Modern Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

The MAMES program introduces graduate students to the world’s most dynamic and populated region of the world. It offers them the possibility to study socio-economic and cultural transformations within their national, regional, and global contexts. It allows students to learn about developments in India and China and their rise as global powers, Japan’s attempts to secure its place in the world, and the Middle East’s complex social, cultural, and political dynamics. The flexible structure of the program allows students to focus on a particular region (the Middle East, South Asia or East Asia) while exploring broader theoretical and comparative issues through MAMES core courses.

Numerous employers in a variety of fields have interests in the regions covered by the MAMES program and therefore seek employees with knowledge about them. Depending on MAMES major students’ undergraduate degrees or minor, they will be suitable candidates for jobs in areas such as policy or business consulting, R&D, interdisciplinary think tanks and diplomacy, or be able to pursue careers within cultural institutions, such as museums, non-profit and international organisations as well as in research institutions. Graduates from major programs in both Social Science disciplines (like Economics, Political Science or Sociology) and Humanities disciplines (like Art History or Literature) who additionally obtain a MAMES minor stand out from among their peers upon entering the job market due to their regional expertise.