Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Induction Information

Find out more about starting your studies on our School of Languages, Societies and Cultures welcome page.

During induction week, you will:

meet members of staff in AIMES;

have the opportunity to volunteer as a student rep;

be able to sign up to various groups and societies at Leeds University Union;

meet other students of AIMES to grow your social network in the first few days;

interact with students and staff.

Before induction week, you will:

receive a welcome e-mail from the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies;

get a full induction timetable of what is happening, and when.

Registration, IT access and Minerva

To access Minerva (the Virtual Learning Environment full of useful info and links for your modules), you will need to register and get a University username.

Studying at Leeds

Independent learning

Studying Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Leeds will enable you – year on year – to develop into an independent scholar. Through lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops, group and project work, you will explore different aspects of Arab and Islamic culture, history, society, politics and language. This collaborative process will guide and support you in your own, individual and independent approach to study. Whatever the path you choose – be that culture/religion, literature, politics and society, or focussing on developing language skills – you will be encouraged to produce original work through your own reflection, preparation, and research.

In your Final Year, you will be ready to produce a substantial piece of independent research – your Final-Year Project – which allows you to explore a question or subject of your choice. Many of our students enjoy this process so much that they stay on to pursue their studies at Master’s and PhD level.

Learning and Assessment: What to Expect

All modules in AIMES have clear learning outcomes and our teaching is designed to enable you to achieve these outcomes. The way that we measure your success – against published assessment criteria – means that module design and assessment are logical, pedagogically sound, and clear. You can find the learning outcomes and criteria in the module documentation available via the Minerva Virtual Learning Environment.

Researching-inspired learning and teaching

Our experienced and notable teaching staff have published across the fields of translation, literature, politics, media, history and theology — including some of the most widely-used textbooks in the Arabic language. We bring the latest knowledge and insights from our research into our teaching, meaning that all our modules are at the cutting edge of the discipline. Some of our modules are team-taught and draw on the expertise of members of staff with different research interests. This means that you get to enjoy different approaches, perspectives, and styles, whilst being exposed to a wide variety of material – and right from the start of your degree you are introduced to a number of areas of research from leading experts that you yourself can develop further at Levels 2 and 3.

Discovery Modules

As well as the compulsory and optional modules that make up your programme of study, you can choose something different to your main subject as a Discovery Module. Find out more about the Discovery Themes on the Broadening pages of the Leeds for Life website.

Extra-curricular activities

As a student in AIMES, you can benefit from a number of exciting extra-curricular activities. Among other things, you will have the opportunity to:

join our subject-related societies - the Middle Eastern Studies Society and the Islamic Society - which run several informal social events each year;

attend subject-level research seminars, many of which are organised around topics and themes covered on our modules;

Welcome to Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies