Studying the Arab and Islamic Worlds and the Middle East Today

And now, how does one set about studying in this field.

The first thing we should remember is to try to understand the point of view of any author we intend to read and attempt to read authors on any subject with a variety of points of view (and even biases). Points of view can include things like sociology, history, anthropology, economics and political theory. Biases to watch out for include Orientalism as discussed by Edward Said in his work of that name.

The multi-volume Encyclopedia of Islam is a good if occasionally Orientalist and slightly dated starting point for any topics that have anything to do with Arabs, Muslims, the Middle East or Islam including Arab and Islamic countries and influential Muslims. The Encyclopedia Iranica is also in the process of being produced and other encyclopaedias and bibliographies may be useful. Learning a relevant language or two such as Arabic, Turkish, Urdu or Farsi may be useful for completeness of research opportunities. Consulting a specialist librarian for ideas on research methods and sources may also be useful.

If you want to know the very latest published research on a topic (only in European languages, though, for the time being) the Index Islamicus (at 016.9090976 in the Dewey decimal system) is a useful index to consult. The large Cambridge History of Arabic Literature in several volumes is also useful though some of its volumes are more useful than others. Most of the above reference works also have online versions. A large number of online databases of e-books and e-journals are also available at university libraries. The International Journal of Middle East Studies is a respected scholarly journal.

A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani (with an Afterword by Malise Ruthven) and The Arab World: Society, Culture and State by Halim Barakat are useful overviews with, respectively, historical and sociological perspectives. Neopatriarchy by Hisham Sharabi is another significant sociological work that I have previously discussed. As I mentioned above, always be aware of the biases that may occur in what you read.