Attending three (3) Islamic Studies lectures
There is a requirement to attend 3 Islamic Studies lectures at Yale and write about them. We recommend you not wait till your final year at Yale to attend these lectures.
The basic requirements are (a) to attend 3 lectures (or other academic events which include live speakers), (b) to write 1-2 pages about what you learned for each of the the three, and (c) to submit the write-ups to a Certificate Adviser for approval.
There are three ways to identify such lectures:
* checking this page for a (non-exhaustive) listing on such lectures (see below)
* checking the Yale Events Calendar
*subscribing to listservs, e.g., those managed by the Council of East Asian Studies and Council on Middle East Studies; or departments, e.g., History of Art, Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, or Religious Studies; or student groups, e.g., the Alliance for Southeast Asian Students, the Black Student Alliance, or the Muslim Students Association.
If you have any doubt about a given lecture qualifying as one in Islamic Studies, please check with the Certificate Director.
Remember, you must submit a write-up to be credited toward your Certificate requirements, whenever you attend, not just right before you apply for the Certificate!
And remember, you’re not limited to only three events: there is much going on in Islamic Studies at Yale and we urge you to become part of that.
A little more about the lectures
You should try to attend at least one research lecture: these are usually 90-minute events, often scheduled for the early evening, featuring a speaker from Yale or elsewhere.
You might also want to attend roundtable or panel discussions: these usually feature two or more speakers discussing a particular topic. Panels can be an excellent way to hear experts in debate, and to learn about new or controversial topics.
Yale also runs several ongoing lunches and discussion series. While a few are only for members of particular research groups, most are open to the entire Yale community. At these events you can often hear about research in progress and learn about what faculty and graduate students are currently working on.
You should always plan to attend the Q&A that normally follows academic events—these are often the most interesting and illuminating part.