nations, or for freedom from control; as a social process that determines who has what kinds of authority; as a series of conversations or disputations about what counts as a “public problem” and how to address public problems; or as an art or science of institutional design, especially the design of governments. However it is defined, politics matters. Political outcomes shape the choices we can make as individuals, and the fates of communities and nations. The Political Science Program at the Honors College welcomes students who care about politics and want to reason critically about political outcomes and debates. The program intends to inform responsible participation in Palestinian and global public affairs. It also prepares students for work and/or further study in political science, international affairs, public policy, law, cultural studies, UN agencies, NGOs and related fields. Areas of Study: At the Honors College, four broad clusters of political studies are identified: political theory, American politics, comparative politics, and international relations. The clusters necessarily overlap one another and other fields. Students are encouraged to combine courses in political studies with relevant courses in other disciplines, for example, history, economics, sociology, literature, environmental studies, and human rights.
Urban Studies and Spatial Practices
Program Description: The program in Urban Studies and Spatial Practices (USSP) combines a rigorous theoretical approach to the study of territorial and social transformation with forms of urban interventions and spatial analysis, connecting the theoretical analysis of space to practices of the everyday life. Students employ spatial concepts and urban analysis to examine different systems of social organization and their impact on social relations, culture, and the environment. The program is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on methods and knowledge from fields--such as anthropology, geography, economics, environmental studies, literature, human rights, law, and the visual arts-- to the study of urban space. This innovative approach to the more conventional discipline of urban planning allows students to explore the ways in which cities are the products of complex interactions of social, political and economic forces. A fundamental component of the program is hands-on excursions into the field; by engaging students in field studies of readily accessible communities, they will combine practical knowledge of local walks used as a self-learning process and as an active form of intervention into the social space. The peculiar spatial condition of the conflict over Palestine is the privileged site of observation and research. Fieldworks and internships programs are designed to combine substantial academic engagement with the theoretical principles of urban planning and social justice, as well as practical, hands-on experience of working in a UN agencies, governmental and non governmental institutions, alongside professional planners and community leaders. The added practical experience gained in this way will give students significant advantages when they seek employment. At the same time, it will serve the needs of Governmental National Institutions and Local Governorate (for example municipalities) by training a cadre of potential employees who will bring both practical experience and critical knowledge of social and intellectual issues to bear on urban planning, as a needed complementary addition to the expertise of engineers and other technical staff. Students in urban studies and spatial practices will not only become professionals in the filed of urban planning but they will become intellectuals with a great sense of responsibility towards a just and sustainable development of their own nation. They will combine practical skills with visionary ideas.
