Exploring your interest in the Certificate
If you are interested in pursuing the Certificate in Islamic Studies (5 courses + 3 lectures), please contact the Certificate Director, Professor Shawkat M. Toorawa at shawkat.toorawa@yale.edu.
Formal Declaration of Candidacy for the Certificate
If you know you want to pursue a Certificate, please officially declare your intention to earn a Certificate on the Declare Major, Concentration within the Major, Certificate page on Yale Hub, as early as possible, but at the very latest, by the 15th of January or September of your last semester at Yale. The sooner you do this, the better, as it will formally alert the Certificate Adviser as well as Yale College of your intention.
Planning which courses to take
We recommend you begin planning early. If you already have an interest in Islamic Studies, you likely have already taken certificate-eligible classes. If you have questions about the eligibility of such courses, or about which might qualify for which distributional area, please contact the Certificate Director. If you want to know what Islamic Studies encompasses generally, for this too the advisers are ready to advise and guide.
Keep in mind that only two course of your 5 courses can be double-counted for your major and the Certificate.
As for the 3 lectures, we recommend you not wait till your final year. We encourage you to check the web site often and also the Yale Events Calendar for any Islamic Studies lectures university-wide. This means that you can submit a write-up for an event, to be credited toward your Certificate requirements, whenever you attend—not just right before you apply for the Certificate! Remember, you aren’t limited to three events, but three is the minimum.
In pursuing the Certificate, you can opt for breadth: some knowledge on a wide range of topics; or you can opt for depth: a lot of knowledge about a particular area. Either is worthy. Knowing which kind of knowledge you most want to gain can help you decide how to choose among various options. Again, a Certificate adviser can help you distill your interests into a focused plan of study.
Before the end of your last semester at Yale
You will need to (a) complete the Certificate Completion form, (b) collect the relevant signatures, and (c) submit it to the Certificate Director by email.