Turkish

University of California, Berkeley

About the Program

Minor

The Turkish minor introduces students to the language, peoples, cultures, and histories of the Turkish-speaking world. The minor develops the student's command of reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension in the Turkish language and may complement the student's intended major study. Students minoring in Turkish must satisfy the lower division prerequisite requirements. Students may also take a language proficiency exam to waive the elementary and intermediate language courses. Please meet with the undergraduate major advisor to discuss course options and study abroad plans. 

Declaring the Minor

Students may declare the Turkish minor as soon as they begin their study at UC Berkeley. Please find the minor declaration form in the Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures department or email the undergraduate major advisor. Students must declare the minor no later than the semester before their Expected Graduation Term (EGT). Please see the L&S minor guidelines page for more information. 

Other Majors and Minors offered by the Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC) Department

Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (Major and Minor)
Arabic (Minor)
Hebrew (Minor)
Persian (Minor)
Turkish (Minor)

Visit Department Website

Minor Requirements

General Guidelines

  1. All minors must be declared before the first day of classes in your Expected Graduation Term (EGT). For summer graduates, minors must be declared prior to the first day of Summer Session A. 

  2. All upper-division courses must be taken for a letter grade. 

  3. A minimum of three of the upper-division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.

  4. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required in the upper-division courses to fulfill the minor requirements.

  5. Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement, for Letters & Science students.

  6. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.

  7. All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which the student plans to graduate. If students cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, they should see a College of Letters & Science adviser.

  8. All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling. (For further information regarding the unit ceiling, please see the College Requirements tab.)

Requirements

The Turkish minor program requires five upper-division courses in Turkish literature, culture, or history.

Lower Division Requirements10
Elementary Modern Turkish [5]
Elementary Modern Turkish [5]
Upper Division Requirements15-20
Turkish Language and Literature
Intermediate Modern Turkish [5]
Select two of the following:
Intermediate Modern Turkish [5]
Readings in Modern Turkish [3]
Readings in Modern Turkish [3]
Directed Group Study for Upper Division Students [1-4]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [1-4]
Turkish Culture and History
Select two courses:
Students may choose courses related to Turkish culture and history from other departments. Courses must be approved by a faculty major advisor to count towards the minor requirement.
Writing Systems of the World [4]
Explorers, Archaeologists, and Tourists in the Middle East [4]
Topics in Islamic Art [4]
Silk Road Art and Archaeology [3]
Art and Archaeology of Ancient Turkey [4]
Arts of Iran and Central Asia [4]
Topics in Islamic Thought and Institutions [3]
Modern and Contemporary Islamic Thought [3]
Shi'ite Islam [3]
Sufism: The Mysticism of Islam [3]
Islam [4]
The Rise of Islamic Civilization [4]
Emergence of the Modern Middle East [4]
The Modern Middle East from WWI to the Present [4]
Middle Eastern Women Writers [4]
Synagogues, Cathedrals, and Mosques: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain [4]
The Thousand and One Nights in World Literary Imagination [3]
Sociolinguistics of the Middle East [4]
Reel Arabs: Film and Fiction in the Middle East [4]
Middle East: Post-Colonialism, Migration, and Diaspora [4]
Middle East, Empire, and Orientalism [4]
Islamic History and Historiography (600-1050) [3]
Turkish Literature in Translation [3]
Topics in the History of Central Asia and the Turks [3]
Law and Society in the Early Modern Middle East [3]
The Quran and Its Interpretation [4]
Undergrad Seminar: Problems and Research in Middle Eastern Studies: Turkish [2,4]
Directed Group Study for Upper Division Students [1-4]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [1-4]
Total Units25-30

Courses

Turkish

Contact Information

Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

250 Social Sciences Building

Phone: 510-642-3757

Fax: 510-643-8430

bmelc@berkeley.edu

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Wali Ahmadi

284 Social Sciences Bldg.

ahmadi@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Major Advisor

Rania Shah, MA

250 Social Sciences Bldg.

Phone: 510-642-3758

rania.shah@berkeley.edu

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