International conflicts, especially those that stem from the clash of civilizations, are due to the ideology or way of thinking that controls the minds of the decision-makers who imagine that the world should proceed within the framework of the clash of civilizations.

A thesis is completed on a topic chosen with the Department and written under supervision. Students focus on a topic from the field of Arabic, Islamic Studies, Hebrew (including Jewish Studies), or a cognate Semitic Language.

Students in this concentration engage in the interdisciplinary study, research, and teaching of Islam in its theological, historical, cultural, and comparative contexts, with a focus on Islamic texts in contemporary contexts, Islam as a lived tradition, and the global expressions of Muslim diversity, both past and present.

Students in this concentration work to develop competencies in the study of the Qur’an and Prophetic Tradition. Contextualizing these foundational sources through their historical development and the contributions of generations of Muslim scholars, students study related texts and traditions, including Islamic law, theology, and spirituality that together inform the textual and interpretative community of Islam.

This concentration focuses on the systematic study of the Muslim intellectual tradition devoted to explorations of divine revelation, religious belief, and philosophical developments.